Apparatus for entering, formatting, and storing a variety of characters, symbols, and figures for use in a laser marking system

摘要

A laser marker marks a workpiece surface with the pattern of a character, figure and/or symbol by laser beam scanning. It is desired to mark the pattern at the correct position on the workpiece surface. To facilitate the mark positioning, a virtual marking test is performed. In an embodiment, before the actual marking, a visible guide beam continuously and repeatedly scans the workpiece surface to form a projected image of the pattern or its domain. In another embodiment, before the actual marking, a visual display superimposes an image of the pattern and/or domain on a monitored image of the workpiece from a monitor camera. An automatic marking pattern generator is provided to automatically determine the character pattern to be marked from the entered character and marking area information.