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US 8,803,029 B2Granted
Dual beam laser welding head
AssigneeChrysler Group LLC
InventorsMariana G. Forrest, Feng Lu, Stefan Heinemann, Torsten Schmidt
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A laser welding head capable of producing a plurality of beams that are proficient in providing a unique keyhole. The welding head is movable through a plurality of positions relative to substrates that enables the plurality of beams to engage the substrates in a manner that welds the substrates in a variety of stack-up positions. A welding method using the welding head is also provided.
Claims15
A welding head comprising:
- a housing;
- a laser device attached to said housing, said laser device for emitting radiation into said housing;
- a beam splitter located within said housing inboard from said laser device, said beam splitter operable to form a leading beam by allowing radiation with low divergence to pass through to a first optical path, and operable to form a trailing beam by deflecting radiation with high divergence to a second optical path;
- a reflective mirror in said second optical path, said reflective mirror adapted to reflect said trailing beam to a third optical path;
- and
- a plurality of focusing lenses, a first focusing lens disposed in said first optical path and operable to focus said leading beam, and a second focusing lens disposed in said third optical path and operable to focus said trailing beam,
- wherein said beam splitter is mounted to a stage that is linearly movable along an optical axis of said radiation emitted from said laser device to adjust a power ratio of said leading and trailing beams;
- and
- said reflective mirror is connected to said stage such that said reflective mirror is simultaneously movable with said stage to maintain optical alignment with said beam splitter.
6 more elements
A welding system comprising:
- a housing including an inlet and an outlet;
- a laser device mounted to said inlet, said laser device adapted to emit a beam of radiation into said housing;
- and
- an optical system disposed in said housing between said inlet and said outlet, said optical system including:
- a beam splitter mounted to a stage that is linearly movable along an optical axis of said radiation emitted from said laser device adapted to transmit a portion of said radiation along a first optical path to form a leading beam, and adapted to deflect a portion of said radiation along a second optical path to form a trailing beam;
- a reflective mirror disposed in said second optical path for reflecting said trailing beam toward said outlet of said housing, said reflective mirror being attached to said stage such that when said stage and said beam splitter are linearly moved, said reflective mirror simultaneously moves to maintain optical alignment with said beam splitter;
- at least one focusing lens disposed in said first optical path between said beam splitter and said outlet for focusing said leading beam;
- and
- at least one focusing lens disposed in said second optical path between said reflective mirror and said outlet for focusing said trailing beam,
- wherein said beam splitter, said reflective mirror, and said focusing lenses in said first and second optical paths are each independently adjustable, and
- a position of said beam splitter relative to said laser device adjusts a power ratio of said leading and trailing beams.
8 more elements
A welding method comprising:
- emitting radiation from a laser device along an optical axis toward a beam splitter, said beam splitter being mounted to a stage that is movable along an axis that is parallel to said optical axis;
- transmitting a portion of said radiation through said beam splitter along a first optical path to form a leading beam, and deflecting another portion of said radiation with said beam splitter along a second optical path to form a trailing beam, a position of said beam splitter along said optical axis relative to said laser device adjusts a power ratio of said leading and trailing beams;
- reflecting said trailing beam with a reflective mirror disposed in said second optical path, said reflective mirror reflecting said trailing beam to a third optical path and said reflective mirror being connected to and simultaneously movable with said stage to maintain optical alignment with said beam splitter;
- and
- passing said leading beam through a first focusing lens disposed in said first optical path and operable to focus said leading beam, and passing said trailing beam through a second focusing lens disposed in said third optical path and operable to focus said trailing beam;
- controlling characteristics of said leading and trailing beams;
- and
- engaging said leading and trailing beams to a pair of substrates to weld said substrates together,
- wherein said step of controlling characteristics of said leading and trailing beams enables the engagement of said leading and trailing beams to said substrates to form a keyhole with a leading and trailing end, the leading end being smaller than the trailing end.
6 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.