LASER TOOL HAVING A HOLLOW SHAFT DRIVE AND NON-ROTATING LENS; METHOD FOR SETTING THE FOCAL POSITION OF THE LASER BEAMS IN A LASER TOOL

Abstract

A laser tool, in particular for the structuring of cylinder running surfaces, that offers the possibility of guiding the laser beam of the laser tool with high process reliability, it is provided that the laser tool has a laser source for producing laser beams that are passed through a lens tube located in a hollow shaft, wherein a lens through which the laser beams are passed is attached to the lens tube, wherein the hollow shaft is designed to be rotatable as a hollow-shaft motor, wherein a spindle, to which is attached an optical device for deflecting the laser beam onto a workpiece surface, is attached to the hollow shaft, wherein the hollow shaft is rotatable independently of the lens.

Claims

1. A laser tool for the structuring of cylinder running surfaces, the laser tool comprising: a laser source to producing a laser beam that is passed through a lens tube located in a hollow shaft, the hollow shaft being designed to be rotatable as a hollow-shaft motor; a lens through which the laser beams is passed is attached to the lens tube; and a spindle, to which is attached an optical device to deflect the laser beam onto a workpiece surface and is attached to the hollow shaft, wherein the hollow shaft is rotatable independently of the lens.

2. The laser tool according to claim 1, wherein the laser tool has a collimator that is located after the laser source in the beam path and is movable substantially parallel to the laser beam via a drive.

3. The laser tool according to claim 1, wherein the drive is an electric drive, a servomotor, a hydraulic drive, or a pneumatic drive.

4. The laser tool according to claim 1, wherein the collimator is connected to the lens tube.

5. The laser tool according to claim 1, wherein the drive has an external position sensor.

6. The laser tool according to claim 1, wherein the drive has a control device for controlling the movement of the collimator based on at least one predefinable parameter.

7. The laser tool according to claim 6, wherein the at least one parameter is the feed of the collimator toward the optical device or the feed of the collimator toward the laser source.

8. The laser tool according to claim 1, wherein the laser tool has at least a lower stop and/or an upper stop that delimit the movement of the collimator.

9. The laser tool according to claim 1, wherein the optical device is a reflecting prism or a mirror.

10. The laser tool according to claim 1, wherein the laser tool has a control unit that controls the motion of the collimator as a function of a signal from a sensor.

11. A method for setting the focal position of laser beams in a laser tool comprising a laser source for producing the laser beams and a collimator for producing a parallel course of the laser beam from the laser source, which are passed through a lens, the method comprising: arranging the lens inside a rotatable spindle; deflecting, via an optical device, the laser beam onto a material surface that is attached to an end of the spindle facing away from the laser source; moving the collimator substantially parallel to the laser beam via a drive; predefining at least one parameter via a controller that controls a motion of the collimator, wherein the collimator is moved in a direction of the optical device or opposite to the direction of the optical device as a function of the at least one parameter.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein the at least one parameter is a feed of the collimator toward the optical device or a feed of the collimator toward the laser source.

13. The method according to claim 11, wherein the lens is arranged in a fixed position in a lens tube that is attached to the collimator.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

[0023] The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given hereinbelow and the accompanying drawings which are given by way of illustration only, and thus, are not limitive of the present invention, and wherein the sole figure illustrates a cross-sectional representation of the laser tool.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0024] The figure shows the laser tool (100) in a cross-sectional representation. The fiber of the laser source (10) is connected to the laser tool (100) by the collimator (11). The collimator (11) is attached to a stationary sleeve (26), which is connected to the drive (15) by an adjustment angle (25). The drive (15) travels along a guide shaft (23) by means of a recirculating ball screw (21). Also attached to the sleeve (26) is a lens tube (18); attached to the end of the lens tube that faces away from the sleeve (26) is the lens (12). The optical path of the laser beam (10a) from the laser source (10) extends in this design through the collimator (11), the sleeve (26), the lens tube (18), and the lens (12) to an optical device (14).

[0025] The unit includes a laser source (10), collimator (11), sleeve (26), lens tube (18), and lens (12) is connected to the drive (15) by the adjustment angle (25), and can thus be moved as a unit parallel to the laser beam. The movement of this focusing unit is delimited by an upper stop (17) and a lower stop (16).

[0026] The laser tool (100) additionally has a control device for controlling the motion of the collimator (11). In order to control the motion of the collimator (11), one or more parameters can be specified, thus for instance, the feed of the collimator (11) in the direction of the optical device (14) or the feed of the collimator in the direction of the laser source (10) can be specified. In addition, the laser tool (100) has a control unit that is not shown in detail that controls the motion of the collimator (11), and thus the focal position, as a function of a signal which originates from a sensor, for example, in the process and calibrates the system with regard to the focal position.

[0027] For rotation of the laser beam, the laser tool (100) has a spindle (13), which is attached to the hollow shaft (20) of a hollow-shaft motor (19) and is driven by this hollow-shaft motor (19). In this design, the lens tube (18) and the lens (12) are arranged inside the hollow shaft (20). All components of the hollow-shaft motor (19) are supported by bearings (24).

[0028] The optical device (14) is attached to the end of the spindle (13) that faces away from the hollow-shaft motor (19). The optical device (14) rotates together with the spindle (13). The optical device (14) includes a reflecting prism (28), which deflects the laser beam (10a) onto the workpiece surface (30). Also arranged in the vicinity of the spindle is a sensor (22) with read head, which checks the position of the spindle, and thus of the laser beam (10a).

[0029] The invention being thus described, it will be obvious that the same may be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all such modifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are to be included within the scope of the following claims: