A welding method includes: irradiating a surface of a workpiece with a laser light that moves relatively to the workpiece in a sweep direction; and performing welding by melting a part of the workpiece irradiated with the laser light. The laser light includes a plurality of beams, the plurality of beams include at least one main beam and at least one sub beam smaller in power than the main beam, a main power region including the at least one main beam and a sub power region including the at least one sub beam are formed on the surface, and a minimum distance between centers of adjacent ones of the plurality of beams on the surface is 75 μm or less.

Laser processing of hard dielectric materials may include cutting a part from a hard dielectric material using a continuous wave laser operating in a quasi-continuous wave (QCW) mode to emit consecutive laser light pulses in a wavelength range of about 1060 nm to 1070 nm. Cutting using a QCW laser may be performed with a lower duty cycle (e.g., between about 1% and 15%) and in an inert gas atmosphere such as nitrogen, argon or helium. Laser processing of hard dielectric materials may further include post-cut processing the cut edges of the part cut from the dielectric material, for example, by beveling and/or polishing the edges to reduce edge defects. The post-cut processing may be performed using a laser beam with different laser parameters than the beam used for cutting, for example, by using a shorter wavelength (e.g., 193 nm excimer laser) and/or a shorter pulse width (e.g., picosecond laser).

The disclosure relates to methods and systems for joining at least two workpieces, including forming a weld joint by moving a machining beam, e.g., a laser beam, and the at least two workpieces relative to one another along a feed direction, wherein the movement of the machining beam and the two workpieces relative to one another is superimposed with a periodic movement in a movement path, e.g., a two-dimensional movement path, which extends in a transverse direction perpendicularly to the feed direction and, e.g., additionally in the feed direction. The movement path has, between two reversal points in the transverse direction, at least one stop point at which a speed component of the periodic movement in the transverse direction is zero. The invention also relates to computer program products and systems for carrying out the methods.

The disclosure relates to methods and systems for joining at least two workpieces, including forming a weld joint by moving a machining beam, e.g., a laser beam, and the at least two workpieces relative to one another along a feed direction, wherein the movement of the machining beam and the two workpieces relative to one another is superimposed with a periodic movement in a movement path, e.g., a two-dimensional movement path, which extends in a transverse direction perpendicularly to the feed direction and, e.g., additionally in the feed direction. The movement path has, between two reversal points in the transverse direction, at least one stop point at which a speed component of the periodic movement in the transverse direction is zero. The invention also relates to computer program products and systems for carrying out the methods.

A system includes an orientation determination system comprising a camera where the camera is configured to capture an image of an orientation feature of a physical dental model of a dental arch of a customer with material thermoformed thereon. The orientation determination system is configured to identify an offset of the physical dental model with respect to a fixture plate during positioning or before or after the physical dental model is positioned on the fixture plate by determining an actual orientation of the physical dental model based on the orientation feature. The system also includes a laser trimming system configured to cut the material along a trim line based on the identified offset while the fixture plate is moved about at least two axes to produce a dental aligner specific to the customer and being configured to reposition one or more teeth of the customer.

A system includes an orientation determination system comprising a camera where the camera is configured to capture an image of an orientation feature of a physical dental model of a dental arch of a customer with material thermoformed thereon. The orientation determination system is configured to identify an offset of the physical dental model with respect to a fixture plate during positioning or before or after the physical dental model is positioned on the fixture plate by determining an actual orientation of the physical dental model based on the orientation feature. The system also includes a laser trimming system configured to cut the material along a trim line based on the identified offset while the fixture plate is moved about at least two axes to produce a dental aligner specific to the customer and being configured to reposition one or more teeth of the customer.

A beam processing apparatus is a beam processing apparatus that irradiates a workpiece with a processing beam, and performs a removal processing of a first part of the workpiece by irradiating a first surface of the workpiece with the processing beam while moving an irradiation position of the processing beam along a first direction, and performs a removal processing of a second part of the workpiece by irradiating a second surface, which is formed at the workpiece by the removal processing of the first part, with the processing beam while moving the irradiation position of the processing beam along the first direction. A moving range of the processing beam for the removal processing of the second part is smaller than a moving range of the processing beam for the removal processing of the first part.

A welding method includes: emitting a laser beam to a workpiece including a metal; and welding a portion of the workpiece to which the laser beam is emitted by melting. The laser beam includes a main power region and at least one auxiliary power region, power in the main power region is equal to or higher than power in each of the at least one auxiliary power region, and a power ratio of the power in the main power region and a total of the power in the at least one auxiliary power region is within a range of 144:1 to 1:1.

A three-dimensional printing system includes a motorized build platform, a material coating module, and a beam generation module. The beam generation module includes a laser beam formation unit, a scan module, and flat field focusing system. The laser beam formation unit includes a laser configured to output a laser beam. The scan module is configured to receive the laser beam and to scan the laser beam over a build plane that is above the motorized build platform. The flat field focusing system is configured to focus the laser beam across the laser beam and includes an input component and an output component. The input component is configured to receive the laser beam from the beam formation unit and to pass the laser beam to the scan module. The output component is configured to receive the laser beam from the scan module and pass the laser beam to the build plane.

A laser processing head for a laser beam uses actuators engaged with a delivery fiber end to deflect the fiber end relative to an optical axis. The laser beam from the fiber end is collimated by a collimator and is then focused by a focusing component disposed in the head beyond the collimator to a focal point. The focal point of the laser beam is deflected from the optical axis in relation to the deflection of the fiber end. The fiber end and the actuators are housed in a sealed module. Deflection of the laser beam can be sensed by reflecting portion of the laser beam to a sensing element so a control system can monitor and control the fiber end's movement. A mode-stripper in the sealed module removes light from cladding of the delivery fiber, and an actively cooled absorber in the module around the fiber absorbs the energy.