Focusing method of laser processing equipment, equipment and storage medium

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention relates to the technical field of laser processing, and discloses a focusing method and equipment of laser processing equipment and a program product, the laser processing equipment comprises a laser head and a motor, and the method comprises the steps that the motor is controlled to drive the laser head to move downwards along a Z axis so that the laser head can abut against a processing material; and the state of the motor is detected, if it is detected that the motor is stalled, the motor is controlled to stop running, and the moving distance of the motor for driving the laser head to move downwards is obtained, so that the distance between the laser head and the machining material is obtained. According to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the invention, the distance between the laser head in the laser processing equipment and the processing material can be accurately measured on the basis of reducing the use cost.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of laser processing, and more specifically, to a focusing method of laser processing equipment, laser processing equipment and a computer program product. Background Art

[0002] Laser processing is a technology that uses a focused high-power laser beam to accurately cut materials. The processing equipment needs to be focused before laser processing to ensure the processing effect. At present, laser processing equipment mainly integrates structural parts that can measure distance, so as to use the structural parts to measure the distance between the laser head in the laser processing equipment and the processing material. However, the cost of using these structural parts is relatively high. Therefore, how to accurately measure the distance between the laser head in the laser processing equipment and the processing material on the basis of reducing the cost of use is a problem that needs to be solved urgently. Summary of the invention

[0003] The embodiments of the present application provide a focusing method for processing equipment, a focusing device for processing equipment, an electronic device, a computer-readable storage medium and a computer program product, which can accurately measure the distance between the laser head and the processing material in the laser processing equipment while reducing the cost of use.

[0004] Other features and advantages of the present application will become apparent from the following detailed description, or may be learned in part by the practice of the present application.

[0005] According to one aspect of an embodiment of the present application, an embodiment of the present application provides a focusing method for a laser processing device, the laser processing device comprising a laser head and a motor, the method comprising:

[0006] Control the motor to drive the laser head to move downward along the Z axis so that the laser head abuts against the processing material;

[0007] The state of the motor is detected. If the motor is detected to be blocked, the motor is controlled to stop running, and the moving distance of the motor-driven laser head downward is obtained to obtain the distance between the laser head and the processing material.

[0008] According to one aspect of an embodiment of the present application, an embodiment of the present application provides a laser processing device, including:

[0009] Laser head;

[0010] The motor is connected to the laser head and is used to drive the laser head to move along the Z-axis direction;

[0011] The control module is used to control the motor to drive the laser head to move downward along the Z axis so that the laser head abuts the processing material, and is used to detect the state of the motor. If it is detected that the motor is blocked, the motor is controlled to stop running, and the moving distance of the motor-driven laser head to move downward is obtained to obtain the distance between the laser head and the processing material.

[0012] In one embodiment, based on the aforementioned scheme, the laser processing equipment also includes a driving module, which is connected to the motor; when the control module controls the motor to drive the laser head to move downward along the Z axis so that the laser head abuts the processing material, the control module is used to send a control signal to the driving module, so that the driving module controls the motor to drive the laser head to move downward along the Z axis based on the control signal so that the laser head abuts the processing material.

[0013] In one embodiment, based on the aforementioned scheme, when obtaining the moving distance of the motor-driven laser head moving downward, the control module is also used to obtain the number of pulses of the control signal sent to the driving module during the time period from the laser head moving downward to the motor stopping running, and calculate the moving distance of the laser head based on the number of pulses.

[0014] In one embodiment, based on the above solution, when controlling the motor to stop running, the control module can be specifically used to: stop sending the control signal in response to the movement interrupt signal sent by the driving module to control the motor to stop running.

[0015] In one embodiment, based on the above solution, the method further includes: calculating the thickness of the processed material based on the distance between the laser head and the processed material.

[0016] In one embodiment, based on the above scheme, the control module can be used to detect the reverse electromotive force of the motor when detecting the state of the motor; if the reverse electromotive force is detected to be less than or equal to a preset threshold, it is determined that the motor is stalled.

[0017] In one embodiment, based on the aforementioned scheme, the control module can also be used to: control the motor to drive the laser head to rise along the Z-axis direction so that the laser head returns to a preset height; control the laser head to move along the X-axis direction and / or the Y-axis direction so that the laser head moves to a preset position; when receiving a processing instruction, control the laser head to move along the X-axis direction and / or the Y-axis direction so that the laser head moves to the processing position; based on the moving distance, control the motor to drive the laser head to move along the Z-axis direction so that the focus of the laser head is located on the processing material.

[0018] In one embodiment, based on the aforementioned scheme, when the control module controls the motor to drive the laser head to move along the Z-axis direction based on the moving distance so that the focus of the laser head is located on the processing material, it can be specifically used to: obtain the focal length of the laser head; subtract the moving distance and the focal length to obtain the processing distance of the laser processing equipment; drive the laser head to move based on the processing distance so that the focus of the laser head is located on the processing material.

[0019] According to one aspect of an embodiment of the present application, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon. When the computer program is executed by a processor of an electronic device, the electronic device executes the focusing method of the laser processing equipment as described above.

[0020] According to one aspect of an embodiment of the present application, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer program product, including a computer program, wherein the computer program is stored in a computer-readable storage medium, and a processor of an electronic device reads and executes the computer program from the computer-readable storage medium, so that the electronic device performs the focusing method of the laser processing equipment as described above.

[0021] In the technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present application, by detecting whether the motor is blocked, it is possible to detect whether the laser head is in contact with the processing material, and the distance the laser head moves downward when the laser head is in contact with the processing material is the distance between the laser head and the processing material. It can be seen that the embodiment of the present application does not need to install other structural parts, and the distance between the laser head and the processing material can be accurately obtained only by the characteristics of the motor driving the laser head to move downward. Therefore, the embodiment of the present application can use the original parts in the laser processing equipment to accurately measure the distance between the laser head and the processing material, thereby avoiding the increase in the use cost caused by the installation of structural parts, and is also conducive to improving the utilization rate of the original parts in the laser processing equipment. In the subsequent process of using the laser processing equipment for laser processing, based on the accurately measured distance and the focal length of the laser head, the laser head can be accurately focused, which is conducive to ensuring the focusing accuracy of the laser processing equipment.

