LASER APPARATUS AND MANUFACTURING METHOD OF A BATTERY

• US 20080253410A1
• Filed: 04/14/2008
• Published: 10/16/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 04/16/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Panasonic Corporation (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Funami, Koji, Sakurai, Tsutomu
• Granted Patent: US 7,646,794 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 372/25
• CPC Class Codes: B23K 26/0613 having a common axis B23K26/0619 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B23K 26/0622 by shaping pulses
• CPC Class Codes: B23K 26/0736 into an oval shape, e.g. elliptic shape
• CPC Class Codes: B23K 26/206 Laser sealing
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/052 Li-accumulators
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 2010/0495 Nanobatteries
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 50/183 Sealing members
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 60/10 Energy storage using batteries
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/4911 including sealing

Abstract

A laser apparatus is provided which is capable of achieving deep penetration into an aluminum-like metal material without causing welding defects such as spatters or cracks and performing high-speed pulse seam welding. The laser apparatus includes a pulse power source that generates a current signal and a mask signal for masking a fluctuation component included in the current signal, and which supplies a current signal in which a fluctuation component has been masked by the mask signal to a YAG pulsed laser oscillator. In addition, the laser apparatus sets the spot shape of a CW laser light oscillated by a CW laser oscillator to a rhombic streamlined shape, and causes a focus spot of the CW laser light to include a circular focus spot of a pulsed laser light.

Claims

1. A laser apparatus comprising:

a first laser oscillator that oscillates a pulsed laser light;

a pulse power source that generates a current signal and a mask signal for masking a fluctuation component included in the current signal and which supplies the current signal whose fluctuation component is masked by the mask signal to the first laser oscillator;

a second laser oscillator that oscillates a continuous wave laser light;

a first optical system that generates a superimposed laser light by superimposing the pulsed laser light with the continuous wave laser light and which focuses the superimposed laser light;

a second optical system that sets a shape of a focus spot of the pulsed laser light to a circular shape; and

a third optical system that sets a shape of a focus spot of the continuous wave laser light to a rhombic streamlined shape, wherein

the first optical system forms a focus spot for the superimposed laser light in which the circular-shaped focus spot for the pulsed laser light is included in the rhombic-streamlined-shaped focus spot for the continuous wave laser light.

2. The laser apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a rise time of the pulsed laser light is 0.1 ms or less and a pulse width of the pulsed laser light is 0.4 ms or less

3. The laser apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the pulse power source comprises:

a chopper/inverter power source that generates the current signal;

a switch element that receives the current signal from the chopper/inverter power source and supplies the current signal to the first laser oscillator; and

a mask circuit that generates the mask signal and suspends supplying of the current signal to the first laser oscillator by the switch element.

4. A battery manufacturing method wherein, when sealing a container of a battery, a superimposed laser light generated by the laser apparatus according to claim 1 is irradiated along a junction line between an opening of the container and a sealing member fitted into the opening in order to weld the sealing member to the opening of the container.