Coherent light generators – Particular active media – Gas
Patent
1990-10-01
1992-06-23
Epps, Georgia Y.
Coherent light generators
Particular active media
Gas
372 59, 372 61, 372 55, 372 34, H01S 322
Patent
active
051249979
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a turbo blower for a laser device for forcibly circulating a laser gas in a gas laser device used for machining and the like and a laser oscillator device, and more particularly, to a turbo blower for a laser device and a laser oscillator device, in which the life of bearings therein is lengthened to improve the reliability and maintenance efficiency of the device.
2. Background Art
Modern carbon dioxide (CO.sub.2) gas laser oscillator devices provide high output and high-quality laser beams, and are now widely used for laser beam machining, such as the cutting of metallic or nonmetallic materials and the welding of metallic materials or the like. The development of these devices has been rapid, especially of CNC (numerical control device) laser machining devices combined with a CNC, in the field of a high-speed, high-accuracy cutting of intricate configurations.
A conventional carbon dioxide (CO.sub.2) gas laser oscillator device will now be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the general arrangement of the prior art carbon dioxide (CO.sub.2) gas laser device. As shown in the Figure, an optical resonator composed of an output coupling mirror 2 and a total reflection mirror 3 is disposed at either end of a discharge tube 1, and metal electrodes 4 and 5 are mounted on the outer periphery of the discharge tube 1. The metal electrode 4 is grounded, while the metal electrode 5 is connected to a high-frequency power supply 6, and a high-frequency voltage from the high-frequency power supply 6 is applied between the metal electrodes 4 and 5, whereby a high-frequency glow discharge occurs in the discharge tube 1 and a laser excitation is effected. Numerals 13 and 14 denote a laser beam axis in the discharge tube 1, and a laser beam axis taken out from the output coupling mirror 2, respectively.
When starting a gas laser oscillator device constructed in this manner, gas in the whole apparatus is first exhausted by a vacuum pump 12 and, then a valve 11 is opened to allow a predetermined amount of laser gas to be introduced from a gas cylinder 10 until the gas pressure in the apparatus reaches a specified value. Thereafter, the exhausting by the vacuum pump 12 and the resupply of gas by the valve 11 are continued, whereby part of the laser gas is continually replaced with fresh gas while the gas pressure in the apparatus is kept at the specified value, and thus gas pollution in the device can be prevented.
As shown in FIG. 4, the laser gas is circulated in the apparatus by a blower 9, for cooling the laser gas. In the carbon dioxide (CO.sub.2) gas laser, about 20% of the injected electrical energy is converted into a laser beam, and the remainder is used for heating the gas. Theoretically, however, the laser oscillation gain is proportional to the minus (3/2)th power of the absolute temperature T, and thus the laser gas must be forcibly cooled in order to raise the oscillation efficiency. In the shown device, the laser gas flows through the discharge tube 1 in the direction indicated by the arrows, at a flow rate of about 100 m/sec, and is introduced into the cooling unit 8, to remove heat, mainly attributable to the electric discharge, from the laser gas. The blower 9 compresses the cooled laser gas, and the compressed laser gas is passed through a cooling unit 7 before being fed into the discharge tube 1. This is necessary in order to remove compression heat produced in the blower 9, by the cooling unit 7, before the gas is again fed into the discharge tube 1. These cooling units 7 and 8 are well known in the art, and thus a detailed description thereof is omitted.
FIG. 5 shows the construction of a turbo blower used as the blower 9. As shown in the Figure, an impeller 16 and a shaft 26 are mechanically connected, and a rotor 17 is mounted on the shaft 26. The rotor 17 and a stator 18 constitute a motor by which the impeller 16 is rotated at a high speed of about 100,000 rpm. In contrast with a low-sp
REFERENCES:
patent: 4984245 (1991-01-01), Karube
patent: 5022039 (1991-06-01), Karube et al.
Funakubo Tsutomu
Karube Norio
Epps Georgia Y.
Fanuc Ltd.
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