[0022] It should be understood that the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the present application. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0023] The drawings herein are incorporated into the specification and constitute a part of the specification, showing embodiments consistent with the present application, and together with the specification, are used to explain the principles of the present application. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present application, and for those of ordinary skill in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative work. In the drawings:

[0024] Figure 1 is a system schematic diagram of a laser processing system provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0025] Figure 2 It is a flow chart of a focusing method of a laser processing equipment provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0026] Figure 3 It is a flow chart of another focusing method of laser processing equipment provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0027] Figure 4 It is a communication connection diagram of each module in a laser processing device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0028] Figure 5 It is a schematic diagram of a module circuit provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0029] Figure 6 It is a schematic diagram of a focusing process of a laser processing device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0030] Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of the movement process of a laser head provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0031] Figure 8 It is a structural diagram of a computer system suitable for implementing an electronic device of an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0032] Here, exemplary embodiments will be described in detail, examples of which are shown in the accompanying drawings. When the following description refers to the drawings, unless otherwise indicated, the same numbers in different drawings represent the same or similar elements. The implementations described in the following exemplary embodiments do not represent all implementations consistent with the present application. Instead, they are only examples of devices and methods consistent with some aspects of the present application as detailed in the attached claims.

[0033] The block diagrams shown in the accompanying drawings are merely functional entities and do not necessarily correspond to physically independent entities. That is, these functional entities may be implemented in software form, or in one or more hardware modules or integrated circuits, or in different networks and / or processor devices and / or microcontroller devices.

[0034] The flowcharts shown in the accompanying drawings are only exemplary and do not necessarily include all contents and operations, nor must they be executed in the order described. For example, some operations may be decomposed, while some operations may be combined or partially combined, so the actual execution order may change according to actual conditions.

[0035] In the embodiments of the present application, the term "module" or "unit" refers to a computer program or a part of a computer program with a predetermined function, and works together with other related parts to achieve a predetermined goal, and can be implemented in whole or in part by using software, hardware (such as processing circuits or memories) or a combination thereof. Similarly, a processor (or multiple processors or memories) can be used to implement one or more modules or units. In addition, each module or unit can be part of an overall module or unit that includes the function of the module or unit.

[0036] It should also be noted that the "multiple" mentioned in this application refers to two or more than two. "And / or" describes the association relationship of the associated objects, indicating that there can be three relationships. For example, A and / or B can mean: A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone. The character " / " generally indicates that the previous and next associated objects are in an "or" relationship.

[0037] At present, in order to ensure processing safety and better processing effects, laser processing equipment needs to be focused before laser processing. The light spot of the laser processing equipment (specifically, it can be the laser head in the processing equipment) is the smallest when it is at a certain distance from the processing material. This light spot is called the focus, and this distance is called the focal length. The focusing of the laser processing equipment means that when the laser processing equipment (specifically, it can be the laser head in the laser processing equipment) is at a certain height (such as focal length), the light spot at the focus is at the minimum value, so that the processing effect is the best.

[0038] However, there are many kinds of processing materials with different thicknesses, which makes the distance between the laser processing equipment and different processing materials different. Therefore, it is necessary to continuously measure the distance between the laser head in the laser processing equipment and the processing material, and refocus based on the measured distance and the focal length of the laser processing equipment, so that the laser processing equipment can achieve better processing effects.

[0039] In the related art, the focusing process between the laser processing equipment and the processing material before processing is usually completed manually by the staff. This method will inevitably result in certain manual errors, and the focusing efficiency is also very low. In addition, some laser processing equipment will be equipped with a BL-touch structural part (a sensor) to determine the distance between the processing material and the laser head of the laser processing equipment by touching the processing material with the BL-touch structural part to assist in focusing. Although this method can realize the automation of the focusing process, it is necessary to install a BL-touch structural part on the laser processing equipment. The BL-touch structural part will occupy a certain space in the laser processing equipment and has high space requirements; and after the BL-touch structural part has been used for a period of time, the sensitivity will decrease, and focusing failures may occur, which requires time and effort to maintain; it can be seen that the existing solution of adding structural parts has high usage costs in terms of space and maintenance.

[0040] Based on this, an embodiment of the present application provides a focusing method for laser processing equipment. During the focusing process of this scheme, the motor in the laser processing equipment is directly controlled to drive the laser head to move downward along the Z axis so that the laser head contacts the processing material. At the same time, the state of the motor is also detected. If it is detected that the motor is blocked, the motor is controlled to stop running, and the moving distance of the motor-driven laser head downward is obtained to obtain the distance between the laser head and the processing material.

[0041] The Z axis is the axis perpendicular to the ground in the coordinate system, so the movement on the Z axis mainly includes upward movement relative to the ground and downward movement relative to the ground. Motor stalling refers to the situation where the motor cannot rotate normally; the reason for motor stalling in this solution is that the laser head is in contact with the processing material, which will prevent the laser head from moving downward, causing the motor that drives the laser head to move to fail to rotate normally.

[0042] It is not difficult to see that in this solution, by detecting whether the motor is blocked, it is possible to detect whether the laser head is in contact with the processing material, and the distance the laser head moves downward when the laser head is in contact with the processing material is the distance between the laser head and the processing material. It can be seen that this solution does not require the installation of other structural parts, and the distance between the laser head and the processing material can be accurately obtained only by the characteristics of the motor driving the laser head to move downward. Therefore, this solution can accurately measure the distance between the laser head and the processing material in the laser processing equipment on the basis of reducing the cost of use. In the subsequent process of using the laser processing equipment for laser processing, based on the accurately measured distance and the focal length of the laser processing equipment, the precise focusing of the laser processing equipment can be achieved, which is conducive to ensuring the focusing accuracy of the laser processing equipment.

[0043] Based on the above solution, the present application embodiment provides a laser processing system, which can be seen in Figure 1 , Figure 1 The laser processing system shown includes a laser processing device 101, that is, a terminal device 102 that establishes a wireless or wired communication connection with the laser processing device 101. The laser processing device 101 may include a material placement platform 103, which can be placed on the material placement platform 103. In some other embodiments, the material placement platform 103 can also be external. The laser processing device 101 can be a laser welding machine, a laser engraving machine, a laser cutting machine, a laser carving and cutting machine, etc., mainly refers to a device that can realize processing by laser.

