Laser marking through the lens of an image scanning system

A method of laser marking a workpiece with a laser marking system, the laser marking system comprising a laser having a laser beam path, a camera having a field of view (FOV) and a camera beam path, electromagnetic energy deflectors to direct the beam path of the camera, and at least one lens, the laser beam path and the camera beam path both passing through the at least one lens, the method comprising:

• directing the camera beam path with the electromagnetic energy deflectors to multiple different locations within a marking field of the laser marking system, the marking field having an entirety greater than the camera FOV;
• capturing, with the camera, an image tile at each of the multiple different locations, thus providing a plurality of captured image tiles, each captured image tile spanning the FOV of the camera;
• stitching together the plurality of captured image tiles to produce a composite image of the entirety of the marking field;
• using the composite image of the entirety of the marking field to identify a location and orientation of an image of the workpiece within the marking field;
• determining a location and orientation of a mark to be applied to the workpiece based on the identified location and orientation of the image of the workpiece within the composite image of the entirety of the marking field;
• and
• applying the mark to the workpiece at the determined location and orientation with the laser, including using an autofocus module of the laser marking system to perform an autofocus procedure to compensate for a difference in the beam path of the camera and the beam path of the laser, wherein the laser marking system causes a focus point of the marking laser to match a focus point of the camera for the captured image tile at each of the multiple different locations.

A laser marking system comprising:

• a laser;
• a camera having a field of view (FOV);
• a marking head including electromagnetic energy deflectors and at least one lens, a beam path of the laser and a beam path of the camera both passing through the at least one lens;
• and
• a computer system operable to perform a method of marking a workpiece comprising:
• adjusting the electromagnetic energy deflectors to direct the beam path of the camera to multiple different locations within a marking field of the laser marking system, the marking field having an entirety greater than the camera FOV;
• capturing, with the camera, an image tile at each of the multiple different locations, thus providing a plurality of captured image tiles, each captured image tile spanning the FOV of the camera;
• stitching together the plurality of captured image tiles to produce a composite image of the entirety of the marking field;
• using the composite image of the entirety of the marking field to identify a location and orientation of an image of the workpiece within the entirety of the marking field;
• determining a location and orientation of a graphic to be applied to the workpiece based on comparing the location and orientation of the image of the workpiece within the composite image of the entirety of the marking field to a computer-based model of the workpiece, the computer-based model of the workpiece and the graphic positioned on the computer-based model relatively oriented to respectively aligned positions;
• and
• applying the graphic to the workpiece at the determined location and orientation with the laser to match the graphic positioned on the computer-based model of the workpiece, including using an autofocus module of the computer system to perform an autofocus procedure to compensate for a difference in the beam path of the camera and the beam path of the laser, wherein the computer system causes a focus point of the marking laser to match a focus point of the camera for the captured image tile at each of the multiple different locations.

A method of laser marking a workpiece with a laser marking system, the laser marking system comprising a laser having a laser beam path, a camera having a field of view (FOV) and a camera beam path, electromagnetic energy deflectors to direct the beam path of the camera, and at least one lens, the laser beam path and the camera beam path both passing through the at least one lens, the method comprising:

• directing the camera beam path with the electromagnetic energy deflectors to multiple different locations within a marking field of the laser marking system, the marking field having an entirety greater than the camera FOV;
• capturing, with the camera, an image tile at each of the multiple different locations, thus providing a plurality of captured image tiles, each captured image tile spanning the FOV of the camera;
• stitching together the plurality of captured image tiles to produce a composite image of the entirety of the marking field;
• using the composite image of the entirety of the marking field to identify a location and orientation of an image of the workpiece within the composite image of the marking field;
• determining a location and orientation of a graphic to be applied to the workpiece based on comparing the location and orientation of the image of the workpiece within the composite image of the entirety of the marking field to a computer-based model of the workpiece, the computer-based model of the workpiece and the graphic positioned on the computer-based model relatively oriented to respectively aligned positions;
• and
• applying the graphic to the workpiece at the determined location and orientation with the laser of the marking system to match the graphic positioned on the computer-based model of the workpiece, including an autofocus module of the laser marking system to perform an autofocus procedure to compensate for a difference in the beam path of the camera and the beam path of the laser, wherein the laser marking system causes a focus point of the laser to match a focus point of the camera for the captured image tile at each of the multiple different locations.