Abstract:
A laser welding apparatus having a laser source outputting a laser beam and a light transmitting device being positioned downstream from the laser source. The light transmitting device transmits the laser beam therethrough. The laser beam exiting the light transmitting device has at least a zero order light lobe and a first order light lobe, wherein the zero order light lobe and the first order light lobe together defining an initial beam width. An optical device positioned downstream from the light transmitting device converges the first order light lobe with the zero order light lobe to define a final beam width that is narrower than the initial beam width.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]     This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/729,048 filed on Dec. 5, 2003. The disclosure of the above application is incorporated herein by reference. 
     
    
     FIELD  
       [0002]     The present invention relates generally to laser welding systems and, more particularly, relates to a laser welding system having an optically horned waveguide.  
       BACKGROUND  
       [0003]     The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.  
         [0004]     Laser welding is commonly used to join plastic or resinous parts, such as thermoplastic parts, at a welding zone. An example of such use of lasers can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,636,609, which is expressly incorporated herein by reference.  
         [0005]     As is well known, lasers provide a semi-focused beam of electromagnetic radiation at a specified frequency (i.e., coherent monochromatic radiation. There are a number of types of radiant sources available; however, infrared lasers or non-coherent sources provide a relatively economical source of radiative energy for use in heating a welding zone. One particular example of infrared welding is known as Through-Transmission Infrared (TTIr) Welding. TTIr welding employs an infrared laser capable of producing infrared radiation that is directed by lenses, diffractive optics, fiber optics, waveguides, lightpipes or lightguides through a first plastic part and into a second plastic part. This first plastic part is often referred to as the transmissive piece, since it generally permits the laser beam from the laser to pass therethrough. However, the second plastic part is often referred to as absorptive piece, since this piece generally absorbs the radiative energy of the laser beam to produce heat in the welding zone. This heat in the welding zone causes the transmissive piece and the absorptive piece to be melted and, with intimate contact, welded together.  
         [0006]     However, in the case of those TTIr welding systems that employ a lightguide or lightpipe, the infrared laser light that exits the lightguide or lightpipe is often outwardly dispersed in a fan or cone shape as it passes through the transmissive piece. This dispersion of light may lead to oversized welding zones. That is, as the light exits the lightpipe or lightguide, the light fans outwardly and impacts a larger area of the absorptive piece and transmissive piece interface. This larger area is consequently heated causing a larger welding zone.  
         [0007]     Accordingly, there exists a need in the relevant art to provide an apparatus for use with a lightpipe or lightguide that is capable of minimizing the size of a weld zone. Furthermore, there exists a need in the relevant art to provide an apparatus for use with a lightpipe or lightguide that is capable of focusing the laser light to a narrower area that could not otherwise be obtained simply with a conventional lightpipe or lightguide. Lastly, there exists a need in the relevant art to provide a lightpipe or lightguide with an optical horn capable of overcoming the disadvantages of the prior art.  
       SUMMARY  
       [0008]     According to the principles of the present invention, a laser welding apparatus is provided having an advantageous construction and method of using the same. A laser welding apparatus comprises a laser source outputting a laser beam and a light transmitting device being positioned downstream from the laser source. The light transmitting device transmits the laser beam therethrough. The laser beam exiting the light transmitting device has at least a zero order light lobe and a first order light lobe, wherein the zero order light lobe and the first order light lobe together defining an initial beam width. An optical device positioned downstream from the light transmitting device converges the first order light lobe with the zero order light lobe to define a final beam width that is narrower than the initial beam width.  
         [0009]     Further areas of applicability will become apparent from the description provided herein. It should be understood that the description and specific examples are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. 
     
    
     DRAWINGS  
       [0010]     The drawings described herein are for illustration purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure in any way.  
