CO2 laser processing equipment and processing method thereof

Abstract

The invention belongs to the technical field of CO2 laser processing, and particularly relates to CO2 laser processing equipment and a processing method thereof. The equipment comprises a lifting working table, an equipment shell, an automatic control system and CAD numerical control programming software, the equipment shell comprises a guide rail, a laser head and a machine tool base body, the lifting working table comprises a lifting table assembly and a lifting assembly, the lifting table assembly comprises a machining working table top and ball screws, the ball screws are installed at the four corners of the machining working table top, and the lifting assembly is connected with the lifting working table top. The lifting assembly is connected with the machining working table top through a ball screw to lift the machining working table top. The equipment is simple in structure, and the workpiece machining range is widened; the equipment can be used for processing three workpieces with larger thickness, height difference and three-dimensional entity, and the specific processing method comprises the following steps of: dividing workpiece surface processing sections, steps or layers according to a workpiece processing pattern or drawing, setting a laser motion program and laser parameters by adopting CAD numerical control programming software, and processing the height of each stage of a working table; and finally, continuous cutting or milling and carving in each stage are carried out.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention belongs to the technical field of CO2 laser processing, and in particular relates to a medium- and small-power CO2 laser processing device with a liftable workbench and a processing method thereof. Background Art

[0002] CO2 laser processing can be divided into laser cutting, laser milling, laser engraving, etc. CO2 laser processing uses the energy of CO2 laser to achieve a high energy density at the focus of the spot after focusing, and uses the photothermal effect to ablate and remove materials to achieve the purpose of cutting or ablation processing. It has the characteristics of fast processing speed, no contact, and small workpiece deformation. Small and medium power CO2 laser cutting is usually used to cut non-metallic flat materials.

[0003] Unlike fiber laser equipment or semiconductor laser equipment, which transmits and processes workpieces in three-dimensional space flexibly through optical fibers, the light beam output by traditional CO2 lasers is reflected linearly by a lens group on the same horizontal plane, changing the beam path, and then the laser head controls the focused laser beam spot to perform planar processing on the machine tool work surface. The height of the machine tool work surface of conventional CO2 laser cutting machines is fixed. In order to meet the requirements of processing surface quality and accuracy, the adjustable defocus distance of the laser beam output by the laser head is relatively short (usually 0 to 10mm, that is, the effective laser cutting depth of the workpiece, except for high-power CO2 laser equipment). During the CO2 laser cutting process, in order to ensure the cutting gap width and depth requirements, the focused light spot cannot move up and down, and can usually only be processed on the same horizontal surface on the machine tool work surface. Therefore, the common disadvantages of small and medium power CO2 laser processing equipment are: the adjustable height between the laser head and the worktable is limited, and continuous cutting processing of thicker workpieces or different thickness positions on the same product cannot be performed; in particular, workpieces of different heights or thicknesses cannot be processed simultaneously, and continuous cutting processing of planes of different heights of multiple pieces or multiple stations at one time cannot be achieved, as well as multi-functional ablation processing such as three-dimensional solid milling and engraving of workpieces. Summary of the invention

[0004] In order to solve the above problems existing in the prior art, the present invention provides a CO2 laser processing equipment and a processing method thereof, which have a simple structure, and the lifting platform assembly is driven by the lifting assembly to move up and down, and then the automatic control system and CAD numerical control processing software are adopted to make the processing work surface move up and down smoothly with high precision and easy to automatically control, and can process workpieces with larger thickness or cut at different heights on the same product; it can perform one-time continuous plane cutting processing at different heights for multiple pieces or multiple stations, and can also perform multifunctional integrated medium and small power CO2 laser numerical control processing such as milling and engraving of three-dimensional solid workpieces.

[0005] To achieve the above-mentioned purpose, on the one hand, the present invention provides a CO2 laser processing equipment, including a lifting workbench, an equipment housing, an automatic control system and CAD numerical control programming software. The lifting workbench is located inside the equipment housing, and the equipment housing includes a guide rail, a laser head and a machine tool base. The guide rail is located on the upper part of the machine tool base, and the laser head is located on the guide rail. The lifting workbench includes a lifting platform assembly and a lifting assembly. The lifting assembly is installed at the bottom of the lifting platform assembly. The lifting platform assembly includes a processing workbench and four ball screws. The ball screws are installed at the four corners of the processing workbench. A table structure is arranged on the top of the processing workbench. Table lifting connectors are arranged at the four corners of the processing workbench, and one end of the ball screw passes through the connector and the other end passes through the lifting assembly. The plane motion trajectory of the laser spot, laser parameters and the lifting and lowering of the processing workbench are controlled by the automatic control system of the machine tool and the CAD numerical control programming software.