[0044] The laser processing equipment 101 includes a control module 105 , a driving module 106 , a motor 107 connected to the driving module 106 , and a laser head 108 driven and controlled by the motor 107 . The processing material 104 is located below the laser head 108 .

[0045] Specifically, the control module 105 can control the driving module 106 to drive the motor 107 by sending a signal, so as to control the movement of the laser head 108. The laser head 108 is used to emit a laser beam. The laser head 108 can be provided with a laser, which is a device that generates a laser beam; for example, the laser can include at least one of a fiber laser, a gas laser, a semiconductor laser, and the like. The terminal device 102 can include any one or more of a smart phone, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a desktop computer, an intelligent voice interaction device, a smart home appliance, a vehicle-mounted terminal, an aircraft, and an intelligent wearable device.

[0046] In one embodiment, the focusing method of the laser processing equipment can be Figure 1 The laser processing equipment 101 shown is executed, and the specific execution process is: the control module 105 in the laser processing equipment 101 controls the motor to drive the laser head 108 to move downward along the Z axis so that the laser head 108 abuts against the processing material 104; the control module 105 detects the state of the motor 107. If it is detected that the motor 107 is blocked, the motor 107 is controlled to stop running, and the moving distance of the motor 107 driving the laser head 108 to move downward is obtained to obtain the distance between the laser head 108 and the processing material 104.

[0047] In one embodiment, the focusing method of the laser processing equipment can be Figure 1The processing device 101 and the terminal device 102 shown in the figure are executed together, and the specific execution process is as follows: the control module 105 in the laser processing device 101 controls the motor to drive the laser head 108 to move downward along the Z axis so that the laser head 108 abuts against the processing material 104; the control module 105 detects the state of the motor 107, and if it is detected that the motor 107 is blocked, the motor 107 is controlled to stop running, and the moving distance of the motor 107 driving the laser head 108 to move downward is obtained to obtain the distance between the laser head 108 and the processing material 104. Then, the control module 105 can send the moving distance to the terminal device 102, and the terminal device 102 can obtain the processing distance that the laser head 108 should move downward during the laser processing according to the moving distance and the processing focal length of the laser processing device 101, so as to subsequently drive the laser head 108 to move according to the processing distance so that the focus of the laser head 108 is located on the processing material 104.

[0048] It should be noted that the embodiments of the present application can be applied to various scenarios where laser processing equipment may be required for material processing, including but not limited to metal processing, wood engraving, cutting and other application scenarios.

[0049] It should be noted that in the specific implementation of this application, if relevant data or information such as signals and distances are related to objects, when the embodiments of this application are applied to specific products or technologies, it is necessary to obtain the permission or consent of the object, and the collection, use and processing of relevant data or information need to comply with relevant laws, regulations and standards of relevant countries and regions.

[0050] The following is a detailed description of various implementation details of the technical solution of the embodiment of the present application:

[0051] like Figure 2 As shown, Figure 2 is a flow chart of a focusing method of a laser processing device shown in an embodiment of the present application, which can be applied to Figure 1 The laser processing system shown in the figure, the method can be executed by the laser processing device or the terminal device, or by the laser processing device and the terminal device together, or by the various modules in the laser processing device in collaboration. In the embodiment of the present application, the method is described by taking the laser processing device as an example.

[0052] The focusing method of the laser processing equipment may include S201 to S202, which are described in detail as follows:

[0053] S201, controlling the motor to drive the laser head to move downward along the Z axis so that the laser head contacts the processing material.

[0054] In an embodiment of the present application, a control module in the laser processing equipment can be used to send a control signal to a drive module in the laser processing equipment, so that the drive module can control the motor to drive the laser head to move downward along the Z axis based on the control signal, so that the laser head abuts the processing material.

[0055] In a specific implementation, the control module may be an integrated circuit that integrates a central processing unit (CPU), a memory (ROM, RAM) and various peripheral interfaces (such as input and output pins, timers, serial ports, etc.). The control module may also be a microcontroller unit (MCU) integrated in the processing equipment.

[0056] The drive module is used to amplify the signal and convert it into a current or voltage signal that the motor can recognize, thereby driving the motor to operate. The drive module can specifically be a motor driver chip with a stall detection mechanism. Stall detection is manifested as motor stall (rotation is hindered) in a macro sense, so this detection mechanism is also called a stall detection mechanism.

[0057] Specifically, the drive module can detect the stall condition by detecting the back electromotive force generated by the motor it drives, and take corresponding measures to protect the motor and the system.

[0058] In one embodiment, after the control module generates a control signal for the laser head, it sends the control signal to the drive module; then, the drive module receives the control signal sent by the control module and generates a motor drive signal that matches the received control signal; then, the drive module sends the motor drive signal to the motor, the motor receives the motor drive signal sent by the drive module, and drives the laser head to move downward in response to the motor drive signal so that the laser head abuts the processing material.

[0059] S202, detecting the state of the motor. If it is detected that the motor is blocked, the motor is controlled to stop running, and the moving distance of the laser head driven by the motor to move downward is obtained to obtain the distance between the laser head and the processing material.

[0060] In the embodiment of the present application, the state of the motor includes whether the motor is stalled or not. Specifically, if the motor is stalled, it means that the laser head is in contact with the processing material; if the motor is not stalled, it means that the laser head is not in contact with the processing material.

[0061] In one embodiment, when the laser head contacts (i.e. abuts) the processing material, the downward movement of the laser head is hindered and the laser head will stall, and the motor corresponding to the laser head will be stalled. When the motor is stalled, the reverse electromotive force generated by the motor will decrease or disappear because the motor cannot rotate normally; therefore, the state of the motor can be detected by detecting the reverse electromotive force of the motor.

[0062] Specifically, if the reverse electromotive force of the motor is detected to be less than or equal to a preset threshold, it is determined that the motor is stalled; if the reverse electromotive force of the motor is detected to be greater than the preset threshold, it is determined that the motor is not stalled. The preset threshold may be set manually or by a terminal device in the focusing system of the above-mentioned laser processing equipment or other modules in the processing equipment, which is not limited here. Optionally, whether the reverse electromotive force is greater than the preset threshold may be detected by other methods, which are not limited here.