         [0011]      FIG. 1  is a schematic view illustrating a TTIr welding apparatus employing a narrowing tapered waveguide for use in welding a transmissive piece to an absorptive piece according to the prior art;  
         [0012]      FIG. 2  is a candela plot of the welding apparatus illustrated in  FIG. 1 ;  
         [0013]      FIG. 3  is an irradiance plot at the surface between the transmissive piece and the absorptive piece of the welding apparatus illustrated in  FIG. 1 ;  
         [0014]      FIG. 4  is a schematic view illustrating a TTIr welding apparatus according to the principles of the present teachings employing a narrowing tapered waveguide in combination with an optical horn for use in welding a transmissive piece (removed for clarity) to an absorptive piece;  
         [0015]      FIG. 5  is a candela plot of the welding apparatus illustrated in  FIG. 4 ;  
         [0016]      FIG. 6  is an irradiance plot at the surface between the transmissive piece and the absorptive piece of the welding apparatus illustrated in  FIG. 4 ;  
         [0017]      FIG. 7  is a schematic view illustrating a TTIr welding apparatus according to the principles of the present teachings employing a narrowing tapered waveguide in combination with an optical horn, having a less than optimal angle, for use in welding a transmissive piece (removed for clarity) to an absorptive piece;  
         [0018]      FIG. 8  is a candela plot of the welding apparatus illustrated in  FIG. 7 ;  
         [0019]      FIG. 9  is an irradiance plot at the surface between the transmissive piece and the absorptive piece of the welding apparatus illustrated in  FIG. 7 ;  
         [0020]      FIG. 10  is a schematic view illustrating a TTIr welding apparatus according to the principles of the present teachings employing a narrowing tapered waveguide in combination with an optical horn, having a greater than optimal angle, for use in welding a transmissive piece (removed for clarity) to an absorptive piece;  
         [0021]      FIG. 11  is a candela plot of the welding apparatus illustrated in  FIG. 10 ;  
         [0022]      FIG. 12  is an irradiance plot at the surface between the transmissive piece and the absorptive piece of the welding apparatus illustrated in  FIG. 10 ;  
         [0023]      FIG. 13  is a schematic view illustrating a TTIr welding apparatus employing a narrowing tapered waveguide having an exit as wide as the previously illustrated optical horn for use in welding a transmissive piece (removed for clarity) to an absorptive piece;  
         [0024]      FIG. 14  is a candela plot of the welding apparatus illustrated in  FIG. 13 ;  
         [0025]      FIG. 15  is an irradiance plot at the surface between the transmissive piece and the absorptive piece of the welding apparatus illustrated in  FIG. 13 ;  
         [0026]      FIG. 16  is a schematic view illustrating a TTIr welding apparatus employing an expanding tapered waveguide having an angle mimicking the optimal angle of the optical horn for use in welding a transmissive piece (removed for clarity) to an absorptive piece;  
         [0027]      FIG. 17  is a candela plot of the welding apparatus illustrated in  FIG. 16 ;  
         [0028]      FIG. 18  is an irradiance plot at the surface between the transmissive piece and the absorptive piece of the welding apparatus illustrated in  FIG. 16 ;  
         [0029]      FIG. 19  is a schematic view illustrating a TTIr welding apparatus employing an expanding tapered waveguide having a length mimicking the optimal length of the optical horn for use in welding a transmissive piece (removed for clarity) to an absorptive piece;  
         [0030]      FIG. 20  is a candela plot of the welding apparatus illustrated in  FIG. 19 ; and  
         [0031]      FIG. 21  is an irradiance plot at the surface between the transmissive piece and the absorptive piece of the welding apparatus illustrated in  FIG. 19 .  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0032]     The following description is merely exemplary in nature and is not intended to limit the present disclosure, application, or uses. Furthermore, it should be understood that although the present invention is described in connection with TTIr welding, the present invention is equally applicable to other forms of welding and/or surface heating using light energy being passed through lightpipes or lightguides.  