[0006] Furthermore, the lifting assembly includes a base, a servo motor, a transmission belt, a gear, and a support. The servo motor is located in the middle of the left side of the base. The gear is hollow and is sleeved on the ball screw. The transmission belt is sleeved on the gear and connects the gear to the servo motor. The support includes a cover plate and a support. The four supports are located at the four corners of the base. The ball screw passes through the support and penetrates into the base. The gear is limited by the cover plate and the support member at the top and bottom and only makes rotational motion.

[0007] Furthermore, the surface of the ball screw is provided with threads, and the inner side surface of the table lifting connector is provided with a threaded rotating pair that matches the threads, so that the rotation of the ball screw drives the processing work table to rise and fall, and the inner side surface of the gear is provided as the inner tooth surface of the gear and engages with the ball screw.

[0008] Furthermore, the gear is provided with circular upper and lower grooves of the gear respectively, the cover plate is provided with a cover plate protrusion matched with the upper groove of the gear, and the support member is provided with a support member protrusion matched with the lower groove of the gear.

[0009] Furthermore, the tabletop structure is a diamond-shaped structure and is clamped on the top of the processing worktable.

[0010] Furthermore, a display is arranged in front of the servo motor, a support is arranged on the servo motor, a transmission belt passes through the support to connect the gear and the servo motor, and U-shaped grooves are arranged at the four corners of the base.

[0011] In another aspect, the present invention provides a CO2 laser processing method for a thicker workpiece, which is implemented by using any of the above-mentioned CO2 laser processing equipment. The processing method comprises the following steps: S1: According to the workpiece processing pattern or drawing, the processing position of the light spot motion path trajectory is divided into 1-n sections in the same direction vertically downward from the workpiece surface, and the processing depth of each section is 0 to 10mm; S2: using CAD numerical control programming software to set the laser spot motion path trajectory program, and setting the laser parameters configured for the cutting depth of each section: laser power, defocusing amount and moving speed, and the processing work surface (1) automatically rises to the cutting height position of each section at the required height; S3: Continuously perform 1-n sections of corresponding heights from the outside to the inside until continuous cutting through.

[0012] Further, the cutting slit width is expanded or the laser beam angle is adjusted on each segment.

[0013] In another aspect, the present invention provides a CO2 laser processing method for a workpiece with uneven height, which is implemented by using any of the above-mentioned CO2 laser processing equipment. The processing method comprises the following steps: S1: According to the workpiece processing pattern or drawing, at each height position, the corresponding processing position of the light spot motion path trajectory is divided into 1-m steps; S2: using CAD numerical control programming software to set the laser spot motion path trajectory program, and setting the laser parameters configured for the cutting depth of each step: laser power, defocusing amount and moving speed, and the processing work surface (1) automatically rises to the cutting height position required for each step; S3: Perform continuous cutting of 1-m steps at each corresponding height position.

[0014] Another aspect of the present invention provides a CO2 laser processing method for a three-dimensional solid workpiece, which is implemented by using any of the above-mentioned CO2 laser processing equipment. The processing method comprises the following steps: S1: According to the workpiece processing pattern or drawing, the inner cavity or outer shape of the workpiece is divided into 1-k layers accordingly; S2: using CAD numerical control programming software to set the laser spot motion path trajectory program, and setting the laser parameters configured for the ablation depth of each layer: laser power, defocusing amount, moving speed, and the processing work surface (1) automatically rising to the cutting height position at the required height for each layer; S3: Continuously perform laser three-dimensional milling and engraving processing of 1-k layers of corresponding planes from the surface to the inside or from the top to the bottom.

