Laser Weakening Line Production With Wall-Thickness Skipping
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for generating a line of weakness in vehicle components, such as airbag cover elements, are inefficient due to repetitive scanning and frequent laser activation, leading to prolonged processing times and potential overheating.
Innovation Solution
A method and device that utilize a guided and skipping process with a laser ablation device, where the laser beam is activated only when necessary, and a galvanometer scanner to efficiently create a line of weakness by skipping sections that have reached the target wall thickness, allowing for faster movement and synchronization between the scanner and laser.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If the laser beam is continuously activated and the ablation device scans over all sections repeatedly, then the weakening line is generated with consistent wall thickness, but the processing time is prolonged and overheating occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the skipping principle by identifying sections that have already reached the target wall thickness and excluding them from further laser processing. The system selectively activates the laser beam only for sections that require additional material removal, while skipping completed sections. This dramatically reduces processing time and prevents overheating while maintaining consistent wall thickness in the final weakening line.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements dynamics by making the laser activation state variable rather than static. The laser beam is dynamically switched between active and inactive states based on real-time assessment of each section's wall thickness. This dynamic control allows the system to adapt to the actual processing state of different sections, optimizing both precision and efficiency.
2Manufacturing precision
If the laser beam is continuously activated during scanning, then material removal is consistent across all sections, but energy is wasted on already processed sections
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies skipping by detecting which sections have reached the desired wall thickness and excluding them from further laser processing. The laser beam is activated only for sections that require additional material removal, eliminating energy waste on completed sections while maintaining consistent material removal where needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements local quality by applying different laser activation states to different sections based on their individual processing status. Each section receives laser energy only if it requires further material removal, creating a locally optimized energy distribution pattern that matches the actual needs of each area.
3Manufacturing precision
If the ablation device moves slowly over each section, then the wall thickness is precisely controlled, but the overall processing speed decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies skipping by rapidly moving the ablation device through sections that have already reached the target wall thickness without laser activation. This allows the system to maintain precise wall thickness control for sections requiring processing while dramatically increasing overall processing speed by skipping completed areas.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements segmentation by dividing the contour into multiple discrete sections and independently managing the processing state of each section. This allows the system to apply different movement speeds and laser activation patterns to different segments, optimizing both precision and productivity simultaneously.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach significantly reduces processing time by skipping completed sections, ensuring a line of weakness is generated quickly and efficiently, while preventing overheating and maintaining high-quality surface integrity.
Implementation Method 1
The ablation device can be a laser, which carries out the ablation of the material by means of the laser beam by heating the material
Implementation Method 2
an ablation device for ablating a material from the surface is guided over a plurality of sections of a predefined linear contour using an activated laser beam
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2a~2d
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AI summary
The approach presented here relates to a method for producing a weakening line in a surface of a component. The method comprises a guiding step and a skipping step. In the guiding step, a removal apparatus (310) for removing a material of the surface is guided over a plurality of segments (M1, M2, M3) of a predefined line-shaped contour (100) by means of an activated laser beam (407) in order to produce a desired wall thickness for at least one of the segments (M1, M2, M3) so as to produce the weakening line. In the skipping step, the segment (M1, M2, M3) is skipped if the segment (M1, M2, M3) has the desired wall thickness.