Adjustable field of view laser system for web processing
AssigneeDelta Industrial Services, Inc.
InventorsJoel Oakes, Evan Schiebout
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Techniques for processing a web with a laser are provided. In an example, an apparatus for processing web material can include multiple processing stages and a laser assembly. Each of the multiple processing stages can be configured to process a moving web of material along a web path. The laser assembly can be configured to process the moving web of material with a laser at a first stage of the multiple stages. The laser assembly can include a laser configured to generate a laser beam, a gimble assembly configured to direct the laser beam along a cut path at a position of a web path of the moving web of material, and a servo driven mirror assembly configured to provide an adjustable field of view for the laser stage at the position of the web path.
Claims25
An apparatus comprising:
- multiple processing stations, each station configured to process a moving web of material along a web path;
- a laser assembly configured to process the moving web of material with a laser at a first station of the multiple processing stations, the laser assembly comprising:
- a laser configured to generate a laser beam;
- a gimble assembly configured to direct the laser beam along a cut path at a position of a web path of the moving web of material;
- a servo-driven mirror assembly configured to provide an adjustable field of view for the laser assembly at the position of the web path;
- and
- a servo-driven focus assembly configured to move focusing optics along an axis defined by the laser beam to adjust a focus of the laser beam in response to a change in the adjustable field of view,
- wherein the servo-driven focus assembly includes a servo motor, a lead screw configured to be rotated by the servo motor, and a focus carriage in which the focusing optics are mounted, wherein the apparatus is configured to move the focus carriage along the axis defined by the laser beam when the lead screw rotates.
A method of operating a web processing machine, the method comprising:
- positioning first web material along a web path including multiple processing stations;
- positioning a laser apparatus to form a laser processing station at a first station of the multiple processing stations;
- processing the first web material at the laser processing station using a first field of view of the laser apparatus to form a first part and using focusing optics in a first position along an axis defined by a laser beam to focus the laser beam to form the first part;
- processing a second web material at the laser processing station using a second field of view of the laser apparatus to form a second part and using focusing optics in a second position along the axis defined by the laser beam to focus the laser beam to form the second part, wherein the first and second positions are different;
- and
- controlling a servo motor to rotate a lead screw to move a focus carriage, in which the focusing optics are mounted, using linear bearings along the axis defined by the laser beam,
- wherein a position of the web path through the laser processing station does not change between forming the first part and forming the second part.
A machine-readable medium including instructions that, when executed by processing circuitry, cause processing circuitry to perform operations, the operations comprising:
- moving a first web material along a web path including multiple processing stations;
- positioning a laser apparatus to form a laser processing station at a first station of the multiple processing stations;
- processing the first web material at the laser processing station using a first field of view of the laser apparatus to form a first part and using focusing optics in a first position along an axis defined by a laser beam to focus the laser beam to form the first part;
- processing a second web material at the laser processing station using a second field of view of the laser apparatus to form a second part and using focusing optics in a second position along the axis defined by the laser beam to focus the laser beam to form the second part, wherein the first and second positions are different;
- and
- controlling a servo motor to rotate a lead screw to move a focus carriage, in which the focusing optics are mounted, using linear bearings along the axis defined by the laser beam,
- wherein a position of the web path through the laser processing station does not change from forming the first part to forming the second part.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.