Patent ID: 7947919

Claim:
A laser-based material processing system, the system comprising: a radiation source configured to produce a laser beam and direct the laser beam along a beam path toward a material processing area; a positioning assembly over at least a portion of the material processing area, the positioning assembly including an arm configured to move along a Y axis, wherein the arm extends along an X axis generally normal to the Y axis; a laser beam focus carriage carried by the arm and including one or more optical elements in the beam path to direct and focus the laser beam toward the material processing area; an exhaust assembly configured to remove contaminants from the material processing area and move the contaminants toward a remote location, the exhaust assembly including: a vacuum source; an exhaust plenum carried by the arm and extending lengthwise in a direction generally parallel with the X axis, the exhaust plenum having an intake slot facing the laser beam focus carriage and extending along the exhaust plenum across at least a portion of the material processing area, the intake slot being positioned to receive contaminants generated during material processing; and one or more flexible exhaust ducts in fluid communication with the vacuum source and the exhaust plenum.