Method of correcting laser output power

Abstract

There is disclosed a method of correcting the laser beam output power of an NC laser beam cutting machine composed of a computerized numerical control (CNC) apparatus and a laser beam cutting machine. When a laser is initially energized, a correcting coefficient is determined from a laser beam output power command value and an actual laser beam output power by a correcting means (11), and the actual laser beam output power is measured at each periodic interval of time by an output measuring device (33). The NC laser beam cutting machine is controlled by a command control means (13) to eliminate the difference between the laser beam output power command value and the actual laser beam output power. When the laser is initially energized, a long-term variation in the laser beam output power is corrected, and when an actual cutting operation is carried out, a short-term variation in the laser beam output power is corrected, so that the laser output power can be produced accurately.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.