| United States Patent | 5,825,801 |
| Nishida, et. al. | Oct. 20, 1998 |
Abstract
The laser apparatus according to the present invention comprises an output mirror for reflecting a portion of a laser beam and transmitting therethrough a remaining thereof; a full reflection mirror located at a position opposite to this output mirror for completely reflecting a laser beam and changing the curvature; a laser medium provided between the output mirror and the full reflection mirror for causing induced emission; an aperture means for deciding a beam mode of a laser beam generated between the output mirror and the full reflection mirror and changing the aperture diameter; and a converging means for converging an outgoing laser beam from the output mirror and changing a distance from the output mirror according to a machining path; and the laser apparatus changes a curvature of the full reflection mirror and also changes a diameter of the aperture means.
| Inventors: | Nishida; Satoshi (Tokyo, JP); Takeshima; Shigeto (Tokyo, JP). |
| Assignee: | Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha (Tokyo, JP). |
| Appl. No.: | 806,543 |
| Filed: | Feb. 24, 1997 |
| Aug. 21, 1996 [JP] | 8-219946 |
| Intl. Cl. : | H01S 3/08, G02B 5/08, B23K 26/00 |
| Current U.S. Cl.: | 372/99; 219/121.6; 219/121.6; 219/121.6; 219/121.61; 219/121.61; 219/121.61; 359/846; 359/846; 359/846; 372/107; 372/107; 372/107; 372/108; 372/108; 372/108; 372/109; 372/109; 372/109; 372/19; 372/19; 372/19; 372/29; 372/29; 372/29; 372/9; 372/9; 372/9; 372/92; 372/92; 372/92 |
| Field of Search: | 372/9, 18, 19, 25, 29, 30, 31, 40, 69, 72, 92, 99, 108, 109, 107; 359/846, 868; 219/121.6, 121.61, 121.62, 121.67, 121.68, 121.7, 121.74, 121.75, 121.82 |
| 4,951,285 | Aug., 1990 | Cole et al. | 372/19 |
| 5,058,123 | Oct., 1991 | Yasui et al. | 372/99 |
| 5,060,231 | Oct., 1991 | Hollins et al. | 372/71 |
| 5,091,801 | Feb., 1992 | Ebstein | 359/665 |
| 5,260,964 | Nov., 1993 | Morin et al. | 372/95 |
| 5,359,616 | Oct., 1994 | Yasui et al. | 372/39 |
| 5,506,858 | Apr., 1996 | Takenaka et al. | 372/92 |
| 5,699,376 | Dec., 1997 | Richmond | 372/68 |
| 61-78183 | Apr., 1986 | JP | 372/99.X |
| 62-165985 | Jul., 1987 | JP | 372/99.X |
| 62-232984 | Oct., 1987 | JP | 372/99.X |
| 63-140587 | Jun., 1988 | JP | 372/99.X |
| 2-174283 | Jul., 1990 | JP | 372/99.X |
| 2-302083 | Dec., 1990 | JP | 372/99.X |
| 6-218565 | Aug., 1994 | JP | 372/99.X |
| 7-246488 | Sept., 1995 | JP | 372/99.X |