A laser cutting head includes a body, a laser light source located at a first end of the body, a nozzle located at another end of the body, an optical system located inside the body between the laser light source and the nozzle. The body includes at least two parts, which are slidable relative to each other in such a way that, due to their reciprocal displacement, the mutual position of the laser light source and/or the nozzle and/or the optical system can be changed, so that the geometry of the laser beam inside the body can be changed during use to achieve the desired parameters of the focus of the laser beam on the surface of the workpiece.

A gas flow can be provided together with a liquid jet guided laser beam to remove accumulated liquid on the processing surface. The gas flow can be configured to have minimum interference with the liquid jet guided laser beam, while functions to blow away liquid generated by the liquid jet. Keeping the surface free from accumulated liquid can improve the efficiency of the liquid jet guided laser processing.

An additive manufacturing tool configured to couple to a spindle of a CNC machine, comprises a plurality of drive wheels movable between an engaged position wherein they compress filament from a filament source against a drive disc and a disengaged position wherein they are spaced apart from the filament, and a delivery assembly including a heating element and a nozzle having an outlet opening. When the plurality of drive wheels are in the engaged position and the drive disc is rotated, the filament is drawn into the tool from the filament source and routed around the drive disc to the nozzle, where heat transferred from the heating element to the nozzle melts the filament so that the filament flows through the outlet opening.

A laser cutting and machining method for plated steel plated, when irradiating a laser beam LB on to the upper surface of a plated steel plate W and laser cutting and machining same: a plating layer-containing metal that has been melted and/or evaporated by the irradiation of the laser beam LB is caused to flow on to a cut surface of the plated steel plate W as a result of assist gas that is jetted towards a laser machining units; and the plating layer-containing metal is coated on the cut surface.

A device for distributing gas near a weld location includes a cap, a funnel, an inlet, and an aperture. The cap includes a sidewall and an annular lip, and defines a reservoir between the sidewall and the annular lip. The annular lip includes a proximal-most edge. The cap defines an opening, and defines a longitudinal axis. The funnel is disposed adjacent a distal end of the cap. The inlet is disposed in mechanical cooperation with the cap. The aperture is disposed through the sidewall of the cap and is in fluid communication with the inlet. The aperture is disposed distally of the proximal-most edge of the annular lip. Gas is configured to flow through the inlet, through the aperture and into the reservoir. The reservoir is configured to allow the gas to uniformly overflow the proximal-most edge of the annular lip and flow distally through the opening defined by the cap.

A gas flow can be provided together with a liquid jet guided laser beam to remove accumulated liquid on the processing surface. The gas flow can have minimum interference with the liquid jet guided laser beam, while functions to blow away liquid generated by the liquid jet. Keeping the surface free from accumulated liquid can improve the efficiency of the liquid jet guided laser processing.

A manufacturing machine includes: a tool spindle configured to hold a tool for subtractive manufacturing for a workpiece; an additive manufacturing head detachably mounted on the tool spindle to discharge material powder and emit a laser beam during additive manufacturing; and a head stocker storing the additive manufacturing head in an outside-of-machining-area. The additive manufacturing head includes: a head body into which a laser beam is introduced; and a laser tool detachably mounted on the head body to emit the laser beam and define a laser-beam-irradiated region on the workpiece. The manufacturing machine further includes: a laser tool stocker storing a plurality of laser tools; and a laser tool exchanger for exchanging laser tools between the head body and the laser tool stocker. A high productivity of additive manufacturing is achieved by using the above features configured in this way.

A tire mold or a tire mold segment can include an air compression cavity, which connects to multiple surface connection slots having dimensions between 10 and 300 microns, which can be suitable for selective removal of air in the mold. The air compression cavity, can be close to the outside ambient, allowing the air escaping the interior of the mold to be compressed, which can assist in preventing the rubber material from leaving the mold pattern surface.

A liquid-jet-guided laser system can be used to generate functional slots having different depth and sidewall profiles by applying active control of laser beam parameters. Blinds slots can be processed onto a workpiece, such as a tire mold or a turbine vane, for an insertion of a sipe or a sealing element, respectively. Through slots can also be processed onto a workpiece, such as a turbine element for cooling during operation or a semiconductor wafer for singulation purpose. The processing of the workpiece can include a two-step procedure, wherein the first step comprises a pre-cut. The pre-cut cuts a contour outline of a slot onto a workpiece corresponding to an element that is to be inserted into the slot. The second step comprises a removal cut to remove excess workpiece material in between the contour outline. The liquid-jet-guided laser system can employ multiple-wavelength processing of a multiple-material workpiece.

This disclosure describes machining units for machining a workpiece, in particular for welding a workpiece by, using a thermal machining beam. The thermal machining beam can be directed onto a workpiece along a beam incidence axis by means of the machining unit, wherein the machining unit has a rotary drive device by means of which an auxiliary module for workpiece machining is rotatable about the beam incidence axis. The machining unit includes a coupling device by which the auxiliary module can be moved between a position coupled to the rotary drive device and a position uncoupled from the rotary drive device.