[0063] Optionally, since the aforementioned driving module is connected to the motor, the driving module can be used to detect the reverse electromotive force on the motor winding, thereby detecting the stall condition of the motor.

[0064] Optionally, since the current of the motor is affected by the back electromotive force, and the stall sensitivity of the motor can characterize the current change of the motor, the specific process of obtaining the back electromotive force using the drive module may include: using the drive module to detect the current change of the motor to obtain the stall sensitivity of the motor; and obtaining the back electromotive force of the motor based on the obtained stall sensitivity.

[0065] In one possible implementation, the current changes of the motor are different at different time points; accordingly, the back electromotive force generated by the motor at different time points will also be different; therefore, the specific process of obtaining the back electromotive force using the drive module may include: using the drive module to detect the current changes of the motor in real time to continuously obtain the stall sensitivity of the motor, and continuously obtaining the back electromotive force of the motor through the obtained stall sensitivity.

[0066] Optionally, if it is detected that the most recently acquired reverse electromotive force is greater than a preset threshold, it can be determined that the motor is not stalled; if it is detected that the most recently acquired reverse electromotive force is less than or equal to the preset threshold, it can be determined that the motor is stalled.

[0067] In one embodiment, if it is detected that the motor is stalled, the driving module may send a movement interruption signal to the control module, and the control module may stop sending the control signal in response to the movement interruption signal sent by the driving module to control the motor to stop running.

[0068] In the embodiment of the present application, it is mentioned above that when the processing lens barrel contacts the processing material, the motor will be stalled, so that the reverse electromotive force generated by the motor will decrease or disappear; however, during the operation of the motor, the reverse electromotive force may also fluctuate slightly, resulting in a decrease in the reverse electromotive force. Therefore, the reverse electromotive force needs to be reduced to a certain extent to determine that the laser head is in contact with the processing material. The embodiment of the present application detects whether the reverse electromotive force is less than or equal to a preset threshold, and then determines whether the motor is stalled. This can effectively ensure that when the motor is detected to be stalled, the laser head has already abutted against the processing material, thereby facilitating the improvement of the accuracy of the subsequent movement distance obtained.

[0069] In one possible implementation, since it was mentioned above that the reverse electromotive force can be obtained through the stall sensitivity, the specific process of detecting whether the reverse electromotive force is greater than a preset threshold value may include: detecting the current change of the motor through the driving module to obtain the stall sensitivity of the motor; if the obtained stall sensitivity reaches the preset sensitivity, determining that the reverse electromotive force is less than or equal to the preset threshold; if the obtained stall sensitivity does not reach the preset sensitivity, determining that the reverse electromotive force is greater than the preset threshold.

[0070] The preset sensitivity can be set by setting the value of the sensitivity parameter in the driving module. The preset sensitivity can be set manually or by the terminal device in the focusing system of the above laser processing equipment or other modules in the laser processing equipment, which is not limited here.

[0071] In a specific implementation, the sensitivity parameter in the driver module can be set in a register, assuming that its register address is 0X40. When configured as 0, it represents the least sensitive (i.e., the least likely to stall), and when configured as 255, it represents the most sensitive (i.e., the most likely to stall). By setting a suitable register value (i.e., preset sensitivity), the current drop can be monitored, thereby realizing the monitoring of the motor's reverse electromotive force.

[0072] In one embodiment, once a motor stall is detected, the driver module can trigger a stall event and take the following measures to protect the motor and the system:

[0073] 1) Dynamic current adjustment: The drive module can automatically adjust the motor's drive current according to the stall situation. When the motor is stalled, the drive module can provide a higher current to increase the motor's torque, thereby overcoming the stall resistance. This can reduce the load on the motor and avoid possible damage.

[0074] 2) Abnormal protection: The drive module also has built-in over-temperature protection and over-current protection functions. When a stall occurs, the motor current will increase, which may cause over-current and overheating. The drive module can protect the motor and system from potential risks by monitoring the current and chip temperature.

[0075] 3) Error signal reporting: The drive module can indicate the occurrence of a stall event by outputting an error signal. These signals can be received by the control module or main board to which the drive module is connected, thereby triggering the corresponding processing procedures or alarms to further prevent motor damage or system failure.

[0076] In a possible implementation, the moving distance of the laser head can be calculated based on the number of pulses by acquiring the number of pulses of the control signal sent to the driving module during the period from when the laser head moves downward to when the motor stops running.

[0077] In this embodiment, the starting time point when the laser head moves downward and the stopping time point when the control module stops sending the control signal can be recorded; then, the control signal segment generated by the control module from the starting time point to the stopping time point is obtained; finally, based on the signal waveform contained in the control signal segment, the total number of pulses of the moving signal sent by the control module within the time period is determined.

[0078] The high and low level changes of the signal will generate pulses, thus causing the signal to fluctuate. Therefore, the number of pulses of the control signal sent by the control module in a time period can be determined based on the number of level changes caused by the signal waveform changes in the control signal segment.

[0079] Optionally, the pulses may be counted by controlling the rising edge or falling edge interrupt of the module, or the number of pulses may be calculated by mathematical analysis, Fourier transform, etc., which is not limited here.

[0080] Specifically, the moment when the control module stops sending control signals is the moment when the laser head is determined to have contacted the processing material. Therefore, by obtaining the number of pulses of the control signal sent by the control module from the start time point to the stop time point, the movement distance of the laser head can be accurately calculated. Based on such a precise movement distance, the focusing accuracy of the laser processing equipment can be effectively improved.

[0081] In the embodiment of the present application, by detecting whether the motor is blocked, it is possible to detect whether the laser head is in contact with the processing material, and the distance the laser head moves downward when the laser head is in contact with the processing material is the distance between the laser head and the processing material. It can be seen that the embodiment of the present application does not need to install other structural parts, and the distance between the laser head and the processing material can be accurately obtained only by the characteristics of the laser head itself when the motor drives the laser head to move downward. Therefore, the embodiment of the present application can use the original parts in the laser processing equipment to accurately measure the distance between the laser head and the processing material, thereby avoiding the increase in the use cost caused by the installation of structural parts, which is conducive to improving the utilization rate of the original parts in the laser processing equipment. In the subsequent process of using the laser processing equipment for laser processing, based on the accurately measured distance and the focal length of the laser head, the laser head can be accurately focused, which is conducive to ensuring the focusing accuracy of the laser processing equipment.

