Numerical value control device and laser determination method
Patent Information
- Authority / Receiving Office
- WO · WO
- Patent Type
- Applications
- Current Assignee / Owner
- FANUC LTD
- Filing Date
- 2025-01-27
- Publication Date
- 2026-07-30
Smart Images
Figure JP2025002346_30072026_PF_FP_ABST
Abstract
Description
Numerical control device and laser determination method
[0001] This disclosure relates to a numerical control device and a laser determination method, and more particularly to a numerical control device and a laser determination method for determining which laser to irradiate a workpiece from among multiple lasers.
[0002] Laser processing machines and laser systems that determine which laser to irradiate a workpiece from among multiple lasers are described in Patent Documents 1 and 2. Patent Document 1 describes a laser processing machine that appropriately selects and irradiates a laser beam with excellent electrical efficiency or a laser beam with excellent beam quality. Specifically, Patent Document 1 describes a laser processing machine comprising a laser diode stack that generates semiconductor laser light, a first optical fiber that transmits the generated semiconductor laser light, a first irradiation unit provided at the end of the first optical fiber that irradiates the workpiece with semiconductor laser light, a switch located between the laser diode stack and the first optical fiber that switches the optical path of the semiconductor laser light between the first optical fiber and the other, a resonator that converts the semiconductor laser light switched to the other into solid-state laser light, a second optical fiber that transmits the converted solid-state laser light, and a second irradiation unit provided at the end of the second optical fiber that irradiates the workpiece with solid-state laser light.
[0003] Patent Document 2 describes a laser system in which, in various embodiments, two laser beams of different wavelengths are used sequentially and / or simultaneously to process a workpiece in various processing stages such as melting, drilling, cutting, and welding. Specifically, Patent Document 2 describes a laser system for processing a workpiece, comprising: a primary laser configured to emit a primary laser beam; a secondary laser configured to emit a secondary laser beam, wherein the wavelength of the primary laser beam is different from that of the secondary laser beam; a laser head that directs at least one of the primary or secondary laser beams onto the workpiece; and a computer-based controller. Patent Document 2 also describes that the controller is configured, in a first stage, to direct at least the secondary laser beam towards the surface of the workpiece, where the energy of the secondary laser beam is absorbed by the workpiece; and in a second stage, after at least a portion of the surface of the workpiece has reacted to the absorption of the energy of the secondary laser beam, to direct at least the primary laser beam towards the surface of the workpiece during at least the relative movement between the primary laser beam and the workpiece, thereby cutting the workpiece along a processing path that is at least partially identified by the relative movement.
[0004] Patent documents 3 to 6 describe technologies related to laser processing conditions. Patent document 3 describes a laser processing apparatus capable of performing laser processing under appropriate processing conditions. Specifically, Patent document 3 describes a laser beam irradiation means comprising a laser beam oscillation means, an output adjustment means for adjusting the output of the laser beam, and a light concentrator, and a material detection means for detecting the material of the upper surface of the workpiece to be processed. The material detection means comprises a detection light irradiation means arranged at a predetermined distance in the X-axis direction from the light concentrator and irradiating the upper surface of the workpiece to be processed with detection light, and a detection light receiving means that outputs a light receiving signal corresponding to the amount of reflected light of the received detection light to a control means. The control means determines the material and processing conditions from a processing condition control map based on the light receiving signal from the detection light receiving means, determines the timing of the laser beam to be irradiated from the distance between the detection light irradiation means and the light concentrator, and controls the laser beam irradiation means so that the processing conditions determined from the processing condition control map are met.
[0005] Patent Document 4 describes a laser welding system that shortens the time required to register suitable processing conditions for unregistered sheet metal in the processing condition storage unit, thereby enabling early laser welding of various sheet metals. Specifically, Patent Document 4 describes a laser welding system comprising a processing condition selection unit, a welding control unit, a processing condition registration unit, and a processing condition storage unit. The processing condition selection unit, while referring to the processing conditions stored for each sheet metal material and the relationship between the sheet metal W thickness and processing form, selects processing conditions for a sheet metal W made of a material similar to the unregistered sheet metal, with the same processing form as the unregistered sheet metal W, and with the same or a similar sheet metal thickness. The welding control unit controls the laser welding machine to perform a processing test on the unregistered sheet metal while changing the processing parameters of the selected processing conditions. The processing condition registration unit identifies the processing parameters based on the test results of the processing test on the unregistered sheet metal W and registers the processing conditions for the unregistered sheet metal W in the processing condition storage unit.
