Device for removing material from a workpiece by laser radiation

US6086366A · kind A · utility

Assignee

• Clinicon Corporation · US

Inventors

• Gerhard Mueller · Meitingen, DE
• Thomas Ertl · Ranstadt, DE
• Hartmut Benthin · Berlin, DE

Key dates

• Filing date: Jun 11, 1998
• Grant date: Jul 11, 2000
• Expiry date: Jun 11, 2018

Classification

• Technology area (CPC B): Performing Operations; Transporting
• CPC primary: B23K26/128
• WIPO field: Machine tools
• WIPO sector: Mechanical engineering

Abstract

A device for removing material from a workpiece, in particular for removing a hard substance, such as tooth enamel or dentine from a tooth, or for removing ceramic materials, has a laser for irradiating the workpiece in a locally limited ablation area where material is removed, and a handling part (1) which receives the laser or is connected thereto by an optical fiber element or by a mirror arrangement. The handling part (1) is used to position the laser beam (3) in the ablation area and has a distance measurement device (11 to 15, D1, D2) to monitor the depth of material removal. While the material is being removed, the distance measurement device (11 to 15, D1, D2) measures the distance to the workpiece surface in the ablation area and therefore the depth of material removal by means of the material-removing laser or of a measurement beam (11) generated by another laser.