[0082] In some embodiments, the focusing method further includes: calculating the thickness of the processed material based on the distance between the laser head and the processed material. After obtaining the distance between the laser head and the processed material, the thickness of the processed material can be calculated based on the distance between the laser head and the base plate and the distance between the laser head and the processed material. For example, assuming that the distance between the laser head and the processed material is S1, and the distance between the laser head and the base plate is S2, the thickness of the processed material H = S2-S1. In this way, focusing is performed based on the thickness of the processed material, that is, controlling the lifting and lowering of the laser head.

[0083] like Figure 3 As shown, Figure 3 is a flow chart of a focusing method of a laser processing device shown in an embodiment of the present application, which can be applied to Figure 1 The laser processing system shown in the figure, the method can be executed by the laser processing device or the terminal device, or by the laser processing device and the terminal device together, or by the various modules in the laser processing device in collaboration. In the embodiment of the present application, the method is described by taking the laser processing device as an example.

[0084] The focusing method of the laser processing equipment may include S301 to S306, which are described in detail as follows:

[0085] S301, controlling the motor to drive the laser head to move downward along the Z axis so that the laser head abuts against the processing material.

[0086] In the embodiment of the present application, the specific implementation of step S301 can refer to the specific implementation of step S201, which will not be repeated here.

[0087] S302, detecting the state of the motor. If it is detected that the motor is blocked, the motor is controlled to stop running, and the moving distance of the laser head driven by the motor to move downward is obtained to obtain the distance between the laser head and the processing material.

[0088] In the embodiment of the present application, the specific implementation of step S302 can refer to the specific implementation of step S202, which will not be repeated here.

[0089] S303, controlling the motor to drive the laser head to rise along the Z-axis direction, so that the laser head returns to a preset height.

[0090] In the embodiment of the present application, the preset height is the height of the laser head before the motor is controlled to drive the laser head to move downward along the Z axis in step S301.

[0091] Specifically, the control module can send a control signal for controlling the laser head to rise along the Z-axis direction to the drive module, so that the drive module controls the motor to drive the laser head to rise along the Z-axis direction based on the control signal, so that the laser head returns to a preset height.

[0092] S304, controlling the laser head to move along the X-axis direction and / or the Y-axis direction, so that the laser head moves to a preset position.

[0093] In the embodiment of the present application, the X-axis direction is parallel to the horizontal direction, the Y-axis direction is also parallel to the horizontal direction, and the X-axis direction is perpendicular to the Y-axis direction; since the Z-axis direction is perpendicular to the ground, the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction are both perpendicular to the Z-axis direction. The preset position is the origin position when the laser head is not working.

[0094] S305 , when a processing instruction is received, the laser head is controlled to move along the X-axis direction and / or the Y-axis direction, so that the laser head moves to the processing position.

[0095] In the embodiment of the present application, the processing instruction is used to instruct the start of the current processing. Optionally, the processing instruction may also include the position information of the processing starting point where the laser head of the current processing is located.

[0096] The processing position is the starting position of the laser head in this processing as indicated by the processing instruction.

[0097] S306, based on the moving distance, controlling the motor to drive the laser head to move along the Z-axis direction so that the focus of the laser head is located on the processing material.

[0098] In an embodiment of the present application, the focal length of the laser head can be obtained, and then the processing distance of the laser processing equipment can be calculated based on the moving distance and the focal length of the laser head; finally, the laser head is driven to move based on the processing distance so that the focus of the laser head is located on the processing material.

[0099] Optionally, the moving distance and the focal length may be subtracted to obtain the processing distance of the laser processing equipment. Optionally, the motor may be controlled to drive the laser head to move the processing distance downward along the Z-axis direction, so that the distance between the laser head and the processing material is the focal length of the laser head, thereby achieving the focus of the laser head being located on the processing material.

[0100] Optionally, the thickness of the material may be determined based on the moving distance, and then the motor laser head may be controlled to move the processing distance downward along the Z-axis direction based on the thickness of the material and the focal length.

[0101] In one embodiment, the moving distance can be sent to a terminal device in the above system, and the terminal device obtains the focal length of the laser head and calculates the processing distance of the laser processing equipment based on the moving distance and the focal length of the laser head; then, the terminal device can send the processing distance to the laser processing equipment, and the laser processing equipment focuses the laser head based on the processing distance so that the focus of the laser head is located on the processing material.

[0102] Optionally, considering that when the distance between the laser head and the processed material is the focal length, the light spot at the focus is at the minimum value, the processing effect is good at this time, but the energy may be too large, causing the material temperature to be too high, the material to be damaged, etc., which will affect the processing effect. Therefore, in order to further improve the processing effect of the laser processing equipment, the distance between the laser head and the processed material can be controlled to be slightly smaller or larger than the focal length.

[0103] Then, the calculation process of the processing distance of the laser processing equipment may include: adding the material processing protection distance to the focal length to obtain a reference focal length; subtracting the moving distance from the reference focal length to obtain the processing distance of the laser processing equipment.

[0104] Among them, the material processing protection distance can be a positive number or a negative number. The material processing protection distance can be set manually, or it can be set by the terminal device in the focusing system of the above-mentioned laser processing equipment or other modules in the laser processing equipment, which is not limited here. Specifically, the material processing protection distance can be set according to one or more conditions such as the laser beam energy intensity of the processing equipment, the thickness of the processing material, the material of the processing material, etc. For example, the material processing protection distance can be 5mm, 2mm, etc.

[0105] In one possible implementation, if the distance between the laser head and the processing material is too large, it will affect the processing effect of the laser processing equipment, and will also cause the laser processing equipment to move up and down along the Z axis too long in the subsequent processing process, thereby affecting the processing efficiency. At the same time, if there are holes or grooves in the processing material below the laser head, the laser head and the processing material cannot be abutted, and the motor cannot be stalled, so that the distance between the laser head and the processing material cannot be measured.

