Laser bending method and apparatus for bending a work piece in normal and reverse directions
AssigneeFujitsu Limited
InventorNaohisa Matsushita
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A work piece can be bent in opposite directions by irradiating a laser beam onto one side of the work piece. A tension anneal is applied to a metal plate. The metal plate is bent by irradiating a defocused laser beam onto a front surface of the tension-annealed metal plate so that the metal plate is bent in a state in which the front surface of the metal plate is convex at a position where the laser beam is scanned.
Claims12
A laser bending method of a metal plate, comprising the steps of:
- applying tension anneal to the metal plate;
- and
- bending said metal plate by irradiating a defocused single mode laser beam onto a front surface of said tension-annealed metal plate so that said metal plate is bent in a state in which said front surface of said metal plate is convex at a position where the laser beam is scanned.
A laser bending apparatus for a metal plate, comprising:
- a laser oscillator;
- an optical system converging a single mode laser beam from said laser oscillator and irradiating the laser beam onto the metal plate;
- a focus control mechanism controlling a focus of the laser beam so that the laser beam converged by said optical system is irradiated onto a front surface of said metal plate in a defocused state;
- a work support mechanism support said metal plate by supporting a portion of said metal plate other than a laser-irradiated portion on which the laser beam is irradiated in a state in which the laser-irradiated portion is floated in air;
- and
- a scan mechanism moving at least one of said optical system and said work support mechanism so as to scan the laser beam on said front surface of said metal plate.
A laser bending method of a metal plate, comprising the steps of:
- applying tension anneal to the metal plate;
- and
- bending said metal plate by irradiating a defocused laser beam onto a front surface of said tension-annealed metal plate so that said metal plate is bent at a position where the laser beam is scanned;
- and
- varying the degree of laser beam defocus for selectively obtaining normal direction bending or reverse direction bending.
A laser bending apparatus for a metal plate, comprising:
- a laser oscillator;
- an optical system converging a laser beam from said laser oscillator and irradiating the laser beam onto the metal plate;
- a focus control mechanism controlling a focus of the laser beam so that the laser beam converged by said optical system is irradiated onto a front surface of said metal plate in a defocused state;
- a work support mechanism supporting said metal plate by supporting a portion of said metal plate other than a laser-irradiated portion on which the laser beam is irradiated in a state in which the laser-irradiated portion is floated in air;
- a scan mechanism moving at least one of said optical system and said work support mechanism so as to scan the laser beam on said front surface of said metal plate and
- a defocus control mechanism operative to vary the position of the focal point of the laser beam with respect to the metal plate to selectively obtain normal bending or reverse bending thereof.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.