# US 10,481,264 B2 · Laser processing device and laser processing system

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- Number: US 10,481,264 B2
- Document ID: US10481264B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 15/642,558
- Filed: 2017-07-06
- Published: 2018-01-18
- Granted: 2019-11-19
- Earliest claimed: 2016-07-13
- Assignees: Fanuc Corporation
- Applicants: Fanuc Corporation
- Inventors: Yoshinori Murakami
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10481264B2

## CPC

- G01S 17/10: using transmission of interrupted, pulse-modulated waves (determination of distance by phase measurements G01S17/32)
- G01S 7/4812: {transmitted and received beams following a coaxial path}
- G01S 7/4865: Time delay measurement, e.g. time-of-flight measurement, time of arrival measurement or determining the exact position of a peak (peak detection in noise, signal conditioning G01S7/487)
- G01S 7/497: Means for monitoring or calibrating
- G01S: RADIO DIRECTION-FINDING; RADIO NAVIGATION; DETERMINING DISTANCE OR VELOCITY BY USE OF RADIO WAVES; LOCATING OR PRESENCE-DETECTING BY USE OF THE REFLECTION OR RERADIATION OF RADIO WAVES; ANALOGOUS ARRANGEMENTS USING OTHER WAVES

## Abstract

An object is to provide a laser processing device and a laser processing system capable of measuring a distance between a work and a processing head accurately and simply and capable of checking the quality of processing in real time during the processing. Provided are: a photodetector that detects the intensity of a processing laser beam split by optical path splitting means, and outputs a detection signal having a signal intensity responsive to the detected intensity together with a time of detection of the intensity; a signal intensity comparing unit that compares the signal intensities of multiple detection signals received from the photodetector; and a detection time comparing unit that compares times of detection of multiple intensities. The signal intensity comparing unit measures a processing quality by comparing the signal intensity of a detection signal received from the photodetector responsive to an incident beam on a work and the signal intensity of a detection signal received from the photodetector responsive to a reflected beam from the work. The detection time comparing unit measures a distance between a laser processing device and the work by comparing times of detection of the intensities.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A laser processing device for processing of a work using a processing laser beam, comprising:
at least one optical path splitting means that splits the processing laser beam;
a photodetector that detects the intensity of the processing laser beam split by the optical path splitting means, and outputs a detection signal having a signal intensity responsive to the detected intensity together with a time of detection of the intensity;
a signal intensity comparing unit that compares the signal intensities of multiple detection signals each being the detection signal received from the photodetector; and
a detection time comparing unit that compares times of detection of multiple intensities each being the intensity received from the photodetector,
the signal intensity comparing unit measuring a processing quality by comparing the signal intensity of a detection signal received from the photodetector responsive to an incident beam on the work resulting from splitting by the optical path splitting means and the signal intensity of a detection signal received from the photodetector responsive to a reflected beam from the work resulting from splitting by the optical path splitting means,
the detection time comparing unit measuring a distance between the laser processing device and the work by comparing a time of detection of an intensity received from the photodetector responsive to the incident beam and a time of detection of an intensity received from the photodetector responsive to the reflected beam.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The laser processing device according to claim 1, wherein the photodetector includes two or more photodetectors,
at least one of the photodetectors detects the intensity of the incident beam, and
at least one of the photodetectors detects the intensity of the reflected beam.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The laser processing device according to claim 1, wherein the signal intensity comparing unit measures a difference or a ratio between the signal intensity of the detection signal responsive to the incident beam and the signal intensity of the detection signal responsive to the reflected beam.

### Claim 4

A laser processing system comprising a laser oscillator, an oscillator controller that controls the laser oscillator, and a laser processing device for processing of a work using a processing laser beam oscillated by the laser oscillator,
the laser processing device comprising:
at least one optical path splitting means that splits the processing laser beam; and
a photodetector that detects the intensity of the processing laser beam split by the optical path splitting means, and outputs a detection signal having a signal intensity responsive to the detected intensity together with a time of detection of the intensity,
the laser processing system further comprising a signal intensity comparing device and a detection time comparing device, the signal intensity comparing device comparing the signal intensities of multiple detection signals each being the detection signal received from the photodetector, the detection time comparing device comparing times of detection of multiple intensities each being the intensity received from the photodetector,
the signal intensity comparing device measuring a processing quality by comparing the signal intensity of a detection signal received from the photodetector responsive to an incident beam on the work resulting from splitting by the optical path splitting means and the signal intensity of a detection signal received from the photodetector responsive to a reflected beam from the work resulting from splitting by the optical path splitting means,
the detection time comparing device measuring a distance between the laser processing device and the work by comparing a time of detection of an intensity received from the photodetector responsive to the incident beam and a time of detection of an intensity received from the photodetector responsive to the reflected beam.

### Claim 5 (depends on 4)

The laser processing system according to claim 4, wherein the photodetector of the laser processing device includes two or more photodetectors,
at least one of the photodetectors detects the intensity of the incident beam, and
at least one of the photodetectors detects the intensity of the reflected beam.

### Claim 6 (depends on 4)

The laser processing system according to claim 4, wherein the signal intensity comparing device measures a difference or a ratio between the signal intensity of the detection signal responsive to the incident beam or the intensity command value and the signal intensity of the detection signal responsive to the reflected beam.

### Claim 7

A laser processing system comprising a laser oscillator, an oscillator controller that controls the laser oscillator, and a laser processing device for processing of a work using a processing laser beam oscillated by the laser oscillator,
the laser processing device comprising:
at least one optical path splitting means that splits the processing laser beam; and
a photodetector that detects the intensity of the processing laser beam split by the optical path splitting means, and outputs a detection signal having a signal intensity responsive to the detected intensity together with a time of detection of the intensity,
the laser processing system further comprising a signal intensity comparing device and a detection time comparing device, the signal intensity comparing device comparing the signal intensity of the detection signal received from the photodetector with an intensity command value transmitted from the oscillator controller to the laser oscillator, the detection time comparing device comparing the time of detection of the intensity received from the photodetector with an oscillation command time transmitted from the oscillator controller to the laser oscillator,
the signal intensity comparing device measuring a processing quality by comparing the signal intensity of the detection signal received from the photodetector responsive to a reflected beam from the work resulting from splitting by the optical path splitting means with the intensity command value,
the detection time comparing device measuring a distance between the laser processing device and the work by comparing the time of detection of the intensity received from the photodetector responsive to the reflected beam with the oscillation command time.