         [0033]     By way of background and with reference to  FIGS. 1-3 , TTIr welding systems  100  often include a laser  102  outputting a laser light to a conventional lightguide or fiber optic bundle  105  into a conventional waveguide  104 . This laser light is transmitted along conventional waveguide  104  and through a transmissive piece  106 . The laser light finally impacts an interface between transmissive piece  106  and an absorptive piece  108  at a weld zone  110 . In other words, infrared light is directed through lightguide  105  to waveguide  104 , which shapes the pattern of the laser light to form the weld. The laser light passes through transmissive piece  106  to absorptive piece  108 . The laser light energy converts to heat, melting the plastic, and thus forming the weld.  
         [0034]     As can be seen in  FIG. 2 , this laser light fans outwardly as it exits conventional waveguide  104  and may further fan outwardly due to the optical effects of transmissive piece  106 . Consequently, weld zone  110  is substantially larger than the exit end of conventional waveguide  104  due to this effect. This angular distribution is exaggerated by the tapered sides of conventional waveguide  104 . The farther weld zone  110  is spaced from the exit end of conventional waveguide  104 , the greater the size of weld zone  110 . That is, as the laser light exits conventional waveguide  104 , the fan shape becomes larger causing a larger than desired weld zone  110 .  
         [0035]     There are times, however, that it is desirable to achieve a width of weld zone  110  that is narrower than the width of lightguides  105  that go into waveguide  104 . In fact, there are times that it is desirable to simply minimize the width of weld zone  110 .  
         [0036]     The problem lies with the distance between the exit end of the waveguide  104  and weld zone  110 . As can be seen in  FIG. 2 , which illustrates an angular (candela) distribution of the light coming out of the waveguide, the light spreads out angularly into various bounce orders as the waveguide narrows. Zero bounce order lobe  120 , corresponding to no bounces through the waveguide, is at 0 degrees. First bounce order lobes  122 , corresponding to one bounce in the waveguide, can be seen to either side of zero bounce order lobe  120 . Additional bounce order lobes  124 ,  126 , and  128  can be seen to the sides of first bounce order lobes  122 . Referring to  FIG. 3 , the irradiance plot at the surface between transmissive part  106  and absorptive part  108  is illustrated. In this irradiance plot, each of the lobes  120 - 128  can be seen spanning nearly 0.2 inches along the Y-axis when used with a lightguide having a width of 0.1 inch. Therefore, the resulting fan shape (and thus weld zone) is greater than the width of the lightguide itself. Clearly this approach, alone, will not work to achieve a narrow weld zone.  
         [0037]     Referring now to  FIG. 4 , a lightpipe or lightguide assembly  10  is illustrated in accordance with the principles of the present invention. According to the present embodiment, lightpipe or lightguide assembly  10  is adapted for use with a TTIr welding system  12 . As seen in  FIG. 4 , TTIr welding system  12  may include an optional fiber optic bundle  14  comprised of a plurality of optical fibers generally arranged in a circular pattern capable of carrying or transmitting radiative energy in the form of a laser beam therethrough. Fiber optic bundle  14  is operably coupled to a laser source  18 , such as an infrared laser, according to known principles.  
         [0038]     In order to limit the angular distribution of the laser light, lightpipe or lightguide assembly  10  comprises a lightpipe  20  and bounce planes  24  disposed at an exit end  26  of lightpipe  20 . Bounce planes  24  form an optical horn  25  that work by bouncing or otherwise reflecting first bounce order lobes  122  of light exiting exit end  26  of lightpipe  20  into zero bounce order lobe  120  to form a combined light lobe  28  ( FIG. 5 ). Since zero bounce order lobe  120  and first bounce order lobes  122  hold the majority of the light, the weld will be made substantially narrower. To achieve this effect, bounce planes  24  of optical horn  25  are selected such that they are one-half the angle of first bounce order lobes  122  of the uncorrected waveguide, relative to the Y-axis.  
