A marking system for decorating one or more workpieces includes a plurality of marking stations that can mark product images on blank workpieces to produce product workpieces, at least some of which have different sizes, shapes, materials, or a combination thereof, a control system that can select one of the plurality of marking stations and send product image data to the selected one of the plurality of marking stations, and a robotic manipulator that can transport a blank workpiece to the selected marking station under the control of the robotic manipulator. The selected marking station can mark the product image the blank workpiece based on the product image data which produces a product workpiece. The robotic manipulator can remove the product workpiece from the selected one of the plurality of marking stations.

Provided is a control device for a laser machining apparatus which can maintain the inclination direction of a nozzle with respect to a machining program route even during modification of the tool diameter correction amount, and which can improve machining accuracy. This control device 1 for a laser machining apparatus comprises: a tool center route calculation unit 12which calculates a tool center route on the basis of an offset vector with respect to a machining program route; a first inclination direction calculation unit 131 which calculates an inclination direction of a nozzle 2 with respect to the machining program route; a tool orientation calculation unit 14 which calculates an orientation of the nozzle 2 on the basis of the inclination direction of the nozzle 2 calculated by the first inclination direction calculation unit 131 and an inclination angle of the nozzle 2 in the inclination direction from a direction that is perpendicular to a plane of a workpiece W in a plane orthogonal to the machining program route; a drive shaft movement amount calculation unit 15 which calculates a movement amount of a drive shaft on the basis of the tool center route and the orientation of the nozzle 2; and a drive shaft control unit 16 which controls the drive shaft on the basis of the movement amount of the drive shaft.

Provided is a control device for a laser machining apparatus which can maintain the inclination direction of a nozzle with respect to a machining program route even during modification of the tool diameter correction amount, and which can improve machining accuracy. This control device 1 for a laser machining apparatus comprises: a tool center route calculation unit 12which calculates a tool center route on the basis of an offset vector with respect to a machining program route; a first inclination direction calculation unit 131 which calculates an inclination direction of a nozzle 2 with respect to the machining program route; a tool orientation calculation unit 14 which calculates an orientation of the nozzle 2 on the basis of the inclination direction of the nozzle 2 calculated by the first inclination direction calculation unit 131 and an inclination angle of the nozzle 2 in the inclination direction from a direction that is perpendicular to a plane of a workpiece W in a plane orthogonal to the machining program route; a drive shaft movement amount calculation unit 15 which calculates a movement amount of a drive shaft on the basis of the tool center route and the orientation of the nozzle 2; and a drive shaft control unit 16 which controls the drive shaft on the basis of the movement amount of the drive shaft.

The present invention discloses that a multi-laser cutting method and system, which is applied to a substrate to form a primary substrate having a pattern of rounded corners and a line, the throughput could be improved because CO.sub.2 laser cannot cut the round corner at the high speed, but the substrate strength could be kept due to the high cutting quality of the lines by CO.sub.2 laser. The poor quality of the cutting edges of the round corners will not affect on the substrate strength but the round corner cutting by the second laser unit will speed up the cutting process. The present invention applies the method by the 2 different laser machines to balance the throughput. Because at the same speed, for example 150 mm/sec, the cycle time per 1 substrate will be different due to the different length of the cutting lines.

A method for comparing laser machining systems is provided, wherein a laser machining system comprises a laser machining head and a sensor module having at least one photodiode for detecting process radiation, said method comprising: detecting radiation emitted from a light source by means of the photodiode and generating a corresponding intensity signal, wherein the radiation is guided from the light source to the photodiode by at least one optical element in the laser machining head and/or by at least one optical element of the sensor module; aligning the laser machining head and the light source with one another so that the intensity signal assumes a maximum value; and comparing the intensity signal with at least one predetermined reference value. A method for monitoring a laser machining process and an associated laser machining system are also provided.

In a first aspect, the invention relates to a laser treatment head comprising an input for a laser bundle, and further provided with a lens system for focusing the laser bundle and a scanning system for deflecting the laser bundle according to a one-dimensional or two-dimensional touch pattern. In particular, the laser treatment head further comprises an directional body configurable relative to the casing between at least a first position and a second position, for variably emitting the deflected laser bundle with said touch pattern, in at least a first or a second emission direction. In further aspects, the invention relates to a laser treatment device and a laser treatment process.

In a first aspect, the invention relates to a laser treatment head comprising an input for a laser bundle, and further provided with a lens system for focusing the laser bundle and a scanning system for deflecting the laser bundle according to a one-dimensional or two-dimensional touch pattern. In particular, the laser treatment head further comprises an directional body configurable relative to the casing between at least a first position and a second position, for variably emitting the deflected laser bundle with said touch pattern, in at least a first or a second emission direction. In further aspects, the invention relates to a laser treatment device and a laser treatment process.

Apparatus for laser induced ablation spectroscopy (LIBS) is disclosed. An apparatus can have a computer, a pulsed laser and a lightguide fiber bundle that is subdivided into branches. One branch can convey a first portion of the light to a first optical spectrometer and a different branch can convey a second portion of the light to another optical spectrometer. The first spectrometer can be relatively wideband to analyze a relative wide spectral segment and the other spectrometer can be high dispersion to measure minor concentrations. The apparatus can further comprise an unbranched lightguide fiber bundle to provide more light to a low sensitivity spectrometer. The apparatus can include an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer ICP-MS and a computer instructions operable to provide normalized LIBS/ICP-MS composition analyses.

A laser printhead assembly for a laser printhead is disclosed herein. The laser printhead assembly may include a laser containment door; and a laser containment housing that is configured to form a sealed enclosure with a label support of a rewriteable label. The sealed enclosure may be configured to include the rewriteable label and the laser printhead. The laser containment door, in a laser-enabled position, may be configured to permit the laser printhead, via a light beam, to modify the rewriteable label and the laser containment door, in a laser-disabled position, may be configured to prevent a light beam from escaping the laser containment housing.

The laser processing apparatus according to this disclosure includes a laser oscillator to generate laser light, a processing table to place a workpiece thereon, the workpiece having a protective sheet on a surface thereof, the protective sheet including a laser light absorbing layer, a laser head to process the workpiece with the laser light, and a control unit to adjust a position of the laser head so that a focal position of the laser light is brought to a position away from the surface of the workpiece toward the laser head, and to control power of the laser light so that marking is provided by causing the laser light absorbing layer to absorb the laser light and thus transforming the inside of the protective sheet.