[0006] Patent Document 5 describes a processing condition adjustment device and a machine learning device that can efficiently adjust the laser processing conditions of a laser processing apparatus. Specifically, Patent Document 5 describes that the machine learning device included in the processing condition adjustment device comprises: a state observation unit that observes processing condition data indicating the laser processing conditions in laser processing and gas target deviation data indicating the target deviation of the pressure loss or flow rate of the assist gas as state variables representing the current state of the environment; a judgment data acquisition unit that acquires work quality judgment data indicating the suitability of processing the workpiece, which determines the quality of the workpiece processed based on the laser processing conditions in laser processing, as judgment data indicating the suitability of processing the workpiece; and a learning unit that learns to associate the target deviation of the pressure loss or flow rate of the assist gas with the adjustment of the laser processing conditions in laser processing using the state variables and the judgment data.
[0007] Patent Document 6 describes a processing system that reduces processing defects by determining the processability of a workpiece based on processing conditions before processing, making it easier to decide whether to keep the processing conditions as they are or change them to more suitable ones. Specifically, Patent Document 6 describes a processing system comprising a processing device for processing a workpiece, an acquisition device for acquiring component information representing the chemical composition of the material of the workpiece, and a determination device for determining the processability of a workpiece based on a determination model created by machine learning, which is input as training data: component information, processing condition information including processing conditions set in advance according to the material and plate thickness, and processing quality evaluation results obtained by actually processing based on the processing conditions. The determination device inputs the component information acquired before processing of the workpiece to be newly processed, and processing condition information including processing conditions set in the processing device according to the material and plate thickness, as estimation data into the determination model, and outputs a determination result of processability based on the processing conditions of the processing to be performed.
[0008] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2001-347389, Japanese Patent Publication No. 2022-543152, Japanese Patent Publication No. 2016-34659, Japanese Patent Publication No. 2021-94569, Japanese Patent Publication No. 2019-166559, Japanese Patent Publication No. 2023-148415
[0009] Metal surfaces may have scratches, oxide films, or protective sheets. When attempting to laser process a metal surface, the desired laser wavelength or light output will vary depending on the surface condition of the workpiece, such as scratches, oxide films, or protective sheets.
[0010] Therefore, a numerical control device and a laser selection method are desired that can determine which laser to irradiate the workpiece from among multiple lasers, depending on the surface condition of the workpiece.
[0011] A typical first aspect of this disclosure is a numerical control device for determining which laser to use for processing a workpiece from a plurality of lasers, comprising: an information acquisition unit that acquires first information relating to the surface state of the workpiece and second information relating to the conversion efficiency, including the ratio of the laser output to the input power to a plurality of laser oscillators that output the plurality of lasers; an energy efficiency calculation unit that calculates the energy efficiency of the plurality of lasers based on the acquired first information and the second information; and an output laser determination unit that determines which laser to use for processing from the plurality of lasers based on the energy efficiency of the plurality of lasers.
[0012] A typical second aspect of this disclosure is a laser determination method in which a computer performs the following steps: acquires first information relating to the surface state of a workpiece and second information relating to conversion efficiency, including the ratio of laser output to input power to a plurality of laser oscillators that output a plurality of lasers; calculates the energy efficiency of the plurality of lasers based on the acquired first information and second information; and determines which laser to be used for processing from the plurality of lasers based on the energy efficiency of the plurality of lasers.
[0013] This is a block diagram showing an example configuration of a numerical control device according to the first embodiment of this disclosure. This is a flowchart showing an example of a laser determination method according to the first embodiment of this disclosure. This is a block diagram showing an example configuration of a numerical control device according to the second embodiment of this disclosure. This diagram shows how a copper plate with an oxide film formed on a part of it is laser processed by controlling a first laser oscillator and a second laser oscillator using a numerical control device. This is a block diagram showing an example configuration of a numerical control device according to the third embodiment of this disclosure. This diagram shows how the reflected light acquisition unit of the light receiving device receives reflected light from the workpiece when a fiber laser is used. This diagram shows how the reflected light acquisition unit of the light receiving device receives reflected light from the workpiece when a blue laser is used. This is a characteristic diagram showing the relationship between the coordinate values of the processing path and the light absorption rate when a fiber laser and a blue laser are used.
[0014] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. (First Embodiment) Figure 1 is a block diagram showing an example configuration of a numerical control device of the first embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 1, the numerical control device 100 includes a processing program analysis unit 101, a first laser processing condition acquisition unit 102, a second laser processing condition acquisition unit 103, an information acquisition unit 104, an energy efficiency calculation unit 105, an output laser determination unit 106, a first laser output generation unit 107, and a second laser output generation unit 108. The first laser output generation unit 107 outputs a first laser output to the first laser oscillator 200. The second laser output generation unit 108 outputs a second laser output to the second laser oscillator 300. The lasers output from the first laser oscillator 200 and the second laser oscillator 300 are input to a laser head. The laser head irradiates the workpiece with a laser.
[0015] The processing program analysis unit 101 analyzes the processing program and outputs command data for setting the laser processing conditions to the first laser processing condition acquisition unit 102 and the second laser processing condition acquisition unit 103.
