System and method for delivering an energy beam to selected impinge points on a work piece
First Claim
1. An automated system for directing an energy beam to a desired impinge point on a surface of a work piece for processing the work piece, comprising:
- a moveable beam reflecting mirror for receiving the energy beam from an energy beam source Band for movably directing the energy beam onto the surface of the work piece;
an imager having a field of view with a line of sight that is substantially centered with respect to the field of view, said imager being configured to provide an image of at least a portion of the surface of the work piece and for providing a video signal corresponding thereto;
a display monitor for displaying the image with an operator movable pointer superimposed thereon;
an input device configured to move the pointer with respect to the image in response to operator movement inputs from the input device and further configured to provide a first operator command signal when an operator selects a first point of the image for directing the energy beam; and
a processor configured to receive the first operator command signal and to determine the image coordinates of the selected first point of the image, and to direct movement of the movable beam reflecting mirror so as to direct the energy beam to the surface of the work piece at an energy beam impinge point that corresponds to the selected first point of the image; and
a memory operatively coupled to the processor and configured to store a pattern of target locations selected using the image, the pattern including the first point as one of the target locations and a plurality of stops.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system for laser processing a work piece surface with a laser processing beam includes a processing beam delivery source (205) optics (210, 230) for focusing the processing beam at a surface of the work piece, a viewing camera (250) configured coaxially and coincidently focused with the processing beam (207) at beam impinge point (245) on the work piece (100). The system further includes a computer (510) and processor (512) for displaying an image of the work piece (100) and a cursor (600) superimposed thereon on a monitor (560). One or more movable mirrors (320, 325) are provided movably mounted on galvanometers (335, 340) controlled by the processor (512) to direct the processing beam to selected points on the work surface for processing, (e.g. by laser spot welding). The system further includes an input device such as a mouse (520) for positioning a movable cursor (600) on image points of the work piece image and for selecting the image point for laser processing. The image points may be stored in a memory (514) as a pattern of image points laser processed as a patter under automatic control by the processor (512).
73 Citations
38 Claims
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1. An automated system for directing an energy beam to a desired impinge point on a surface of a work piece for processing the work piece, comprising:
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a moveable beam reflecting mirror for receiving the energy beam from an energy beam source Band for movably directing the energy beam onto the surface of the work piece;
an imager having a field of view with a line of sight that is substantially centered with respect to the field of view, said imager being configured to provide an image of at least a portion of the surface of the work piece and for providing a video signal corresponding thereto;
a display monitor for displaying the image with an operator movable pointer superimposed thereon;
an input device configured to move the pointer with respect to the image in response to operator movement inputs from the input device and further configured to provide a first operator command signal when an operator selects a first point of the image for directing the energy beam; and
a processor configured to receive the first operator command signal and to determine the image coordinates of the selected first point of the image, and to direct movement of the movable beam reflecting mirror so as to direct the energy beam to the surface of the work piece at an energy beam impinge point that corresponds to the selected first point of the image; and
a memory operatively coupled to the processor and configured to store a pattern of target locations selected using the image, the pattern including the first point as one of the target locations and a plurality of stops. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 30)
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20. A method for directing an energy beam to impinge a work piece at a selected first point, comprising:
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displaying an image of the work piece, with a pointer superimposed on the image such that the pointer is movable with respect to the image in response to operator movement commands;
selecting the first point on the image;
providing a first operator command signal to a processor when the first point is selected;
performing a logical operation in the processor for determining an angle for rotating a beam reflecting mirror positioned between the energy beam source and the surface of the work piece, the angle being selected for directing the energy beam to impinge the surface at an impinge point corresponding to the selected point;
repeating the selecting providing and performing for each of one or more additional points thereby defining a pattern of target locations; and
selecting a stop between at least two of the selected points included in the pattern. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 31)
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32. An automated system for directing an energy beam to a desired impinge point on a surface of a work piece for processing the work piece, comprising:
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a processor configured to determine coordinates of a user selected first point on an image of the work piece, and to control a movable beam reflecting mirror so as to direct an energy beam to the surface of the work piece at an impinge point that corresponds to the user selected point on the image; and
a memory operatively coupled to the processor and configured to store a pattern of user selected points on the image, the pattern including the first point and a stop between at least two of the selected points. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
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Specification