LASER WELDING HEAD AND METHOD OF OPERATING SAME

摘要

According to the invention, the proposed laser welding head comprises a housing (2) in which are arranged an outlet aperture for a focused laser beam (6) and a flow duct (8) within the housing which runs past the outlet aperture (4) and carries a laminar gas flow (12) in the region of the outlet aperture (4). These features facilitate particularly efficient deviation of the molten material droplets thrown up during welding from the welded region towards the optical focusing system and thereby prevent fouling of the said optical system. The speed of the laminar gas flow in the region of the outlet aperture (4) will be preferably about 90 % of the speed of sound.