[0016] The first laser processing condition acquisition unit 102 stores a table that associates command data with the processing conditions of the first laser corresponding to the command data (hereinafter referred to as the first laser processing conditions). The unit reads the first laser processing conditions corresponding to the command data from the table and outputs the read first laser processing conditions to the output laser determination unit 106. The first laser is, for example, a fiber laser, and the first laser will be described below assuming that it is a fiber laser.
[0017] The second laser processing condition acquisition unit 103 stores a table that associates command data with the processing conditions for the second laser (hereinafter referred to as the second laser processing conditions) corresponding to the command data. The unit reads the second laser processing conditions corresponding to the command data from the table and outputs the read second laser processing conditions to the output laser determination unit 106. The second laser is, for example, a blue laser, and hereafter, the second laser will be described as a blue laser. The first laser processing conditions and the second laser processing conditions include laser output, laser frequency, and laser duty cycle, etc.
[0018] The information acquisition unit 104 acquires information relating to the surface state of the workpiece (also called the workpiece object) (hereinafter referred to as "information relating to the surface state") and information relating to the conversion efficiency, including the ratio of laser output to input power to the first laser oscillator 200 and the second laser oscillator 300 (hereinafter referred to as "information relating to the conversion efficiency"), and outputs them to the energy efficiency calculation unit 105. The ratio of laser output to input power is also called oscillation efficiency. The information relating to the surface state is the first type of information, and the information relating to the conversion efficiency is the second type of information.
[0019] Information related to the surface condition of the workpiece includes, for example, scratches on the workpiece surface or the type of surface material of the workpiece. The surface material of the workpiece is, for example, a metal such as copper, or an oxide film, protective sheet, or coating applied to the metal surface. Information related to conversion efficiency includes the oscillation efficiency of the fiber laser and the blue laser.
[0020] The information acquired by the information acquisition unit 104, including information related to surface condition and information related to conversion efficiency, may be entered by a user such as an operator, or it may be stored in advance in the storage unit of the information acquisition unit 104 or in an external storage unit. The information related to conversion efficiency may be stored in advance in the storage unit of the information acquisition unit 104 or in an external storage unit, and the information related to surface condition may be entered by the user according to the workpiece.
[0021] The energy efficiency calculation unit 105 calculates the energy efficiency of the first laser (fiber laser) and the second laser (blue laser) based on the surface condition of the workpiece, using information related to the surface condition and information related to the conversion efficiency, and outputs it to the output laser determination unit 106. Energy efficiency can be determined by (input power) × (oscillation efficiency) × (light absorption rate). The light absorption rate of the laser used changes depending on the surface condition of the workpiece. For example, if there are scratches on the surface of the workpiece, the light absorption rate of the fiber laser and the blue laser will change, and the light absorption rate of the fiber laser and the blue laser will also change depending on the type of surface material of the workpiece.
[0022] The energy efficiency calculation unit 105 determines the light absorption rate based on information related to the surface condition. The energy efficiency calculation unit 105 stores a table that associates scratches on the surface of the workpiece or the type of surface material of the workpiece with the light absorption rates for the first laser (fiber laser) and the second laser (blue laser), and refers to the table to determine the light absorption rates for the fiber laser and the blue laser based on scratches on the surface of the workpiece or the type of surface material of the workpiece.
[0023] The following describes specific examples of light absorption rates for fiber lasers and blue lasers, corresponding to different types of surface materials of the workpiece. When the surface material of the workpiece is copper, the light absorption rates of the fiber laser (Ab11) and the blue laser (Ab12) relative to copper are 10%. When the surface material of the workpiece is an oxide film, the light absorption rates of the fiber laser (Ab21) and the blue laser (Ab22) relative to the oxide film are both 80%. To give specific examples of the oscillation efficiency of fiber lasers and blue lasers, the oscillation efficiency OE1 of the fiber laser is 30%, and the oscillation efficiency OE2 of the blue laser is 20%.
[0024] A specific example of how the energy efficiency calculation unit 105 calculates energy efficiency using the light absorption rate corresponding to the type of surface material of the workpiece described above, and the oscillation efficiency of the fiber laser and the blue laser, will be explained below. The input power value is shown in W. On a copper surface, the energy efficiency E11 of the fiber laser is given by E11 = W × 0.3 × 0.1 = 3.0 × 10 －２ The energy efficiency E12 of a blue laser is calculated as E12 = W × 0.2 × 0.65 = 1.3 × 10 －１ It becomes ×W.
[0025] On the surface of the oxide film, the energy efficiency E21 of the fiber laser can be calculated as E21 = W × OE1 × Ab21, where E21 = W × 0.3 × 0.8 = 2.4 × 10 －１ The energy efficiency E22 of the blue laser is calculated as E22 = W × 0.2 × 0.8 = 1.6 × 10 －１ It becomes ×W.
