Laser processing apparatus

Abstract

To provide a laser processing apparatus capable of preventing a positional deviation of a workpiece when ion air is blown without complicating the device.SOLUTION: A laser processing apparatus that processes a workpiece placed on a processing table by irradiating it with a laser beam includes workpiece movement means that supplies the workpiece to the processing table and retrieves the workpiece from the processing table. The laser processing apparatus blows ionized air onto the workpiece on the processing table to remove static electricity. This ionized air is blown when the workpiece is pressed onto the processing table by the workpiece movement means.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a laser processing apparatus that performs drilling by irradiating a workpiece placed on a processing table with a laser beam. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventional laser processing devices, such as those described in Patent Document 1, use a suction head to chuck and fix a workpiece to a processing table and then process it. Unmachined workpieces are supplied to the processing table and processed workpieces are collected from the processing table. Thin, insulating workpieces, such as ceramic green sheets, are prone to becoming charged. When a workpiece becomes charged, chips and dust easily adhere to it. Furthermore, this can cause workpieces to stick to each other during transport to a subsequent process, resulting in processing defects. Therefore, it is necessary to neutralize the workpiece before and after processing. Therefore, conventionally, ionizers are used to blow ionized air onto the workpieces from above or the sides while they are fixed on the table to neutralize the charge. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2022-181800 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, even when the workpiece is fixed by suction on the processing table, the position of the workpiece can shift due to the wind pressure of the ionized air. To prevent this, it is conceivable to provide a clamping device to secure the workpiece to the processing table. However, this would increase the number of fixing devices that are not actually necessary for laser processing and whose sole purpose is to prevent misalignment when the ionized air is sprayed, making the processing equipment more complex and therefore unreasonable. Furthermore, if a fixing device were provided, it would require time for the fixing and release operations, which could potentially reduce productivity.

[0005] Therefore, the present invention aims to solve the above problems and provide a laser processing device that can prevent the workpiece from shifting in position when ion air is sprayed on it without complicating the device. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a laser processing device that processes a workpiece placed on a processing table by irradiating it with a laser beam, and is equipped with a workpiece moving means that supplies the workpiece to the processing table and retrieves the workpiece from the processing table, and that de-electrifies the workpiece on the processing table by blowing ionized air onto the workpiece, characterized in that the ionized air is blown when the workpiece is pressed against the processing table by the workpiece moving means. [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] In the present invention, ionized air is sprayed onto the workpiece while it is pressed using a workpiece moving means, so that the device does not need to be complicated and displacement of the workpiece when ionized air is sprayed onto it can be prevented. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic diagram of a laser processing device according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 2] 1A and 1B are diagrams illustrating a workpiece placement table according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 3]1A and 1B are diagrams illustrating a workpiece placement table according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4] 10A to 10C are diagrams illustrating the operation of neutralizing a workpiece before laser processing in an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 5] 10A to 10C are diagrams illustrating the operation of neutralizing electricity from a workpiece after laser processing in an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 6] 10A and 10B are diagrams illustrating another example of a suction head according to the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0009] Representative embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a laser processing apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Fig. 1, the laser processing apparatus 1 is composed of a laser processing machine 10 that processes a workpiece placed on a processing table 14, a supply machine 30 that supplies unprocessed workpieces to the processing table 14, and a recovery machine 40 that recovers workpieces from the processing table 14 after laser processing.

[0010] The supply machine 30 is composed of a rail 31, a slider 32 that can move back and forth on the rail 31 in the X direction, a lifter 33 provided on the slider 32, and a supply suction head (workpiece moving means) 34 that is supported by the lifter 33 so as to be movable in the Z direction. A spring 35 is provided between the supply suction head 34 and the lifter 33, and the suction head 34 is biased in a direction away from the lifter 33.

[0011] The supply suction head 34 is box-shaped with a hollow space inside, and its underside has multiple openings that communicate with the hollow space. The hollow space is connected to a vacuum source (not shown), and by creating a negative pressure in the hollow space, the workpiece is sucked and held through the openings. The supply machine 30 uses the suction head 34 to move an unprocessed workpiece W (e.g., a ceramic green sheet) placed on a supply table 36 onto the upper surface of the processing table 14 of the laser processing machine 10.