[0106] Therefore, in order to improve the processing effect and efficiency, and to avoid the above situation, and to ensure that the distance between the laser head and the processed material can be measured, the maximum moving distance of the laser head can be set.

[0107] Then, before controlling the motor to stop running in step S302, the real-time moving distance of the laser head moving downward along the Z axis can also be obtained in real time; if the real-time moving distance reaches the maximum moving distance set for the laser head and the motor is not blocked, the position adjustment information for the laser head can be generated.

[0108] The position adjustment information is used to prompt the staff to adjust the relative position between the processing material and the laser head so that the processing material is located below the laser head and there is substantial material in the portion of the processing material below the laser head that can contact the laser head.

[0109] In another possible implementation, after the motor is controlled to stop running, the laser head cannot be kept in contact with the processing material, which may cause wear of the material or the laser head, thereby affecting the subsequent processing effect. Therefore, after detecting that the motor is stalled, the laser head can be controlled to rise a certain distance to protect the laser head and the processing material.

[0110] In another possible implementation, considering that the configuration strategy of the driver module adapted to the stall detection mechanism will affect the normal operation of the driver module when stall detection is not required to a certain extent, therefore, before step S301, the parameters in the driver module may be configured by adopting the stall configuration strategy adapted to the stall detection mechanism, and after step S302, the parameters in the driver module may be configured by adopting the stall configuration strategy that does not enable the stall matching the normal operation of the driver module.

[0111] The parameters to be configured in the stall configuration strategy may include at least one of a drive register parameter, a stall sensitivity parameter, a drive mode parameter, a signal modulation parameter, and a temperature cooling parameter. Accordingly, the stall configuration strategy may include setting the drive register parameter to a first value matching the stall detection mechanism, setting the stall sensitivity parameter to a preset sensitivity, setting the drive mode parameter to a silent mode, setting the signal modulation parameter to a preset modulation threshold, and setting the temperature cooling parameter to a specified cooling threshold.

[0112] Specifically, considering that the stall detection mechanism of many motor driver chips can only run in silent mode, the drive mode parameters are set to silent mode. In addition, the preset modulation threshold is equivalent to the switching threshold of the drive mode parameters. When the level of the input signal is less than or equal to the preset modulation threshold, the drive mode parameters are switched from silent mode to high-speed mode. In addition, the temperature cooling parameter is to cool the motor when the motor temperature reaches the specified cooling threshold.

[0113] The parameters to be configured in the disabling stall configuration strategy may include at least one of a drive register parameter, a drive mode parameter, a signal modulation parameter, and a temperature cooling parameter. Accordingly, the disabling stall configuration strategy may include setting the drive register parameter to a second value matching the motor operation, setting the drive mode parameter to a high-speed mode, setting the signal modulation parameter to a reference modulation threshold (the reference modulation threshold is much larger than the preset modulation threshold to avoid subsequent mode switching), and setting the temperature cooling parameter to a closed cooling threshold (to turn off the temperature cooling protection function of the drive module).

[0114] Specifically, the reference modulation threshold may be the maximum value that the signal modulation parameter can set, and the preset modulation threshold may be the minimum value that the signal modulation parameter can set. The closed cooling threshold may be the minimum value that the temperature cooling parameter can set, so as to realize the temperature cooling protection function of closing the driving module.

[0115] It should be noted that some values ​​that need to be pre-set in the above configuration strategy (such as preset modulation threshold, specified cooling threshold, etc.) can be set manually, or can be set by the terminal device in the focusing system of the above laser processing equipment or other modules in the laser processing equipment, which is not limited here.

[0116] For specific implementation, please refer to the attached Figure 4 , shows a schematic diagram of the communication connection of each module in a laser processing device. Figure 4 As shown, the control module and the drive module in the laser processing equipment communicate and interact mainly through three types of signals.

[0117] The first is the serial communication signal (Universal Asynchronous Receiver / Transmitter, UART), which is transmitted based on the serial communication protocol. The second is the stall detection signal, which can be transmitted based on the DIAG pin in the driver module. The DIAG pin is an important pin on the motor driver chip, which is mainly used to output the stall detection signal. When the motor is stalled, the DIAG pin will send the signal to the control module to inform the motor that it is currently stalled. The third is the three types of control signals, and the aforementioned movement signals belong to these three types of control signals. The three types of control signals mainly include pulse control signals (ie, STEP signals), direction control signals (ie, DIR signals) and enable control signals (ie, EN signals).

[0118] The driving module in the laser processing equipment controls the stepper motor (i.e., the motor that controls the processing lens barrel) through the phase signal. Specifically, the driving module can convert the three types of control signals received into corresponding phase signals, thereby controlling the stepper motor to move the processing lens barrel.

[0119] In hardware construction, in order to simplify the connection between the control module and the drive module, thereby simplifying the overall circuit connection and improving the circuit design efficiency of the laser processing equipment, the pull-up circuit and pull-down circuit between the control module and the drive module can be integrated into the control module. Figure 5 , shows a schematic diagram of a module circuit. Figure 5 As shown, the original DIAG pin of the driving module needs to design a complex circuit 501 to achieve the signal connection with the control module. However, after the circuit with the same design logic as the circuit 501 is integrated into the control module, the circuit 502 connected to the pin PB8 for connecting the control module to the driving module and the circuit 503 connected to the pin PB13 become very simple.

[0120] In some embodiments, in actual applications, the configuration of the input / output port (IO) of the control module is as shown in Table 1 below:

[0121] Table 1

[0122]

[0123] The configuration of the drive module when the stall strategy is disabled is shown in Table 2 below:

[0124] Table 2

[0125]

[0126]

[0127] Among them, CHPCONF is the register parameter of the aforementioned drive module, and the first value is 0x34010053 at this time; GCONF is the aforementioned drive mode parameter, TPWMTHRS is the aforementioned signal modulation parameter; TCOOLTHRS is the aforementioned temperature cooling parameter, and the closed cooling threshold is 0 at this time, indicating that the temperature protection is turned off.