[0015] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following beneficial effects: 1. The present invention drives the lifting platform assembly to move up and down through the lifting assembly, which can increase the height between the laser emitter and the processing work surface, making it easier to cut products of different thicknesses, so that the thickness of the workpiece that can be processed by the laser processing equipment is increased from more than ten millimeters to hundreds of millimeters, and the laser worktable has a sufficient processing working range, which makes it more convenient to load and unload the workpiece, and also avoids the workpiece from colliding with the laser emitter and being damaged due to the small space when loading and unloading the workpiece; 2. The present invention drives the lifting platform assembly to move up and down through the lifting assembly, so that there is enough travel space between the laser emitter and the workbench, which makes it easier to adjust the cutting focal length of the laser emitter, reduces the travel of the laser emitter, makes the laser emitter more stable during the processing, and improves the processing accuracy of the laser processing equipment; 3. The present invention drives the lifting platform assembly to move up and down through the lifting assembly, and has the advantages of stable and accurate operation, reasonable structural design, simple structure, and easy automatic control for processing workpieces with larger thickness or cutting at different heights on the same product; 4. The present invention controls the plane travel of the laser head through the guide rail and controls the lifting of the laser worktable with the ball screw. The two travel controls cooperate with each other and the laser parameters are automatically matched, which makes it easy to realize the processing of workpieces of different heights or thicknesses by CO2 laser processing equipment, especially the one-time continuous plane cutting processing of multiple pieces or multiple stations at different heights, as well as the three-dimensional solid milling and engraving of workpieces. Multifunctional CNC CO2 laser processing has low production and maintenance costs. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the housing of the device of the present invention; Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the lifting workbench of the present invention; Figure 3 for Figure 2 Enlarged view of point A in the middle; Figure 4 for Figure 2 Enlarged view of point B in the middle; Figure 5 It is a cross-sectional view of the lifting assembly of the present invention; Figure 6 It is a schematic diagram comparing the positions of the processing work table before and after movement of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0017] The following will be combined with the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention to clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0018] See also Figure 1-6 On one hand, the present invention provides the following technical solutions: a CO2 laser processing equipment, including a lifting workbench, an equipment housing 9, an automatic control system and CAD numerical control programming software, the lifting workbench is located inside the equipment housing 9, the equipment housing 9 includes a guide rail 10, a laser head 11 and a machine tool base 12, the guide rail 10 is located on the upper part of the machine tool base 12, the guide rail 10 slides on the machine tool base 12, the laser head 11 is located on the guide rail 10 and slides on it, the lifting workbench includes a lifting platform assembly and a lifting assembly, the lifting assembly is installed at the bottom of the lifting platform assembly, the lifting platform assembly is lifted and lowered by the lifting assembly, the lifting platform assembly includes a processing workbench 1 and four ball screws 5, The ball screw 5 is installed at the four corners of the processing work table 1. A table structure 101 is set on the top of the processing work table 1. The workpiece is placed on the table structure 101 for laser processing. Table lifting connectors 102 are set at the four corners of the processing work table 1, and one end of the ball screw 5 passes through it and the other end passes into the lifting component. The ball screw 5 is rotated through the lifting component. The ball screw 5 drives the table lifting connector 102 to rotate up and down. The table lifting connector 102 drives the processing work table 1 to move up and down. The laser spot plane motion trajectory, laser parameters and the lifting and lowering of the processing work table 1 are controlled by the automatic control system of the machine tool and the CAD numerical control programming software.

[0019] Specifically, the lifting assembly includes a base 2, a servo motor 3, a transmission belt 4, four gears 6, and four supports. The servo motor 3 is located in the middle of the left side of the base 2. The gear 6 is hollow and is sleeved on the ball screw 5. The transmission belt 4 surrounds the four gears 6 and is sleeved into a square shape and connects the gear 6 to the servo motor 3. The support includes a cover plate 7 and a support member 8. The cover plate 7 is L-shaped, and the support member 8 is a cylinder. The four supports are located at the four corners of the base 2. The ball screw 5 passes through the support and penetrates into the base 2. The gear 6 is limited by the cover plate 7 and the support member 8 above and below and only makes rotational motion. The ball screw 5 penetrates the cover plate 7, gear 6, support member 8, and base 2 in the lifting assembly from top to bottom.

[0020] Specifically, the surface of the ball screw 5 is provided with a thread 501, and the inner side surface of the table lifting connector 102 is provided with a threaded rotating pair that is compatible with the thread 501. Therefore, the rotation of the ball screw 5 drives the processing work table 1 to rise and fall. The inner side surface of the gear 6 is provided with the gear inner tooth surface 603 and meshes with the ball screw 5. Therefore, the servo motor 3 rotates the transmission belt 4, the transmission belt 4 drives the gear 6 to rotate, and the gear 6 drives the ball screw 5 to rotate.

[0021] Specifically, the gear 6 is respectively provided with a circular upper gear groove 601 and a lower gear groove 602, the cover plate 7 is provided with a cover plate protrusion 701 adapted to the upper gear groove 601, and the support member 8 is provided with a support member protrusion 801 adapted to the lower gear groove 602. After the cover plate 7 and the support member 8 are respectively installed in the upper gear groove 601 and the lower gear groove 602 of the gear 6, the gear 6 is restricted to only rotational motion, thereby improving the stability of the movement of the gear 6.

[0022] Specifically, the table structure 101 is a diamond structure and is clamped on the top of the processing worktable 1. The diamond structure can filter out waste slag generated when laser processing a workpiece. The table structure 101 can be removed from the processing worktable 1 and can be selected according to the workpiece processing requirements.

