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US 6,804,574 B2Granted
Method of using a computer with a laser drilling system
AssigneeMatsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
InventorsXinbing Liu, Chen-Hsiung Cheng, John Cronin, Nancy Edwards, Christopher Rose
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method of determining compatibility of user input parameters for use with a laser drilling system includes providing compatibility data characteristic of a plurality of laser drilling operations, receiving input parameters characteristic of a desired laser drilling operation, and comparing the input parameters to the compatibility data, thereby determining whether the input parameters are incompatible.
Claims35
A method of operating a laser drilling system, comprising:
- inputting at least one first parameter associated with laser beam characteristics into a computer system including steps of:
- (a) determining if said laser beam parameters have been defined as a laser beam parameter profile and saved and if so selecting the laser beam parameter profile;
- (b) if not inputting required laser beam parameters, thereby defining a laser beam parameter profile;
- inputting at least one second parameter associated with workpiece material characteristics into said computer system including steps of:
- (a) displaying known workpiece materials;
- (b) determining if said workpiece material characteristics have been defined as a workpiece material characteristics profile and saved and if not inputting required material characteristics and selecting a workpiece material having the required workpiece material characteristics, thereby defining the workpiece material characteristics profile;
- (c) if so selecting said workpiece material defined by the saved workpiece material characteristics profile;
- inputting at least one third parameter associated with workpiece geometry characteristics into said computer system and sufficient to define size and tapered shape of a three-dimensional hole shape to be drilled in said workpiece including steps of:
- (a) determining if said workpiece geometry has been defined as a workpiece geometry profile and saved and if not inputting workpiece geometry profile;
- (b) if so selecting workpiece geometry;
- (c) determining if said selected workpiece geometry has an associated algorithm defining a tool path that is used to direct position of a laser beam upon a workpiece to produce the tapered hole by varying position of the laser beam to remove layers of workpiece material and by removing workpiece material layer by layer;
- and
- determining if said selected workpiece geometry is compatible with said selected material parameters and said laser beam parameter profile and if so performing the following:
- (a) processing said first, second and third parameters in said computer system to calculate the tool path;
- (b) determining a laser drilling data set that includes said tool path;
- and
- (c) exporting said laser drilling data set to said laser drilling system.
14 more elements
A laser drilling system, comprising:
- a laser system having a laser source and associated optical system elements for directing a laser beam onto a workpiece;
- a computer system coupled to said laser system for controlling said laser beam to effect a predetermined material ablation operation upon said workpiece;
- said computer system having a user interface for input of:
- (a) at least one first parameter associated with laser beam characteristics;
- (b) at least one second parameter associated with workpiece material characteristics selected from displayed known workpiece materials and inputted required material characteristics;
- and
- (c) at least one third parameter associated with workpiece geometry characteristics and sufficient to define size and shape of a tapered hole to be drilled in said workpiece;
- said computer system being operable to process said first, second and third parameters and to supply a set of instructions to said laser system based on said parameters, wherein said instructions define a tool path that is used to direct position of a laser beam produced according to the laser beam parameters upon a workpiece of material indicated by the workpiece material parameters to produce the tapered hole by varying position of the laser beam to remove layers of workpiece material and by removing workpiece material layer by layer.
5 more elements
A computer implemented method of operating a laser drilling system, comprising:
- receiving a plurality of input parameters associated with a desired laser drilling operation, including laser beam parameters, workpiece material parameters selected from displayed known workpiece materials and inputted required material characteristics, and workpiece geometry parameters sufficient to define size and shape of a tapered hole to be drilled in a workpiece;
- assessing said plurality of input parameters to determine whether the input parameters are incompatible with said desired laser drilling operation;
- generating a set of laser drilling system control instructions to said laser drilling system and exporting said generated set to said laser drilling system unless said assessing step determined that said input parameters are incompatible, wherein said instructions define a tool path that is used to direct position of a laser beam produced according to the laser beam parameters upon a workpiece of material indicated by the workpiece material parameters to produce the tapered hole by varying position of the laser beam to remove layers of workpiece material and by removing workpiece material layer by layer.
A laser drilling system comprising:
- an input receptive of input laser drilling parameters including laser parameters, workpiece material parameters selected from displayed known workpiece materials and inputted required material characteristics, and workpiece geometry parameters sufficient to define size and shape of a tapered hole to be drilled in a workpiece;
- a database having a plurality of known laser drilling parameter combinations stored in memory operable with a data processing system;
- and
- a computer system accessing said database, making a comparison between the received laser drilling parameters and a known laser drilling parameter combination, and determining whether the received laser drilling parameters are incompatible based on the comparison, wherein incompatibility indicates an inability to use a tool path to direct position of a laser beam produced according to the laser parameters upon a workpiece of material indicated by the workpiece material parameters to produce the tapered hole by varying position of the laser beam to remove layers of workpiece material and by removing workpiece material layer by layer.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.