Marking apparatus with a plurality of lasers, deflection means, and telescopic means for each laser beam

摘要

The invention relates to a marking apparatus for marking an object with laser light, comprising a plurality of lasers and a control unit for individually activating each of the lasers to emit a laser beam (90a-i) according to a sign to be marked. A set of deflection means (30) for directing the laser beams (90a-i) toward the object to be marked is provided, a set of telescopic means (40) comprising at least one telescopic means (40a-i) per laser beam (90a-i) is provided, and each telescopic means (40a-i) is adjustable for individually setting a focal length of the respective laser beam (90a-i).

主权项

1. A marking apparatus for marking an object with laser light, comprising
a plurality of lasers, wherein each laser is a gas laser and comprises resonator tubes, wherein the plurality of lasers are arranged in the shape of a ring that at least partially surrounds an inner area; a control unit configured to individually activate each of the lasers in the plurality of lasers to emit a laser beam according to a sign to be marked; a telescopic device, onto which all laser beams impinge, for global adjustment of the focuses of the laser beams, wherein the telescopic device has at least two optical elements for adjusting a focus of impinging laser beams, and wherein the telescopic device is located within the inner area; a set of deflection means for directing the laser beams toward the object to be marked, wherein the set of deflection means comprises at least one deflection means per laser beam for flexibly rearranging the laser beams into any desired array of laser beams, and each deflection means is at least one of: individually adjustable in its deflection direction or individually shiftable, wherein the marking apparatus further comprises:
a set of telescopic means comprising at least one telescopic means per laser beam, wherein the set of telescopic means are separate components from the telescopic device,each telescopic means is adjustable for individually setting a focal length of the respective laser beam,the control unit is adapted to control the telescopic means to compensate for path length differences between the laser beams due to the arrangement of the deflection means; at least one scanning mirror device is provided which comprises a common mirror onto which all laser beams coming from the set of deflection means impinge, and the control unit is adapted for pivoting the scanning mirror device; and beam delivery means which comprise at least one optical element for deflecting impinging laser beams, the at least one optical element being arranged such that laser beams emitted by the lasers are deflected into the inner area, and the at least one optical element of the beam delivery means is part of the telescopic means for individually setting the focal length of an impinging laser beam.