Laser cutting apparatus with means for measuring cutting groove width

A laser cutting apparatus including a laser oscillator for generating a laser beam and a laser condenser lens for condensing said laser beam from said laser oscillator to make a cutting groove of predetermined width into an object being processed, said laser cutting apparatus comprising:

• means for adjusting distance between said object and said laser condenser lens for adjusting the width of said laser beam irradiating upon said object;
• relative-speed regulating means the controlling the relative speed of said object with respect to said laser beam to regulate the irradiating time of said laser beam upon said object;
• cutting-width measuring means for measuring the cutting widths of a proximal portion of said cutting groove, relative to said measuring means, and a distal portion of said cutting groove, relative to said measuring means;
• and
• controlling means for comparing the upper cutting width and the lower cutting width, measured by said cutting-width measuring means, of said cutting groove with a standard, and controlling said distance adjusting means and said relative-speed regulating means in accordance with the result of comparison.