[0128] The configuration of the drive module when the enabling stall strategy is adopted is shown in Table 3 below:

[0129] Table 3

[0130]

[0131]

[0132]

[0133] Among them, SGTHRS is the aforementioned stall sensitivity parameter, and PWM is the abbreviation of pulse width modulation (Pulse Width Modulation) signal.

[0134] Based on the above example, see the attached Figure 6 , shows a schematic diagram of the focusing process of a laser processing device. Figure 6 As shown, the control module can be initialized first, that is, the control module is configured using the strategy shown in Table 1, and the drive module is configured using the enable stall configuration strategy shown in Table 2. After the configuration is completed, the control module starts to send a movement signal to the drive module, so that the drive module drives the motor to start moving, thereby moving the processing lens barrel downward. Figure 7 As shown in part ① in FIG. 1 , the laser head 108 moves toward the processing material 104 below.

[0135] Then, if Figure 6 As shown, the control module can detect whether a movement interruption signal (specifically, a stall detection signal sent by the drive module) is received before the movement distance of the laser head reaches the maximum movement distance. Figure 7 As shown in part ② in FIG. 1 , when the laser head 108 contacts the processing material 104 , a reverse electromotive force 701 is generated. When the reverse electromotive force 701 is less than or equal to a preset threshold, the driving module can generate a movement interrupt signal 702 .

[0136] If the movement interruption signal is not detected, it means that the relative distance between the laser head and the processing material is too large. At this time, position adjustment information can be generated. After the drive module detects the position adjustment information, it can also be determined that the stall detection has ended. The drive module can be configured using the disabled stall configuration strategy shown in Table 3 to turn off the stall detection and end the focus.

[0137] If the motion interruption signal is detected, it means that the laser head has come into contact with the processing material. Figure 7 As shown, at this time, the control module can stop sending movement signals to the drive module to control the motor to stop running, thereby controlling the processing lens barrel to stop moving. At this time, the drive module can also be configured using the disabled stall configuration strategy shown in Table 3 to turn off stall detection.

[0138] Afterwards, the control module can control the motor to drive the laser head to rise along the Z-axis direction to return the laser head to the preset height, so that the laser head returns to the original position, and at the same time, it can also avoid wear and tear on the processing material and the laser head. Figure 7 As shown in part ③, the control module can send the downward movement distance of the processing lens barrel to the terminal device 102, so that the terminal device 102 calculates the processing distance based on the movement distance and the focal length of the laser processing equipment, and then can control the focus of the laser head to be located on the processing material based on the processing distance.

[0139] In general, the current consumer-grade processing equipment occupies an increasingly larger volume due to the gradual increase in power; this embodiment uses the inherent properties of the motor, relying on the existing control module and drive module in the laser processing equipment, to achieve precise focusing at the chip level. In this way, compared to the existing solution that requires the design and installation of BL-touch structural parts, this embodiment can effectively reduce the space requirements and costs of processing equipment. In addition, BL-touch structural parts have a limited lifespan and are easily damaged, while the modules used in this embodiment are mainly integrated chips, which have a longer lifespan and are not easily damaged.

[0140] In an embodiment of the present application, by obtaining the downward movement distance of the laser head when the motor is stalled, the precise distance between the laser head and the processing material when the laser head is at the original preset height can be obtained; and after the distance is determined, each time the processing starts, based on the distance between the laser head and the processing material and the focal length of the laser head, it is possible to accurately calculate how much the laser head should move downward in order to achieve the distance between the laser head and the processing material as the focal length, thereby achieving precise focusing of the laser head, which is beneficial to improving the accuracy of automatic focusing of the laser processing equipment.

[0141] An embodiment of the present application also provides an electronic device, comprising one or more processors and a storage device, wherein the storage device is used to store one or more computer programs, and when the one or more computer programs are executed by one or more processors, the electronic device implements the focusing method of the laser processing equipment as described above.

[0142] Figure 7 A schematic diagram of the structure of a computer system suitable for implementing an electronic device of an embodiment of the present application is shown.

[0143] It should be noted that Figure 7 The computer system 700 of the electronic device shown is only an example and should not bring any limitation to the functions and scope of use of the embodiments of the present application.

[0144] like Figure 7 As shown, computer system 700 includes a processor (Central Processing Unit, CPU) 701, which can perform various appropriate actions and processes according to the program stored in the read-only memory (Read-Only Memory, ROM) 702 or the program loaded from the storage part 708 to the random access memory (Random Access Memory, RAM) 703, such as executing the method in the above embodiment. In RAM 703, various programs and data required for system operation are also stored. CPU 701, ROM 702 and RAM 703 are connected to each other through bus 704. Input / output (Input / Output, I / O) interface 707 is also connected to bus 704.

[0145] In some embodiments, the following components are connected to the I / O interface 705: an input section 706 including a keyboard, a mouse, etc.; an output section 707 including a cathode ray tube (CRT), a liquid crystal display (LCD), etc., and a speaker; a storage section 708 including a hard disk, etc.; and a communication section 709 including a network interface card such as a LAN (Local Area Network) card, a modem, etc. The communication section 709 performs communication processing via a network such as the Internet. A drive 710 is also connected to the I / O interface 705 as needed. A removable medium 711, such as a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, a semiconductor memory, etc., is installed on the drive 710 as needed, so that a computer program read therefrom is installed into the storage section 708 as needed.

[0146] In particular, according to an embodiment of the present application, the process described above with reference to the flowchart can be implemented as a computer program. For example, an embodiment of the present application includes a computer program product, which includes a computer program carried on a computer-readable medium, and the computer program includes a computer program for executing the method shown in the flowchart. In such an embodiment, the computer program can be downloaded and installed from the network through the communication part 709, and / or installed from the removable medium 711. When the computer program is executed by the processor (CPU) 701, various functions defined in the system of the present application are executed.