[0026] The output laser determination unit 106 determines whether to use the first laser or the second laser for processing based on the energy efficiency of the first laser (fiber laser) and the second laser (blue laser) depending on the surface condition of the workpiece. If the first laser is determined, it outputs the first laser processing conditions to the first laser output generation unit 107. If the second laser is determined, it outputs the second laser processing conditions to the second laser output generation unit 108.
[0027] To explain using a specific example, when processing the surface of copper with a laser, the output laser determination unit 106 calculates from the energy efficiency calculation unit 105 the energy efficiency of the fiber laser E11 = 3.0 × 10 －２ ×W, and the energy efficiency E12 of the blue laser = 1.3 × 10 －１ The output laser determination unit 106, when processing the surface of the oxide film with a laser, calculates the energy efficiency of the fiber laser E21 = 2.4 × 10 from the energy efficiency calculation unit 105. －１×W, and the energy efficiency E22 of the blue laser = 1.6 × 10 －１ Get ×W.
[0028] When processing the surface of copper with a laser, the output laser determination unit 106 determines to use the blue laser because the energy efficiency E12 of the blue laser is greater than the energy efficiency E11 of the fiber laser (E12 > E11), and outputs the second laser processing conditions to the second laser output generation unit 108. On the other hand, when processing the surface of an oxide film with a laser, the output laser determination unit 106 determines to use the fiber laser because the energy efficiency E21 of the fiber laser is greater than the energy efficiency E22 of the blue laser (E21 > E22), and outputs the first laser processing conditions to the first laser output generation unit 107. In this way, the output laser determination unit 106 determines and outputs the processing conditions to be used for processing from the first laser processing conditions and the second laser processing conditions.
[0029] The first laser output generation unit 107 outputs a first laser output to the first laser oscillator 200 based on the first laser processing conditions. The second laser output generation unit 108 outputs a second laser output to the second laser oscillator 300 based on the second laser processing conditions.
[0030] Figure 2 is a flowchart showing an example of a laser determination method according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure. In the following description, an example in which the laser determination method of the present disclosure is executed by a numerical control device 100 will be described, but the laser determination method of the present disclosure can also be executed by a configuration other than the numerical control device 100.
[0031] In step S1, the information acquisition unit 104 acquires information relating to the surface condition of the workpiece and information relating to the conversion efficiency, including the ratio of laser output to input power to the first laser oscillator 200 that outputs a fiber laser and the second laser oscillator 300 that outputs a blue laser.
[0032] In step S2, the energy efficiency calculation unit 105 calculates the energy efficiency E1 of the first laser (fiber laser) and the energy efficiency E2 of the second laser (blue laser) based on the surface condition of the workpiece. On a copper surface, the energy efficiency E1 of the fiber laser corresponds to the energy efficiency E11 mentioned above, and the energy efficiency E2 of the blue laser corresponds to the energy efficiency E12 mentioned above. On an oxide film surface, the energy efficiency E1 of the first laser (fiber laser) corresponds to the energy efficiency E21 mentioned above, and the energy efficiency E2 of the second laser (blue laser) corresponds to the energy efficiency E22 mentioned above.
[0033] In step S3, the output laser determination unit 106 determines the relative magnitude of the energy efficiency E1 of the first laser and the energy efficiency E2 of the second laser, based on the surface condition of the workpiece. If the energy efficiency E1 of the first laser is greater than the energy efficiency E2 of the second laser (E1 > E2), the output laser determination unit 106 proceeds to step S4. If the energy efficiency E1 of the first laser is less than or equal to the energy efficiency E2 of the second laser (E1 < E2 or E1 = E2), the unit proceeds to step S5. If E1 = E2, the unit may proceed to step S4.
[0034] In step S4, the output laser determination unit 106 determines that the laser to be used for processing the workpiece is the first laser (fiber laser). In step S5, the output laser determination unit 106 determines that the laser to be used for processing the workpiece is the second laser (blue laser).
[0035] In step S6, the information acquisition unit 104 determines whether the surface state of the workpiece has changed. If the surface state of the workpiece has changed, the process proceeds to step S2; if the surface state of the workpiece has not changed, the process ends.
[0036] According to the numerical control device and the laser determination method of the present embodiment described above, since the laser to be used can be determined so as to achieve energy-efficient processing according to the surface state of the workpiece, it is energy-saving. Further, according to the numerical control device and the laser determination method of the present embodiment, the work of the user to check the surface state of the workpiece and set the processing conditions each time is unnecessary, and the burden on the operator can be reduced.
[0037] (Second Embodiment) In the first embodiment, the information related to the surface state acquired by the information acquisition unit is input by the user according to the workpiece or stored in the storage unit. In the present embodiment, the information related to the surface state is acquired by the information acquisition unit as the surface image of the workpiece output from the imaging device.
