Patent ID: 6153853
Filing Date: 2000-11-28
Classification: B23K

Abstract:
A laser beam welding apparatus comprising:a positioning mechanism for positioning and securing a workpiece delivered into a welding station with respect to a reference position:an error detecting mechanism for detecting a positioning error of a workpiece delivered into a welding station with respect to said reference position;a laser beam emitting device for emitting a laser beam to be applied to a plurality of locations to be welded on the workpiece;a welding robot having a scan head for guiding the laser beam to a plurality of spot locations to be welded on the workpiece according to training data, and a mechanism for moving said scan head to positions to weld said spot locations according to said training data; anda training data correcting unit for correcting the training data based on the positioning error detected by said error detecting mechanism to thereby determine corrected spot locations;wherein said scan head comprises a beam deflecting optical system for guiding the laser beam to said corrected spot locations to be welded on the workpiece and focusing optical system for focusing the laser beam onto said corrected spot locations to be welded on the workpiece, in accordance with corrected training data, and means for actuating said beam deflecting optical system and said focusing optical system within said scan head and independently from any exterior movement of said scan head while said scan head is held at a predetermined fixed position with respect to said workpiece; andwherein after said scan head is positioned by said mechanism for moving at said predetermined fixed position, said beam deflecting optical system and said focusing optical system of said scan head are actuated to weld the workpiece at said plurality of corrected spot locations with said beam.