Patent ID: RE43605

Claim:
A method of increasing throughput in a laser cutting process, comprising: directing a first pass of first laser pulses to impinge along a first segment of a cutting path having a cutting path length greater than 100 μm, each first laser pulse having a first spot area on a workpiece, the first segment having a first segment length that is longer than the first spot area and shorter than the cutting path length; directing a second pass of second laser pulses to impinge along a second segment of the cutting path, each second laser pulse having a second spot area on the workpiece, the second segment having a second segment length that is longer than the second spot area and shorter than the cutting path length, the second segment overlapping the first segment by an overlap length greater than at least the first or second spot areas; and after directing at least the first and second passes of laser pulses, directing a third pass of third laser pulses to impinge along a third segment of the cutting path, each third laser pulse having a third spot area on the workpiece, the third segment having a third segment length that is longer than the third spot area and shorter than the cutting path length, the third segment including a subsequent portion of the cutting path other than the first or second segments, wherein the subsequent portion of the cutting path has a nonoverlap length greater than the first, second, or third spot areas.