[0012] The processing table 14 of the laser processing machine 10 is composed of a table base 15 and a workpiece mounting table 16. The table base 15 is movable in the X and Y directions on the bed 13. The workpiece mounting table 16 is mounted and fixed on the upper surface of the table base 15, and an ionizer 17 is mounted and fixed on the upper surface of the workpiece mounting table 16. Details of the workpiece mounting table 16 will be described later. A processing head 11 serving as a laser irradiation head is provided above the processing table 14 in front of a column 12 fixed on the bed 13.

[0013] The recovery machine 40 is composed of a rail 41, a slider 42 that can move back and forth on the rail 41 in the X direction, a lifter 43 provided on the slider 42, and a recovery suction head (workpiece moving means) 44 that is supported by the lifter 43 so as to be movable in the Z direction. A spring 45 is provided between the recovery suction head 44 and the lifter 43, and the suction head 44 is biased in a direction away from the lifter 43.

[0014] The suction head 44 for recovery has the same configuration as the suction head 34 for supply, and is configured to suck and hold the workpiece on its underside. The recovery machine 40 uses the suction head 44 to move the machined workpiece placed on the processing table 14 to a recovery table 46.

[0015] The operations of the laser processing machine 10, the supply machine 30 and the recovery machine 40 are controlled by a control device 50.

[0016] Figures 2 and 3 are diagrams illustrating a workpiece mounting table according to one embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 is a top view of the workpiece mounting table, Figure 3(A) is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA in Figure 2, and Figure 3(B) is a cross-sectional view taken along the line BB in Figure 2. The workpiece mounting table will be further described with reference to Figures 2 and 3.

[0017] A hollow space connected to a vacuum source (not shown) is provided inside the workpiece mounting table 16, and a plurality of fine holes (also not shown) that communicate with the hollow space are formed in a workpiece mounting area 19 on the top surface of the workpiece mounting table 16. Then, when a workpiece is placed on the top surface of the workpiece mounting table 16, the hollow space is evacuated to a vacuum state, thereby holding the workpiece by suction.

[0018] An ionizer 17 that generates ionized air and an injection nozzle 18 that injects the generated ionized air are provided on the upper surface of the workpiece mounting table 16, facing each other with a workpiece mounting area 19 in between. The ionizer 17 is connected to a compressed air source (not shown). The injection nozzle 18 is cylindrical, with a slit-shaped injection port 20 that is provided facing the workpiece mounting area 19. The operation of the ionizer 17 is controlled by a control unit 50, and the ionized air generated inside the ionizer 17 is injected from the injection port 20 of the injection nozzle 18 together with compressed air at any desired timing.

[0019] Fig. 4 is a diagram illustrating the operation of eliminating static electricity from a workpiece before laser processing in one embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 5 is a diagram illustrating the operation of eliminating static electricity from a workpiece after laser processing in one embodiment of the present invention. Next, the operation of the laser processing apparatus 1 will be described with reference to Figs. 4 and 5.

[0020] The laser processing device 1 is controlled by the control device 50 and operates as follows. First, an unmachined workpiece placed on the supply table 36 of the supply machine 30 is sucked and held on the underside of the supply suction head 34, and the suction head 34 is positioned above the workpiece placing table 16 of the laser processing machine 10 (FIG. 4(A)). Then, the supply suction head 34 is lowered and stopped at a height position where the workpiece sucked and held on the underside is pressed against the upper surface of the workpiece placing table 16 by the elastic force of the spring 35 (FIG. 4(B)). The height position at which the suction head 34 stops lowering is set to a height where the pressed workpiece will not be broken or damaged.

[0021] Next, the ionizer 17 is activated to spray ionized air from the nozzle 20 (FIG. 4(C)). The ionized air sprayed from the nozzle 20 is blown onto the workpiece in the gap between the underside of the suction head 34 and the workpiece table 16, thereby eliminating static electricity from the workpiece. At this time, the workpiece is pressed against the workpiece table 16 by the suction head 34, so the position of the workpiece does not shift.

