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US 5,315,111 AGranted
Method and apparatus for laser beam drift compensation
AssigneeLasa Industries, Inc.
InventorsLeslie L. Burns, William Barrett, Robert Tsai
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method and apparatus for laser beam drift compensation. A portion of the laser beam is split off and focused onto a photocell through a reticle. As the laser beam scans the reticle, the actual position of the laser beam is determined and compared with its anticipated position. Compensation is made for any deviation in the beam position in a closed-looped manner to provide accurate optical alignment of the laser beam to the workpiece.
Claims25
A method of compensating for laser beam drift comprising the steps of:
- deflecting a laser beam to desired coordinates on a workpiece;
- directing at least a portion of the laser beam to a structure having a known optical configuration;
- detecting an altered laser beam which has passed through said structure and generating a position signal corresponding to an altered portion of the laser beam;
- detecting, from said position signal, a position where the altered portion of the laser beam intersects said optical configuration;
- comparing the position of the laser beam determined in the detecting step, to an anticipated position of the laser beam at a time when said detecting step occurs;
- and
- compensating for deviation between the anticipated beam position and the determined beam position.
4 more elements
An automatic laser beam drift compensation system comprising:
- a laser which generates a laser beam;
- means for deflecting the laser beam in desired directions onto a workpiece;
- a reticle having an area with a known optical configuration thereon, which area affects a laser beam passing therethrough;
- a detector, located to convert laser beam light which has passed through said reticle to a signal corresponding to an amount of light received thereby;
- detecting means for detecting changes in the signal from the detector as the portion of the light beam directed toward the reticle crosses said area on the reticle and is changed, the changes taking place at a known position relative to the workpiece;
- comparison means for comparing an actual laser beam position with an anticipated laser beam position;
- and
- means for compensating, in response to said comparison, for any deviation in laser beam position.
5 more elements
An automatic laser beam drift compensation system comprising:
- a laser beam generator for generating a laser beam;
- means for deflecting the laser beam in a controlled 2-dimensional direction onto a workpiece;
- means for converting laser beam light to an electrical signal, the electrical signal corresponding to the amount of light received by the converting means;
- means for conveying at least a portion of the laser beam light through a reticle onto the converting means, said reticle having opaque indicia to block the laser light;
- detecting means for detecting interruptions in the electrical signal from the converting means as the portion of the light beam directed toward the reticle crosses indicia on the reticle and is blocked, the blockage taking place at a known position relative to the workpiece;
- comparison means for comparing detected laser beam position with an anticipated laser beam position;
- and
- means for compensating in response to said comparison means for any deviation in laser beam position;
- wherein the reticle comprises a metal plate having machined knife blades, the knife blades being perpendicular to each other.
6 more elements
An automatic laser beam drift compensation system comprising:
- a laser which generates a laser beam;
- a reticle having an area with a known optical configuration including multiple cross-points thereon, which area affects a laser beam passing therethrough;
- means for deflecting the laser beam in desired directions onto a workpiece including at least three of said cross-points;
- a detector, located to convert laser beam light which has passed through said reticle to a signal corresponding to an amount of light received thereby;
- detecting means for detecting changes in the signal from the detector as the portion of the light beam directed toward the reticle crosses said area on the reticle and is changed, the changes taking place at a known position relative to the workpiece;
- means for compensating drift using said at least three cross-points;
- comparison means for comparing a detected laser beam position where the signal is changed with an anticipated laser beam position at that time;
- and
- means for compensating, in response to said comparison for any deviation in laser beam position.
6 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.