[0038] FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of the numerical control device according to the second embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 3, in the numerical control device 100A, the information acquisition unit 104 and the energy efficiency calculation unit 105 shown in FIG. 1 are replaced with an information acquisition unit 104A and an energy efficiency calculation unit 105A. The information acquisition unit 104A is connected to an imaging device 400 including an image acquisition unit 401. The imaging device 400 is attached to a laser head that irradiates a workpiece with a laser, and the laser output from the first laser oscillator 200 or the second laser oscillator 300 is input to the laser head.
[0039] The operation of the numerical control device 100A is the same as the operation of the numerical control device 100 of the first embodiment except for the information acquisition unit 104A and the energy efficiency calculation unit 105A, so the description of the operation other than the information acquisition unit 104A and the energy efficiency calculation unit 105A is omitted. The laser determination method of the present embodiment is the same as the laser determination method of the first embodiment except that steps S1 and S2 in FIG. 2 are executed by the information acquisition unit 104A and the energy efficiency calculation unit 105A.
[0040] The information acquisition unit 104A acquires the surface image of the workpiece from the image acquisition unit 401 of the imaging device 400, and also acquires information related to the conversion efficiency including the ratio of the laser output to the input power to the first laser oscillator 200 and the second laser oscillator 300, similar to the information acquisition unit 104. Then, the information acquisition unit 104A outputs the surface image of the workpiece and the information related to the conversion efficiency to the energy efficiency calculation unit 105A. The surface image of the workpiece is information related to the surface state of the workpiece.
[0041] The energy efficiency calculation unit 105A detects the surface defect of the workpiece or the type of the surface material of the workpiece by analyzing the surface image of the workpiece (for example, surface inspection), and specifies the light absorption rate. The surface of the workpiece may include an oxide film, a protective sheet, and a coating film. When the energy efficiency calculation unit 105A obtains the type of the surface material from the surface image, it performs surface inspection using the surface image, detects the surface material of the workpiece from color discrimination, etc., and obtains the light absorption rate. Then, the energy efficiency calculation unit 105A calculates the energy efficiency of the first laser and the second laser based on the light absorption rate obtained as a result of the analysis of the surface image and the information related to the conversion efficiency.
[0042] The energy efficiency calculation unit 105A stores a table associating a plurality of colors, a plurality of surface materials, and a plurality of light absorption rates, specifies the surface material from the color of the surface image of the workpiece, and specifies the light absorption rate from the surface material. For example, when copper is reddish-brown, the thermal oxide film of copper is black, and the protective sheet is blue, the surface material can be specified from color discrimination and the light absorption rate can be obtained. The operation of the numerical control device 100A after obtaining the light absorption rate is the same as the operation of the numerical control device 100.
[0043] When the workpiece is, for example, a substrate having a defect, an oxide film, a protective sheet, or a coating material on a part of its surface, and laser processing is performed on the material surface of the substrate and the material surface other than the material of the substrate, since the material of the laser processing surface changes during laser processing, it is required to switch the laser in response to the change in the material of the laser processing surface. In the following description, an example in which the workpiece is a copper plate having an oxide film formed on a part thereof will be described.
[0044] Figure 4 shows how a copper plate with an oxide film formed on a portion of it is laser-processed by controlling a first laser oscillator and a second laser oscillator using a numerical control device. As shown in Figure 4, when laser-processing a processing area M1 on the copper surface of the copper plate 10, the numerical control device 100A selects the blue laser L2. After the laser processing of the processing area M1 on the copper surface of the copper plate 10 is completed, when laser-processing the processing area M2 of the oxide film 11, the numerical control device 100A switches from the blue laser L2 to the fiber laser L1.
[0045] In this embodiment, the information acquisition unit 104A acquires a surface image of the workpiece from the image acquisition unit 401 of the imaging device 400, and the energy efficiency calculation unit 105A analyzes the surface image of the workpiece to detect that the laser processing surface has switched from the processing area M1 of the copper surface of the copper plate 10 to the processing area M2 of the oxide film 11, and switches the light absorption rate. Based on the energy efficiency calculated by the energy efficiency calculation unit 105A, the output laser determination unit 106 can switch the laser used to process the workpiece surface from the blue laser L2 to the fiber laser L1 during laser processing.
[0046] As described above, the numerical control device and laser determination method of this embodiment offer advantages over those of the first embodiment, eliminating the need for the user to input or store information related to the surface condition of the workpiece. Furthermore, the numerical control device and laser determination method of this embodiment allow for automatic switching of the laser during laser processing.
[0047] (Third Embodiment) In the second embodiment, as shown in Figure 3, the information acquisition unit 104A outputs a surface image of the workpiece, output from the imaging device 400, to the energy efficiency calculation unit 105A, and the energy efficiency calculation unit 105A uses the surface image of the workpiece to determine the light absorption rate. In this embodiment, as shown in Figure 5, the information acquisition unit 104B outputs reflected light data of the workpiece, output from the light receiving device 500, to the energy efficiency calculation unit 105B, and the energy efficiency calculation unit 105B uses this reflected light data to determine the light absorption rate.