[0022] Thereafter, the suction head 34 releases the workpiece from suction, and the workpiece is fixed by suction on the workpiece mounting table 16. The suction head 34 is then raised (FIG. 4(D)) and moved to a position where it will not interfere with processing by the laser processing machine 10. Then, the laser processing machine 10 is used to irradiate the laser from the processing head 11, and laser processing is performed on the workpiece on the workpiece mounting table 16.

[0023] When the laser processing is completed, the suction head 44 of the recovery machine 40 is positioned above the workpiece mounting table 16 of the laser processing machine 10 (FIG. 5(A)). Then, the recovery suction head 44 is lowered and stopped at a height position where the workpiece placed on the workpiece mounting table 16 is pressed by the elastic force of the spring 45 (FIG. 5(B)). The height position where the suction head stops lowering is set so that the pressed workpiece will not be broken or damaged.

[0024] Next, the ionizer 17 is activated to spray ionized air from the nozzle 20 (FIG. 5(C)). The ionized air sprayed from the nozzle 20 is blown onto the workpiece in the gap between the underside of the suction head 44 and the mounting table 16, thereby eliminating static electricity. At this time, the workpiece is pressed against the workpiece mounting table 16 by the suction head 44, so the position of the workpiece does not shift. After that, the suction of the workpiece on the workpiece mounting table 16 is released, and the suction head 44 lifts up while suctioning and holding the workpiece (FIG. 5(D)), and moves it to the recovery table 46.

[0025] In this embodiment, the workpiece is pressed while covered by the box-shaped suction head, which may reduce the area of ​​the workpiece surface (machined surface) onto which the ionized air is sprayed, resulting in a decrease in static elimination efficiency. Therefore, as shown in the schematic diagram of FIG. 6(A), for example, a suction head 61 equipped with multiple suction pads 62 spaced apart from one another may be used for pressing. With a suction head configured in this way, as shown in the state of pressing the workpiece in FIG. 6(B), a large area of ​​the workpiece surface can be secured that is not covered by the suction pads 62, thereby suppressing a decrease in static elimination efficiency.

[0026] Furthermore, in this embodiment, the operation of eliminating static electricity from the workpiece before laser processing is performed with the workpiece being sucked by the suction head but not by the workpiece mounting table, and the operation of eliminating static electricity from the workpiece after processing is performed with the workpiece being sucked by the workpiece mounting table but not by the suction head. However, in the present invention, as long as the workpiece is pressed by the suction head, that is, if the workpiece is sandwiched between the mounting table and the suction head, it is possible to prevent displacement when ionized air is blown onto it, so the workpiece may be sucked by either the suction head or the mounting table, or even neither.

[0027] As described above, the present invention uses a suction head as a workpiece moving means to press the workpiece while spraying ionized air, thereby preventing the workpiece from shifting position without making the device more complicated. [Explanation of symbols]

[0028] 1: laser processing device, 10: laser processing machine, 11: processing head, 12: column, 13: bed, 14: processing table, 15: table base, 16: workpiece placement table, 17: ionizer, 18: spray nozzle, 19: workpiece placement area, 20: spray nozzle, 30: supply machine, 31: rail, 32: slider, 33: lifter, 34: supply suction head, 35: spring, 36: supply table, 40: recovery machine, 41: rail, 42: slider, 43: lifter, 44: recovery suction head, 45: spring, 46: recovery table, 50: control device, 61: suction head, 62: suction pad

Claims

1. A laser processing device that processes a workpiece placed on a processing table by irradiating it with a laser beam, the device comprising: a workpiece moving means that supplies the workpiece to the processing table and collects the workpiece from the processing table; and the device that sprays ionized air onto the workpiece on the processing table to eliminate static electricity, The ionized air is blown onto the workpiece while the workpiece is pressed onto the processing table by the workpiece moving means. A laser processing device characterized by:

2. The workpiece moving means is a suction head that sucks and holds the top surface of the workpiece.

2. The laser processing device according to claim 1, wherein:

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