Laser device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10277004-B2
Application number	US-201715837159-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 11, 2017
Priority date	Dec 14, 2016
Publication date	Apr 30, 2019
Grant date	Apr 30, 2019

Abstract

To provide a laser device capable of detecting overheating (abnormality) of a heat-generating part by detecting a temperature of a cooling member for cooling the heat-generating part. A laser device includes one or a plurality of heat-generating part(s), one or a plurality of cooling member(s) respectively disposed in contact with the one or plurality of heat-generating part(s), the one or plurality of cooling member(s) containing a refrigerant flowing inside, one or a plurality of first temperature detection part(s) respectively disposed on the one or plurality of cooling member(s) to respectively detect temperatures of the one or plurality of cooling member(s), and a monitoring part capable of detecting an abnormality respectively in the one or plurality of cooling member(s) based on temperature information including information on the temperatures detected by the one or plurality of first temperature detection part(s).

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A laser device comprising:
one or a plurality of heat-generating part(s) positioned at a predetermined location or at a plurality of respective predetermined locations internal to the laser device;
one or a plurality of cooling member(s) respectively disposed in direct contact with the one or plurality of heat-generating part(s) at the predetermined internal location or the plurality of respective predetermined internal locations of the laser device, the one or plurality of cooling member(s) containing a refrigerant flowing inside;
one or a plurality of first temperature detection part(s) respectively disposed directly on the one or plurality of cooling member(s) at the predetermined internal location or the plurality of respective predetermined internal locations of the laser device alongside a respective each of the one or the plurality of cooling member(s) to respectively detect the temperatures of the one or plurality of cooling member(s), such that the respective each of the one or the plurality of heat-generating parts, a respective each of the one or a plurality of cooling members, and a respective each of the one or a plurality of first temperature detection parts are located at a respective same one of the predetermined location or the plurality of respective predetermined locations internal to the laser device; and
a monitoring part capable of detecting abnormalities respectively in the one or plurality of cooling member(s) based on temperature information including information on the temperatures detected by the one or plurality of first temperature detection part(s).

2. The laser device according to claim 1 , the laser device further comprising:
a refrigerant passage connecting a cooling device disposed externally and the one or plurality of cooling member(s) so as to allow the refrigerant to circulate inside, the refrigerant passage including:
a supply passage for supplying the refrigerant from the cooling device to the one or plurality of cooling member(s); and
a discharge passage for returning the refrigerant from the one or plurality of cooling member(s) to the cooling device; and
a second temperature detection part disposed on the supply passage to detect a temperature of the supply passage, wherein
the monitoring part detects an abnormality in the one or plurality of cooling member(s) respectively, based on the temperature information including the information on the temperatures detected by the one or plurality of first temperature detection part(s) and information on the temperature detected by the second temperature detection part.

3. The laser device according to claim 1 , wherein
the monitoring part calculates temperature integration information and/or temperature differential information corresponding to each of the one or plurality of cooling member(s) based on the information included in the temperature information, and further detects an abnormality in the one or plurality of cooling member(s) respectively, based on the calculated temperature integration information and/or the calculated temperature differential information corresponding to each of the one or plurality of cooling members.

4. The laser device according to claim 2 , wherein
the monitoring part calculates temperature integration information and/or temperature differential information corresponding to each of the one or plurality of cooling member(s) based on the information included in the temperature information, and further detects an abnormality in the one or plurality of cooling members respectively, based on the calculated temperature integration information and/or the calculated temperature differential information corresponding to each of the one or plurality of cooling member(s).

5. The laser device according to claim 3 , the laser device further comprising:
one or a plurality of adjustment part(s) capable of adjusting a temperature and/or a supply amount of the refrigerant supplied to the one or plurality of cooling member(s); and
a control unit capable of giving an instruction with respect to the temperature and/or the supply amount of the refrigerant to the one or plurality of adjustment part(s), wherein
the monitoring part
outputs, when detecting the abnormality, abnormality information including the contents of the detected abnormality to the control unit,
and wherein
the control unit
gives the instruction for adjusting the temperature and/or the supply amount of the refrigerant to the one or plurality of adjustment part(s) based on the abnormality information output by the monitoring part.

6. The laser device according to claim 4 , the laser device further comprising:
one or a plurality of adjustment part(s) capable of adjusting a temperature and/or a supply amount of the refrigerant supplied to the one or plurality of cooling member(s); and
a control unit capable of giving an instruction with respect to the temperature and/or the supply amount of the refrigerant to the one or plurality of adjustment part(s), wherein
the monitoring part
outputs, when detecting the abnormality, abnormality information including the contents of the detected abnormality to the control unit, and wherein
the control unit
gives the instruction for adjusting the temperature and/or the supply amount of the refrigerant to the one or plurality of adjustment part(s) based on the abnormality information output by the monitoring part.

7. The laser device according to claim 5 , the laser device further comprising:
a housing for housing at least the one or plurality of heat-generating part(s), the one or plurality of first temperature detection part(s), and the one or plurality of cooling member(s); and
an internal environment detection part capable of detecting a temperature and/or a humidity of an internal space in the housing, wherein
the control unit
gives the instruction for adjusting the temperature and/or the supply amount of the refrigerant to the one or plurality of adjustment part(s), based on the temperature and/or the humidity detected by the internal environment detection part, and the temperatures detected by the one or plurality of the first temperature detection part(s).

8. The laser device according to claim 6 , the laser device further comprising:
a housing for housing at least the one or plurality of heat-generating part(s), the one or plurality of first temperature detection part(s), and the one or plurality of cooling member(s); and
an internal environment detection part capable of detecting a temperature and/or a humidity of an internal space in the housing, wherein
the control unit
gives the instruction for adjusting the temperature and/or the supply amount of the refrigerant to the one or plurality of adjustment part(s), based on the temperature and/or the humidity detected by the internal environment detection part, and the temperatures detected by the one or plurality of the first temperature detection part(s).

9. The laser device according to claim 1 , wherein at least one of the one or plurality of cooling members is a cooling plate.

10. The laser device according to claim 1 , wherein each of the one or plurality of cooling members is connected to a supply passage and a discharge passage.

Assignees

• Fanuc Corp

Inventors

• Nukui Tooru

Classifications

• H01S5/02453

  Heating, e.g. the laser is heated for stabilisation against temperature fluctuations of the environment (H01S5/0612 takes precedence, for monolithically integrated heaters see also H01S5/0261) · CPC title

• H01S5/02461

  Structure or details of the laser chip to manipulate the heat flow, e.g. passive layers in the chip with a low heat conductivity · CPC title

• H01S5/0612

  controlled by temperature · CPC title

• H01S5/02423 Primary

  Liquid cooling, e.g. a liquid cools a mount of the laser · CPC title

• H01S5/06804

  by monitoring an external parameter, e.g. temperature · CPC title