         [0039]     By way of example, with reference to  FIG. 2 , it can be seen that first order bounce lobes  122  of the uncorrected waveguide are at plus and minus 19 degrees relative to a central axis. In order to reflect these first order bounce lobes  122  into zero bounce order lobe  120 , a mirror angle of half of 19 degrees, or in other words, 9.5 degrees is selected relative to the Y-axis. Therefore, bounce planes  24  of optical horn  25  are oriented at this mirror angle. The narrowing taper of waveguide  20  physically narrows the width of the laser beam coming out of lightguides  14 . However, optical horn  25 , on the other hand, angularly narrows the beam, just for first bounce order lobes  122 . It should be understood that the specific angles discussed herein may vary depending on the particular size and shape of waveguide  20 .  
         [0040]     The angular distribution of the light after passing through optical horn  25  can be seen in  FIG. 5 . Comparison of  FIG. 5  with  FIG. 2  illustrates that the combined light lobe  28  is larger in magnitude. The magnitude of combined light lobe  28  in  FIG. 5  includes both zero bounce order lobe  120  and the first order bounce lobes  122  of  FIG. 2 . The lobes to the side of combined light lobe  28  in  FIG. 5  include all the higher order lobes of  FIG. 2 . The resultant weld pattern of the present teachings is illustrated in  FIG. 6 . The actual weld width is the region referenced as  50 , which are just 0.03 inches wide in the present example that again uses a lightguide having a width of 0.1 inch. This is seven times narrower than the weld made with the waveguide without optical horn  25 .  
         [0041]     The choice of mirror angle for optical horn  25  is important—either too shallow an angle or too steep an angle will produce non-optimal results. This is because first bounce order lobes  122  will not be precisely lined up with zero bounce order lobe  120 . For example, with reference to  FIGS. 7-9 , an optical horn angle that is about five degrees less than the optimal (for this example) is tested—specifically 4.5 degrees—and is generally referenced at  200 . As can be expected, looking at the resultant angular distribution of light, after going through the too steep horn, it can be seen that the first order bounce lobes do not line up with the zero bounce order lobe. The lobes to either side of zero bounce order lobe  120  in  FIG. 8  are the first order lobes of  FIG. 2 , except they are in reverse order because they have bounced past the center by 10 degrees to either side. This yields a non-optimal spread of light that results in a wider weld. This wider weld can be seen in  FIG. 9 , where the weld is 0.05 inches wide, which is 0.02 inches wider than the optimal weld.  
         [0042]     In the next example, with reference to  FIGS. 10-12 , an optical horn angle that is about five degrees greater than the optimal (for this example) is tested—specifically 14.5 degrees—and is generally referenced at  300 . Once again we would expect first bounce order lobes  122  and zero bounce order lobe  120  to not line up, and therefore create a wider weld. As is illustrated in  FIG. 11 , this time the first order bounce lobes  122  from  FIG. 2  do not bend enough to the center, and can be seen as the two lobes to either side of zero bounce order lobe  120 . Once again, we would expect this non-optimal angular distribution to yield a non-optimal weld width. As can be seen in  FIG. 12 , this is the case. The weld is 0.05 inches wide, which is 0.02 inches wider than the optimal optical horn weld of the present invention.  
         [0043]     An important note should be made at this point. It is a well known principle in optics that an expanding taper narrows the angular distribution of light going through it. An optical horn is an expanding taper. It would be expected from this principle, that the more optical horn  25  expands, the more the angular distribution of light would narrow, and thus the welds would be narrower. As can be seen from this example as illustrated in  FIGS. 10-12 , even though the angular distribution of light narrowed, the weld width expanded. The optimal angle for the optical horn is not a more expanding one, but exactly the angle that will reflect the first order bounce lobes into the zero bounce order lobe. Any other angle is not optimal. This clearly distinguishes the principles of the present teachings from a generally expanding taper.  
