Patent ID: 8519299

Claim:
A method for processing workpieces using a laser beam, the method comprising: supporting a workpiece on a workpiece support; piercing the workpiece with a laser beam from a laser processing head that is arranged on a first side of the workpiece, wherein the laser beam enters a receiving opening of a beam receiver arranged on a second side of the workpiece that is opposite the first side of the workpiece; and varying the distance between the workpiece and the beam receiver along a beam axis of the laser beam during a varying step using an adjusting device that comprises an adjusting drive having a numerical drive control, wherein the distance between the workpiece and the beam receiver along the beam axis of the laser beam is varied by variably defining, by means of the numerical drive control of the adjusting drive, a magnitude of a positioning movement with which the adjusting drive positions the workpiece support and the beam receiver relative to one another with a positioning movement along the beam axis.