[0048] Figure 5 is a block diagram showing an example configuration of a numerical control device according to a third embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 5, in the numerical control device 100B, the information acquisition unit 104 and energy efficiency calculation unit 105 of the numerical control device 100 shown in Figure 1 are replaced by an information acquisition unit 104B and an energy efficiency calculation unit 105B. The information acquisition unit 104B is connected to a light receiving device 500 equipped with a reflected light acquisition unit 501. The light receiving device 500 is attached to a laser head that irradiates a workpiece with a laser, and the laser output from the first laser oscillator 200 or the second laser oscillator 300 is input to the laser head.
[0049] The operation of the numerical control device 100B is the same as that of the numerical control device 100 in the first embodiment, except for the information acquisition unit 104B and the energy efficiency calculation unit 105B. Therefore, the explanation of the operations other than those of the information acquisition unit 104B and the energy efficiency calculation unit 105B will be omitted. The laser determination method in this embodiment is the same as the laser determination method in the first embodiment, except that steps S1 and S2 in Figure 2 are performed by the information acquisition unit 104B and the energy efficiency calculation unit 105B.
[0050] The light receiving device 500 is a device that can acquire various information from light received by the device. The light receiving device 500 incorporates a sensor called a light receiving element (for example, a photodiode), and the magnitude of the current flowing through the light receiving element changes depending on the intensity of the light received. Based on the magnitude of the current that flows, the light receiving device 500 can acquire the wavelength of the received light or the intensity of the reflected light during laser processing (which becomes reflected light data). The reflectance and absorptance can be determined from the intensity of the light irradiated onto the workpiece and the intensity of the light reflected from the workpiece. When acquiring the intensity of reflected light, the light receiving element becomes a reflected light acquisition unit 501.
[0051] The information acquisition unit 104B acquires reflected light data from the workpiece from the reflected light acquisition unit 501 of the light receiving device 500, and acquires information related to the conversion efficiency including the ratio of the laser output to the input power to the first laser oscillator 200 and the second laser oscillator 300, similar to the information acquisition unit 104. Then, the information acquisition unit 104B outputs the reflected light data and the information related to the conversion efficiency to the energy efficiency calculation unit 105B. The reflected light data becomes information related to the surface state of the workpiece.
[0052] The energy efficiency calculation unit 105B obtains the light absorption rate based on the reflected light data. Then, the energy efficiency calculation unit 105B calculates the energy efficiency of the first laser and the second laser based on the obtained light absorption rate and the information related to the conversion efficiency. The operation of the numerical control device 100B after obtaining the light absorption rate is the same as the operation of the numerical control device 100.
[0053] When the workpiece is, for example, a substrate having a scratch, an oxide film, a protective sheet, or a coating material in a partial region of the surface, and laser processing is performed on the material surface of the substrate and the material surface other than the material of the substrate, since the material of the laser processing surface changes during laser processing, it is required to switch the laser in response to the change of the material of the laser processing surface. In the following description, an example in which the workpiece is a copper plate having an oxide film formed in a partial region will be described.
[0054] FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a state in which the reflected light acquisition unit of the light receiving device receives reflected light from the workpiece when using a fiber laser. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a state in which the reflected light acquisition unit of the light receiving device receives reflected light from the workpiece when using a blue laser.
[0055] Hereinafter, the operation of the numerical control device 100B will be described separately before laser processing and during laser processing. First, the operation of the numerical control device 100B before processing will be described. Before laser processing, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the numerical control device 100B irradiates the fiber laser L1 and the blue laser L2 with small outputs on the processing path of the copper plate 10 having the oxide film 11 between the coordinate value X in the X-axis direction Ａ and the coordinate value X Ｂ and controls to perform linear laser processing.
[0056] The information acquisition unit 104B acquires reflected light data from the reflected light acquisition unit 501 of the light receiving device 500 and outputs the reflected light data to the energy efficiency calculation unit 105B. The energy efficiency calculation unit 105B uses the reflected light data to determine the light absorption rate. Figure 8 is a characteristic diagram showing the relationship between the coordinate values of the processing path and the light absorption rate when using a fiber laser L1 and a blue laser L2. As shown in Figure 8, the coordinate value X Ａ From coordinate value X Ｂ Outside of this range, the light absorption rate is higher when using the blue laser L2 than when using the fiber laser L1, and the coordinate value X Ａ From coordinate value X Ｂ Between these two points, the light absorption rates of the fiber laser L1 and the blue laser L2 are approximately the same. The coordinate values of the processing path can be determined by the position detector of the laser head's drive device (not shown), and the detected coordinate values are output to the energy efficiency calculation unit 105B.
