Laser marking apparatus, marking method, and print setting apparatus
AssigneeKeyence Corporation
InventorRyohei Suzaki
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Boldface printing having a sufficient line width is more easily implemented as compared with the related art. A laser marking apparatus includes a laser light output section, a laser light scanning section, a storage section, and a marking control section. The marking control section scans UV laser light along an outer scanning line farther from a center line of a line element of a character corresponding to print data for boldface than an inner scanning line prior to the inner scanning line closer to the center line for scanning lines adjacent to each other in a direction in which the line element of the character becomes thick among a plurality of the scanning lines forming the print data for boldface.
Claims15
A laser marking apparatus comprising:
- a laser light output section that generates laser light based on excitation light and outputs the laser light;
- a laser light scanning section that scans a surface of a workpiece with the laser light output from the laser light output section;
- a storage section that stores print data for boldface including a plurality of scanning lines arranged side by side in a direction in which a line element becomes thick, the print data including the scanning lines along the line element of a character that needs to be marked;
- and
- a marking control section that controls the laser light output section and the laser light scanning section to mark a character by scanning the laser light along the scanning lines of the print data based on the print data stored in the storage section,
- wherein the marking control section controls the laser light scanning section to scan the laser light along an outer scanning line farther from a center line of the line element of the character corresponding to the print data for boldface than an inner scanning line prior to the inner scanning line closer to the center line of the line element of the character corresponding to the print data for boldface, for the scanning lines adjacent to each other in the direction in which the line element becomes thick among the plurality of scanning lines forming the print data for boldface.
A marking method for marking a character on a surface of a workpiece by using a laser marking apparatus, which includes:
- a laser light output section that generates laser light based on excitation light and outputs the laser light;
- a laser light scanning section that scans the surface of the workpiece with the laser light output from the laser light output section;
- a storage section that stores print data for boldface including a plurality of scanning lines arranged side by side in a direction in which a line element of the character becomes thick, the print data including the scanning lines along the line element of the character that needs to be marked;
- and a marking control section that controls the laser light output section and the laser light scanning section to mark a character by scanning the laser light along the scanning lines of the print data based on the print data stored in the storage section, the marking method comprising
- controlling the laser light output section and the laser light scanning section by the marking control section to mark the character such that the laser light is scanned along an outer scanning line farther from a center line of the line element of the character corresponding to the print data for boldface than an inner scanning line prior to the inner scanning line closer to the center line of the line element of the character corresponding to the print data for boldface, for the scanning lines adjacent to each other in the direction in which the line element becomes thick among the plurality of scanning lines forming the print data for boldface.
A print setting apparatus that is connected to a laser marker, which includes a laser light output section generating and outputting laser light based on excitation light and a laser light scanning section scanning a surface of a workpiece with the laser light output from the laser light output section, and generates print data including a scanning line along a line element of a character that needs to be marked by the laser light scanning section, the print setting apparatus comprising:
- a display unit that displays a setting plane defined by an orthogonal coordinate system;
- a character input unit that is arranged on the setting plane displayed by the display unit and receives an input of the character that needs to be marked;
- a print data generation section that generates print data for boldface including a plurality of the scanning lines arranged side by side in a direction in which the line element of the character input by the character input unit becomes thick;
- and
- a print data transmission section that transmits the print data for boldface generated by the print data generation section to the laser marker,
- wherein the print data generation section generates the print data for boldface for scanning lines adjacent to each other in the direction in which the line element becomes thick among the plurality of scanning lines forming the print data for boldface in an order in which an outer scanning line farther from the center line than an inner scanning line is scanned prior to the inner scanning line closer to the center line of the line element of the character corresponding to the print data for boldface.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.