         [0044]     Optical horn  25  can not be replaced simply by forming the end of waveguide  20  to the width that optical horn  25  would otherwise be, as illustrated in  FIGS. 13-15 , and generally referenced at  400 . By comparing the angular distribution exiting from a wider waveguide ( FIG. 14 ) with that of a narrower waveguide ( FIG. 2 ), it can be seen that the angular distribution is reduced. Comparing the wider waveguide angular distribution in  FIG. 14  with the angular distribution with optical horn  25  as in  FIG. 5 , it can be seen that the angular distribution is much more spread out, thereby suggesting that the weld would also be much wider. As expected, and as illustrated in  FIG. 15 , the weld is indeed much wider. The weld is 0.075 inches which is 0.045 inches wider than the optimal optical horn weld of the present invention.  
         [0045]     With particular reference to  FIGS. 16-18 , a generally expanding taper, generally referenced at  500 , fails to produce weld zone  110  narrower than that produced in accordance with the present teachings. An expanding waveguide was chosen to have the same expansion angle of the optimal optical horn of 9.5 degrees. It would be expected that the angular distribution of the light would be narrower in the expanding waveguide than with the narrowing waveguide. However, comparing  FIG. 2  and  FIG. 17 , it can be seen that the angular distribution of the expanding waveguide is narrower than the angular distribution of a narrowing waveguide. The angular distribution in  FIG. 17  is just one narrow lobe, showing that the light does not even bounce within the waveguide. But this narrow angular distribution does not lead to a narrower weld. In fact, this arrangement produces a relatively wide weld: 0.08 inches, which is 0.05 inches wider than the optimal optical horn weld of the present invention. This graphically illustrates that a generally expanding taper is unable to achieve the narrow weld of lightguide assembly  10 . The generally expanding taper narrows the angular distribution of light, but does not narrow the physical width of the weld. Lightguide assembly  10  is capable of reducing both the angular distribution of light and the physical width of the weld.  
         [0046]     It can be argued that the reason the generally expanding taper in the previous example created a wide weld was because the waveguide was too tall. As a further example, the generally expanding taper was shortened to just the height of optical horn  25  as illustrated in  FIG. 19  and generally referenced at  600 , with the same angle of optical horn  25 , of 9.5 degrees. Once again, it would be expected that the angular distribution of the light will be narrowed, and with the same gap between the waveguide and part, it might be expected that the weld would also be narrow. As can be seen in  FIG. 20 , the angular distribution of light is indeed narrow, only exhibiting one lobe. However, after reviewing the irradiance map at the part surface, as seen in  FIG. 21 , the weld is not narrowed, but is as wide as 0.08 inches, which is 0.05 inches wider than optimal optical horn weld of the present invention.  
         [0047]     Once again this illustrates that a generally expanding taper does not do what a combination of narrowing waveguide and optical horn does. The generally expanding taper can narrow the angular distribution of light, but does not narrow the physical dimensions of the weld pattern. A generally narrowing waveguide (or taper) alone, expands the angular distribution of light, physically narrowing the dimensions of the light width at the outlet of the waveguide, but expanding the resultant weld pattern after the light travels the gap to the second part to be welded.  
         [0048]     Only a narrowing waveguide, in combination with an optical horn, can both narrow the angular distribution of light and narrow the physical weld pattern. In fact, only the optimal selection of an optical horn angle can lead to the narrowest weld. This principle of an optical horn is unique, and is different in principle than a simple expanding taper or narrowing taper as shown in the previous examples.  
         [0049]     As should be appreciated, the present invention enables a laser welding apparatus, which employs a lightpipe or lightguide, to produce a substantially narrower laser welding beam capable of producing a narrower weld zone compared to conventional laser welding apparatuses. Consequently, laser welding apparatuses using lightpipes or lightguides may now be used for a greater range of delicate welding operations and/or improved weld features. Additionally, the reflecting of the side light lobes into a concentrated combined light lobe provided improved welding efficiency.