[0057] The energy efficiency calculation unit 105B calculates the energy efficiency of the first laser (fiber laser) and the second laser (blue laser) with respect to the coordinate values of the processing path, based on the relationship between the coordinate values of the processing path and the light absorption rate, and information related to the conversion efficiency, and outputs it to the output laser determination unit 106. The output laser determination unit 106 stores the coordinate values for switching between the first laser and the second laser based on the energy efficiency with respect to the coordinate values in its own memory unit or an external memory unit. Specifically, the output laser determination unit 106 stores the coordinate value X for switching from the blue laser L2 to the fiber laser L1. Ａ , and the coordinate value X for switching from fiber laser L1 to blue laser L2. Ｂ The numerical control device 100B stores this information in its own memory or in an external memory. The numerical control device 100B performs the above operations before laser processing.
[0058] Next, the operation of the numerical control device 100B during laser processing will be described. During laser processing, the output laser determination unit 106 reads the coordinate values stored in the memory unit before processing to switch between the first laser and the second laser, and switches between the first laser and the second laser when the coordinate values obtained from the position detector of the laser head's drive device (not shown) match the read coordinate values.
[0059] As described above, the numerical control device and laser determination method of this embodiment provide effects similar to those of the first and second embodiments. Furthermore, in the numerical control device and laser determination method of this embodiment, by storing the coordinate values for switching the laser before laser processing, the laser can be automatically switched based on these coordinate values during laser processing.
[0060] As described above, in order to realize the functional blocks included in the numerical control device in each embodiment, the numerical control device can be implemented by hardware, software, or a combination thereof. Similarly, the laser determination method can also be implemented by hardware, software, or a combination thereof. Here, implementation by software means that it is implemented by a computer reading and executing a program.
[0061] To implement the components included in a numerical control unit (NCU) through software or a combination thereof, the NCU includes an arithmetic processing unit such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit). The arithmetic processing unit functions as an execution unit. The NCU also includes auxiliary storage devices such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) that store application software or various control programs such as an OS (Operating System), and main memory such as RAM (Random Access Memory) for storing data temporarily required for the arithmetic processing unit to execute programs.
[0062] The numerical control unit then reads application software or an operating system from the auxiliary storage device, expands the read application software or OS into the main memory, and performs calculations based on this application software or OS. Furthermore, it controls various hardware components of the numerical control unit based on these calculation results. This realizes the functional blocks of this embodiment. The laser determination method can also be realized with a configuration similar to that of the numerical control unit.
[0063] The components included in a numerical control device can be realized by hardware, including electronic circuits. When a numerical control device is configured as hardware, some or all of the functions of each component included in the numerical control device can be implemented using integrated circuits (ICs) such as ASICs (Application Specific Integrated Circuits), gate arrays, FPGAs (Field Programmable Gate Arrays), and CPLDs (Complex Programmable Logic Devices).
[0064] Programs can be stored and supplied to a computer using various types of non-transitor computer-readable media. Non-transitor computer-readable media include various types of tangible storage media. Examples of non-transitor computer-readable media include magnetic recording media (e.g., hard disk drives), magneto-optical recording media (e.g., magneto-optical disks), CD-ROMs (Read Only Memory), CD-Rs, CD-R / Ws, and semiconductor memory (e.g., mask ROMs, PROMs (Programmable ROMs), EPROMs (Erasable PROMs), flash ROMs, and RAMs (random access memory)). Furthermore, the program may be supplied to the computer by various types of temporary computer-readable media.
[0065] According to the numerical control device and laser determination method of this disclosure, including the embodiments described above, the laser to be used can be determined in an energy-efficient manner according to the surface condition of the workpiece, thus saving energy. Furthermore, according to the numerical control device and laser determination method of this embodiment, the user does not need to check the surface condition of the workpiece and set the processing conditions each time, thereby reducing the burden on the operator.
[0066] While the embodiments described above are preferred embodiments of the present invention, the scope of the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and various modifications can be made to implement the invention without departing from the spirit of the invention.
[0067] With respect to the above embodiment, the following additional information is disclosed. (Addendum 1) A numerical control device (100, 100A, 100B) for determining which laser to use for processing a workpiece from a plurality of lasers, comprising: an information acquisition unit (104, 104A, 104B) that acquires first information relating to the surface state of the workpiece and second information relating to the conversion efficiency, including the ratio of the laser output to the input power to a plurality of laser oscillators that output the plurality of lasers; an energy efficiency calculation unit (105, 105A, 105B) that calculates the energy efficiency of the plurality of lasers based on the acquired first information and the second information; and an output laser determination unit (106) that determines which laser to use for processing from the plurality of lasers based on the energy efficiency of the plurality of lasers.
[0068] (Note 2) The numerical control device as described in Note 1, wherein the information acquisition unit (104A) acquires a surface image of the workpiece from the image acquisition unit (401) of the imaging device (400) as the first information, and the energy efficiency calculation unit (105A) analyzes the surface image and calculates the energy efficiency of the plurality of lasers based on the analysis results and the second information.
