Patent · US Expired

Method and system for control of a material removal process using spectral emission discrimination

US5204517A · kind A · utility

46Cited by
21References
44Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateDec 24, 1991
Grant dateApr 20, 1993
Priority date
Expiry dateDec 24, 2011

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC B)Performing Operations; Transporting
  • CPC primaryB23K2103/50
  • WIPO fieldMachine tools
  • WIPO sectorMechanical engineering

Abstract

A method for removing material from a structure, comprising the steps of: (1) generating a light beam; (2) irradiating the surface material of a structure with the light beam having an intensity sufficient to ablate the surface material and to cause the surface material to generate spectral emission signals having intensities; (3) scanning the structure with the light beam at a scan speed; (4) monitoring the spectral emissions to detect a selected one of the spectral emission signals having a selected wavelength and generating an electronic output signal representative of the intensity of a selected one of the spectral emission signals in response to detecting the selected one of the spectral emission signals; (5) determining an updated scan speed functionally related to the electronic output signal; and (6) directing the scan speed to be equal to the updated scan speed. A second embodiment determines the updated scan speed based on the intensity of spectral emission signals detected during predetermined intervals while the structure is illuminated by the light source. A third embodiment determines an updated scan speed based on the intensity of spectral emission signals resulting …

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.