[0023] Specifically, a display 301 is arranged in front of the servo motor 3 , a support column 302 is arranged on the servo motor 3 , and a transmission belt 4 passes through the support column 302 to connect the gear 6 and the servo motor 3 .

[0024] Specifically, a plurality of U-shaped grooves 201 are provided at the four corners of the base 2 to facilitate the movement of the workbench on the laser processing equipment.

[0025] The movement principle of the CO2 laser processing equipment is as follows: a servo motor 3 drives the transmission belt 4 to move, and the transmission belt 4 drives four gears 6 to rotate at the same time. Since the gear 6 is engaged with the four ball screws 5, the gear 6 drives the ball screw 5 to rotate. Since the ball screw 5 and the table lifting connector 102 are fixed by a rotating pair, the rotation of the ball screw 5 drives the table lifting connector 102 and the processing work table 1 thereon to rise and fall, and then the servo motor 3 is controlled by the automatic control system on the machine tool to control the lifting and lowering of the processing work table 1, and then combined with the CAD numerical control programming software to control the plane movement of the laser head 11, so as to realize the processing of larger thickness workpieces or different thickness workpieces of the same product, which can realize one-time continuous plane cutting processing of multiple pieces or multiple stations at different heights, and can also realize the milling and engraving processing of three-dimensional solid workpieces.

[0026] Another aspect of the present invention provides a technical solution: a CO2 laser processing method for a thicker workpiece, which is implemented by using any of the above-mentioned CO2 laser processing equipment. The processing method comprises the following steps: S1: According to the workpiece processing pattern or drawing, the processing position of the light spot motion path trajectory is divided into 1-n sections in the same direction vertically downward from the workpiece surface, and the processing depth of each section is 0 to 10mm; S2: using CAD numerical control programming software to set the laser spot motion path trajectory program, and setting the laser parameters configured for the cutting depth of each section: laser power, defocusing amount and moving speed, and the processing work surface (1) automatically rises to the cutting height position of each section at the required height; S3: Continuously perform 1-n sections of corresponding heights from the outside to the inside until continuous cutting through.

[0027] Specifically, when there are many segments, in order to meet the requirements of verticality and flatness of the cutting surface and avoid the inclination of the cutting slit, the cutting slit width is expanded or the laser beam angle is adjusted on each segment.

[0028] Another aspect of the present invention provides a technical solution: a CO2 laser processing method for a workpiece with uneven height, which is implemented by using any of the CO2 laser processing equipment described above. The processing method comprises the following steps: S1: According to the workpiece processing pattern or drawing, at each height position, the corresponding processing position of the light spot motion path trajectory is divided into 1-m steps; S2: using CAD numerical control programming software to set the laser spot motion path trajectory program, and setting the laser parameters configured for the cutting depth of each step: laser power, defocusing amount and moving speed, and the processing work surface (1) automatically rises to the cutting height position required for each step; S3: Perform continuous cutting of 1-m steps at each corresponding height position.

[0029] Another aspect of the present invention provides a technical solution: a CO2 laser processing method for a three-dimensional solid workpiece, which is implemented by using any of the CO2 laser processing equipment described above. The processing method comprises the following steps: S1: According to the workpiece processing pattern or drawing, the inner cavity or outer shape of the workpiece is divided into 1-k layers accordingly; S2: using CAD numerical control programming software to set the laser spot motion path trajectory program, and setting the laser parameters configured for the ablation depth of each layer: laser power, defocusing amount, moving speed, and the processing work surface (1) automatically rising to the cutting height position at the required height for each layer; S3: Continuously perform laser three-dimensional milling and engraving processing of 1-k layers of corresponding planes from the surface to the inside or from the top to the bottom.

[0030] Finally, it should be noted that the above is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention and is not intended to limit the present invention. Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the aforementioned embodiments, those skilled in the art can still modify the technical solutions described in the aforementioned embodiments or replace some of the technical features therein by equivalents. Any modification, equivalent replacement, improvement, etc. made within the spirit and principle of the present invention shall be included in the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A CO2 laser processing device, comprising a lifting workbench, a device housing (9), an automatic control system and CAD numerical control programming software, wherein the lifting workbench is located inside the device housing (9), the device housing (9) comprises a guide rail (10), a laser head (11) and a machine tool base (12), the guide rail (10) is located on the upper part of the machine tool base (12), and the laser head (11) is located on the guide rail (10), characterized in that: The lifting workbench comprises a lifting platform component and a lifting component, wherein the lifting component is installed at the bottom of the lifting platform component, and the lifting platform component comprises a processing work surface (1) and four ball screws (5), wherein the ball screws (5) are installed at the four corners of the processing work surface (1), and a table structure (101) is arranged on the top of the processing work surface (1), and table lifting connectors (102) are arranged at the four corners of the processing work surface (1) and one end of the ball screw (5) passes through the connectors and the other end passes through the lifting component, and the plane motion trajectory of the laser spot, the laser parameters and the lifting of the processing work surface (1) are controlled by the automatic control system of the machine tool and the CAD numerical control programming software.

