A laser machine able to effectively satisfy cutting quality required on one side of a cutting spot of a workpiece. The laser machine comprising a machining head configured to emit a laser beam and an assist gas coaxially and non-coaxially; and a data table in which data of a machining condition for cutting a workpiece using the machining head, and a shift amount, by which a center axis of the assist gas is to be shifted from an optical axis of the laser beam in order to make cutting quality on both sides of a cutting line to be different during cutting the workpiece, are stored in associated with each other.

A method of laser processing of a metallic material is described by means of a focused laser beam having a predetermined transverse power distribution on at least one working plane of the material, comprising the steps of: providing a laser beam emitting source; leading the laser beam along a beam transport optical path to a working head arranged in proximity to the material; collimating the laser beam along an optical axis of propagation incident on the material; focusing the collimated laser beam in an area of a working plane of the material; and conducting the focused laser beam along a working path on the metallic material comprising a succession of working areas, wherein the laser beam is shaped: by reflecting the collimated beam by means of a deformable controlled surface reflecting element having a plurality of independently movable reflection areas, and by controlling the arrangement of the reflection areas to establish a predetermined transverse power distribution of the beam on at least one working plane of the metallic material as a function of the area of the current working plane and/or of the current direction of the working path on the metallic material.

Selective laser solidification apparatus is described that includes a powder bed onto which a powder layer can be deposited and a gas flow unit for passing a flow of gas over the powder bed along a predefined gas flow direction. A laser scanning unit is provided for scanning a laser beam over the powder layer to selectively solidify at least part of the powder layer to form a required pattern. The required pattern is formed from a plurality of stripes or stripe segments that are formed by advancing the laser beam along the stripe or stripe segment in a stripe formation direction. The stripe formation direction is arranged so that it always at least partially opposes the predefined gas flow direction. A corresponding method is also described.

Laser cutting on a plated steel sheet is executed by cutting the plated steel sheet by irradiating the plated steel sheet covered with a plate metal with laser light at a wavelength in a 1 micrometer band; and emitting assist gas onto a cut surface of the plated steel sheet, the cut surface being formed in the step of cutting, to make the plate metal fused by irradiation of the laser light flow to the cut surface so as to cover the cut surface with the plate metal.

A laser machining method able to effectively satisfy cutting quality required on one side of a cutting spot of a workpiece. A laser machining method for cutting a workpiece W by using a machining head able to emit a laser beam and an assist gas coaxially and non-coaxially includes: preparing a machining program specifying, for the workpiece W, a cutting line, and a first region and a second region on both sides of the cutting line where cutting quality requirements are different; and maintaining a state in which a center axis of the assist gas is shifted from an optical axis of the laser beam toward the first region in response to the difference in the cutting quality requirements during the cutting between the first region and the second region along the cutting line in accordance with the machining program.

In a method of providing a flow for a process chamber of a device for producing a three-dimensional object by layer-wise application and selective solidification of a building material in a build area a process gas is supplied to the process chamber in a lower altitude region of the process chamber, wherein the process chamber includes a gas inlet for introducing the process gas into the process chamber and a gas outlet for discharging the process gas from the process chamber. The gas inlet and the gas outlet are provided in the lower altitude region of the process chamber and the process gas flows in a main flow from the gas inlet to the gas outlet, and wherein a secondary flow is located in a sub-region of the lower altitude region, which sub-region is located above a bottom surface of the process chamber surrounding the build area.

An object of the disclosure is to improve processing performance. Another object of the disclosure is to improve a working environment and reduce a failure of a processing apparatus. The processing apparatus includes a processing stage on which a composite material is set, a laser head that emits a laser beam in a predetermined direction to the composite material set on the processing stage, a blow off unit that blows off a shield gas to an irradiation point irradiated with the laser beam by the laser head, and an intake unit that takes in the shield gas blown from the blow off unit. The blow off unit and the intake unit are provided so as to interpose the irradiation point and face each other in a first intersecting direction and cause the shield gas to flow in one direction.

An object is to improve the quality of a processed composite material without reducing the processing rate. A processing apparatus includes a laser head configured to irradiate a front face of a composite material with a laser beam and a gas supply unit configured to supply an assist gas to an irradiation point irradiated with the laser beam by the laser head. The gas supply unit has a first-level nozzle configured to eject the assist gas to an area at or near the irradiation point and a second nozzle configured to eject the assist gas to an area at or near the irradiation point and arranged above the first-level nozzle. The angle of the direction in which the first-level nozzle ejects the assist gas relative to the front face differs from the angle of the direction in which the second nozzle ejects the assist gas relative to the front face.

Selective laser solidification apparatus is described that includes a powder bed onto which a powder layer can be deposited and a gas flow unit for passing a flow of gas over the powder bed along a predefined gas flow direction. A laser scanning unit is provided for scanning a laser beam over the powder layer to selectively solidify at least part of the powder layer to form a required pattern. The required pattern is formed from a plurality of stripes or stripe segments that are formed by advancing the laser beam along the stripe or stripe segment in a stripe formation direction. The stripe formation direction is arranged so that it always at least partially opposes the predefined gas flow direction. A corresponding method is also described.

A gas supply device for a laser machining head is provided for generating a homogeneous gas flow. The gas supply device includes a gas inlet, a shared volume for superimposing a laser beam and the gas flow, and a gas channel system which, starting from the gas inlet, branches at least twice and connects the gas inlet with several outlet openings at the shared volume. The gas channel system and the outlet openings are configured to provide a substantially homogeneous gas flow to the shared volume.