[0147] It should be noted that the computer-readable medium shown in the embodiment of the present application can be a computer-readable signal medium or a computer-readable storage medium or any combination of the above two. The computer-readable storage medium can be, for example, an electrical, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, device or device, or any combination of the above. More specific examples of computer-readable storage media can include, but are not limited to: an electrical connection with one or more wires, a portable computer disk, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory), a flash memory, an optical fiber, a portable compact disk read-only memory (Compact Disc Read-Only Memory, CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the above. In the present application, a computer-readable signal medium may include a data signal propagated in a baseband or as part of a carrier wave, wherein a computer-readable computer program is carried. This propagated data signal can take a variety of forms, including but not limited to an electromagnetic signal, an optical signal, or any suitable combination of the above. A computer-readable signal medium may also be any computer-readable medium other than a computer-readable storage medium, which may send, propagate or transmit a program for use by or in conjunction with an instruction execution system, apparatus or device. A computer program contained on a computer-readable medium may be transmitted using any appropriate medium, including but not limited to: wireless, wired, etc., or any suitable combination of the above.

[0148] The flowcharts and block diagrams in the accompanying drawings illustrate the possible architecture, functions and operations of the devices, methods and computer program products according to various embodiments of the present application. Among them, each box in the flowchart or block diagram can represent a module, a program segment, or a part of the code, and the above-mentioned module, program segment, or a part of the code contains one or more executable instructions for realizing the specified logical function. It should also be noted that in some alternative implementations, the functions marked in the box can also occur in a different order from the order marked in the accompanying drawings. For example, two boxes represented in succession can actually be executed substantially in parallel, and they can sometimes be executed in the opposite order, depending on the functions involved. It should also be noted that each box in the block diagram or flowchart, and the combination of boxes in the block diagram or flowchart, can be implemented with a dedicated hardware-based system that performs a specified function or operation, or can be implemented with a combination of dedicated hardware and a computer program.

[0149] The units or modules involved in the embodiments described in this application may be implemented by software or hardware, and the units or modules described may also be set in a processor. The names of these units or modules do not, in some cases, constitute limitations on the units or modules themselves.

[0150] Another aspect of the present application further provides a computer-readable storage medium on which a computer program is stored, and when the computer program is executed by a processor, the focusing method of the laser processing device as described above is implemented. The computer-readable storage medium may be included in the electronic device described in the above embodiment, or may exist independently without being assembled into the electronic device.

[0151] Another aspect of the present application also provides a computer program product, which includes a computer program stored in a computer-readable storage medium. A processor of an electronic device reads the computer program from the computer-readable storage medium, and the processor executes the computer program, so that the electronic device performs the focusing method of the laser processing device as described above in the above-mentioned embodiments.

[0152] It should be noted that, although several modules or units of the equipment for action execution are mentioned in the above detailed description, this division is not mandatory. In fact, according to the embodiments of the present application, the features and functions of two or more modules or units described above can be embodied in one module or unit. On the contrary, the features and functions of one module or unit described above can be further divided into being embodied by multiple modules or units.

[0153] Those skilled in the art will readily appreciate other embodiments of the present application after considering the specification and practicing the embodiments disclosed herein. The present application is intended to cover any variations, uses or adaptations of the present application, which follow the general principles of the present application and include common knowledge or customary technical means in the art that are not disclosed in the present application.

[0154] The above content is only a preferred exemplary embodiment of the present application and is not intended to limit the implementation scheme of the present application. A person of ordinary skill in the art can easily make corresponding changes or modifications based on the main concept and spirit of the present application. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present application shall be based on the scope of protection required by the claims.

Claims

1. A focusing method for laser processing equipment, characterized in that: The laser processing equipment comprises a laser head and a motor, and the method comprises: Controlling the motor to drive the laser head to move downward along the Z axis so that the laser head abuts against the processing material; The state of the motor is detected. If the motor is detected to be blocked, the motor is controlled to stop running, and the moving distance of the laser head driven by the motor to move downward is obtained to obtain the distance between the laser head and the processing material.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The laser processing equipment further includes a driving module, and the driving module is connected to the motor; the motor is controlled to drive the laser head to move downward along the Z axis so that the laser head abuts against the processing material, including: A control signal is sent to the driving module, so that the driving module controls the motor based on the control signal to drive the laser head to move downward along the Z axis, so that the laser head abuts against the processing material.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that The step of obtaining the moving distance of the laser head driven by the motor to move downwards comprises: Acquiring the number of pulses of the control signal sent to the driving module during the period from when the laser head moves downward to when the motor stops running, and calculating the moving distance of the laser head based on the number of pulses; and / or, The controlling the motor to stop running comprises: In response to the movement interruption signal sent by the driving module, the control signal is stopped from being sent, so as to control the motor to stop running.

4. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The method further comprises: The thickness of the processed material is calculated based on the distance between the laser head and the processed material.

5. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The detecting the state of the motor comprises: detecting a reverse electromotive force of the motor; If it is detected that the reverse electromotive force is less than or equal to a preset threshold, it is determined that the motor is stalled.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that: The method further comprises: Controlling the motor to drive the laser head to rise along the Z-axis direction so that the laser head returns to a preset height; Controlling the laser head to move along the X-axis direction and / or the Y-axis direction so that the laser head moves to a preset position; When receiving a processing instruction, controlling the laser head to move along the X-axis direction and / or the Y-axis direction, so that the laser head moves to a processing position; Based on the moving distance, the motor is controlled to drive the laser head to move along the Z-axis direction so that the focus of the laser head is located on the processing material.

7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that The step of controlling the motor to drive the laser head to move along the Z-axis direction based on the moving distance so that the focus of the laser head is located on the processing material includes: Obtaining the focal length of the laser head; Subtracting the moving distance from the focal length to obtain a processing distance of the laser processing equipment; The laser head is driven to move based on the processing distance so that the focus of the laser head is located on the processing material.

8. A laser processing device, characterized in that: include: Laser head; A motor connected to the laser head and used to drive the laser head to move along the Z-axis direction; A control module, used to control the motor based on the focusing method of the laser processing equipment according to any one of claims 1 to 7, so as to obtain the distance between the laser head and the processing material.

9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that The laser processing equipment further includes a driving module, the control module is connected to the driving module, and the driving module is connected to the motor; The driving module is used to receive the control signal sent by the control module, drive the motor to operate based on the control signal, and also to feed back the working status of the motor to the control module.

10. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that: A computer program is stored thereon, and when the computer program is executed by a processor, the focusing method of the laser processing equipment as described in any one of claims 1 to 7 is implemented.

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