2. A CO2 laser processing equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that: The lifting assembly comprises a base (2), a servo motor (3), a transmission belt (4), a gear (6), and a support. The servo motor (3) is located in the middle of the left side of the base (2). The gear (6) is hollow and sleeved on the ball screw (5). The transmission belt (4) sleeves on the gear (6) and connects the gear (6) to the servo motor (3). The support comprises a cover plate (7) and a support member (8). Four supports are located at four corners of the base (2). The ball screw (5) passes through the supports and penetrates into the base (2). The gear (6) is limited in position by the cover plate (7) and the support member (8) at the top and bottom and only performs rotational movement.

3. A CO2 laser processing equipment according to claim 2, characterized in that: The surface of the ball screw (5) is provided with a thread (501), and the inner side surface of the table lifting connector (102) is provided with a threaded rotation pair that matches the thread (501), so that the ball screw (5) rotates to drive the processing work table (1) to rise and fall, and the inner side surface of the gear (6) is provided with an inner gear tooth surface (603) and meshes with the ball screw (5).

4. A CO2 laser processing equipment according to claim 3, characterized in that: The gear (6) is provided with a circular upper gear groove (601) and a lower gear groove (602) at the top and bottom, respectively; the cover plate (7) is provided with a cover plate protrusion (701) matching the upper gear groove (601); and the support member (8) is provided with a support member protrusion (801) matching the lower gear groove (602).

5. The CO2 laser processing equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that: The tabletop structure (101) is a diamond-shaped structure and is clamped on the top of the processing worktable (1).

6. A CO2 laser processing equipment according to claim 2, characterized in that: A display (301) is arranged in front of the servo motor (3), a support (302) is arranged on the servo motor (3), the transmission belt (4) passes through the support (302) to connect the gear (6) and the servo motor (3), and U-shaped grooves (201) are provided at the four corners of the base (2).

7. A CO2 laser processing method for thicker workpieces, characterized in that: The method is implemented by using the CO2 laser processing equipment as described in any one of claims 1 to 6, The processing method comprises the following steps: S1: According to the workpiece processing pattern or drawing, the processing position of the light spot motion path trajectory is divided into 1-n sections in the same direction vertically downward from the workpiece surface, and the processing depth of each section is 0 to 10mm; S2: using CAD numerical control programming software to set the laser spot motion path trajectory program, and setting the laser parameters configured for the cutting depth of each section: laser power, defocusing amount and moving speed, and the processing work surface (1) automatically rises to the cutting height position of each section at the required height; S3: Continuously perform 1-n sections of corresponding heights from the outside to the inside until continuous cutting through.

8. The CO2 laser processing method for a thicker workpiece according to claim 7, characterized in that: Expand the cutting slit width or adjust the laser beam angle on each segment.

9. A CO2 laser processing method for a workpiece with a high degree of unevenness, characterized in that: The method is implemented by using the CO2 laser processing equipment as described in any one of claims 1 to 6, The processing method comprises the following steps: S1: According to the workpiece processing pattern or drawing, at each height position, the corresponding processing position of the light spot motion path trajectory is divided into 1-m steps; S2: using CAD numerical control programming software to set the laser spot motion path trajectory program, and setting the laser parameters configured for the cutting depth of each step: laser power, defocusing amount and moving speed, and the processing work surface (1) automatically rises to the cutting height position required for each step; S3: Perform continuous cutting of 1-m steps at each corresponding height position.

10. A CO2 laser processing method for a three-dimensional solid workpiece, characterized in that: The method is implemented by using the CO2 laser processing equipment as described in any one of claims 1 to 6, The processing method The following steps are involved: S1: According to the workpiece processing pattern or drawing, the inner cavity or outer shape of the workpiece is divided into 1-k layers accordingly; S2: using CAD numerical control programming software to set the laser spot motion path trajectory program, and setting the laser parameters configured for the ablation depth of each layer: laser power, defocusing amount, moving speed, and the processing work surface (1) automatically rising to the cutting height position at the required height for each layer; S3: Continuously perform laser three-dimensional milling and engraving processing of 1-k layers of corresponding planes from the surface to the inside or from the top to the bottom.

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