[0069] (Note 3) The numerical control device according to Note 2, wherein the energy efficiency calculation unit (105A) performs a surface inspection using the surface image and detects at least scratches or types of scratches or surface materials of the workpiece, including an oxide film, protective sheet, or coating film, determines the light absorption rate of the plurality of lasers on the workpiece based on the type of scratches or surface material as the analysis result, and calculates the energy efficiency of the plurality of lasers based on the light absorption rate and the second information.
[0070] (Note 4) The numerical control device according to Note 1, wherein the information acquisition unit (104B) acquires at least reflected light data from the reflected light acquisition unit (501) of the light receiving device (500) as the first information, and the energy efficiency calculation unit (105B) calculates the energy efficiency of the plurality of lasers based on the reflected light data and the second information.
[0071] (Note 5) The numerical control device described in Note 4, wherein the energy efficiency calculation unit (105B) determines the light absorption rate of the plurality of lasers for the workpiece based on the reflected light data, and calculates the energy efficiency of the plurality of lasers based on the light absorption rate and the second information.
[0072] (Note 6) A numerical control device according to any one of Notes 1 to 5, comprising: a processing program analysis unit (101) that analyzes at least one processing program and generates command data for setting laser processing conditions; and a plurality of laser processing condition acquisition units (102, 103) that acquire a plurality of laser processing conditions based on the command data, wherein the output laser determination unit (106) determines the laser processing conditions of the laser to be used for processing from the plurality of laser processing conditions based on the energy efficiency of the plurality of lasers.
[0073] (Note 7) A laser determination method comprising the steps of: a computer acquiring first information relating to the surface state of a workpiece and second information relating to conversion efficiency, including the ratio of laser output to input power to a plurality of laser oscillators that output a plurality of lasers; calculating the energy efficiency of the plurality of lasers based on the acquired first information and second information; and determining which laser to be used for processing from the plurality of lasers based on the energy efficiency of the plurality of lasers.
[0074] 100, 100A, 100B Numerical control device 101 Processing program analysis unit 102 First laser processing condition acquisition unit 103 Second laser processing condition acquisition unit 104, 104A, 104B Information acquisition unit 105, 105A, 105B Energy efficiency calculation unit 106 Output laser determination unit 107 First laser output generation unit 108 Second laser output generation unit 200 First laser oscillator 300 Second laser oscillator 400 Imaging device 401 Image acquisition unit 500 Light receiving device 501 Reflected light acquisition unit
Claims
1. A numerical control device for determining which laser to use for processing a workpiece from a plurality of lasers, comprising: an information acquisition unit that acquires first information relating to the surface state of the workpiece and second information relating to the conversion efficiency, including the ratio of the laser output to the input power to a plurality of laser oscillators that output the plurality of lasers; an energy efficiency calculation unit that calculates the energy efficiency of the plurality of lasers based on the acquired first information and the second information; and an output laser determination unit that determines which laser to use for processing from the plurality of lasers based on the energy efficiency of the plurality of lasers.
2. The numerical control device according to claim 1, wherein the information acquisition unit acquires a surface image of the workpiece from the image acquisition unit of the imaging device as the first information, and the energy efficiency calculation unit analyzes the surface image and calculates the energy efficiency of the plurality of lasers based on the analysis results and the second information.
3. The numerical control device according to claim 2, wherein the energy efficiency calculation unit performs a surface inspection using the surface image and detects at least scratches or types of scratches or surface materials of the workpiece, including an oxide film, protective sheet, or coating film; determines the light absorption rate of the plurality of lasers for the workpiece based on the type of scratches or surface material as an analysis result; and calculates the energy efficiency of the plurality of lasers based on the light absorption rate and the second information.
4. The numerical control device according to claim 1, wherein the information acquisition unit acquires at least reflected light data from the reflected light acquisition unit of the light receiving device as the first information, and the energy efficiency calculation unit calculates the energy efficiency of the plurality of lasers based on the reflected light data and the second information.
5. The numerical control device according to claim 4, wherein the energy efficiency calculation unit determines the light absorption rate of the plurality of lasers with respect to the workpiece based on the reflected light data, and calculates the energy efficiency of the plurality of lasers based on the light absorption rate and the second information.
6. A numerical control device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, comprising: a processing program analysis unit that analyzes at least one processing program and generates command data for setting laser processing conditions; and a plurality of laser processing condition acquisition units that acquire a plurality of laser processing conditions based on the command data, wherein the output laser determination unit determines the laser processing conditions of the laser to be used for processing from the plurality of laser processing conditions based on the energy efficiency of the plurality of lasers.
7. A laser determination method comprising the steps of: a computer acquiring first information relating to the surface condition of a workpiece and second information relating to conversion efficiency, including the ratio of laser output to input power to a plurality of laser oscillators that output a plurality of lasers; calculating the energy efficiency of the plurality of lasers based on the acquired first information and the second information; and determining which laser to be used for processing from the plurality of lasers based on the energy efficiency of the plurality of lasers.