A laser welding apparatus comprising an evacuatable chamber 12 with a region 16 through which laser radiation 14 is transmissible to weld a workpiece 32, 26, and a gas knife 46 to generate a stream of gas 48, wherein the main (welding) 40 and (at least one) subsidiary (gas knife) chambers 42 are connected by a transmission passage 44 to enable laser radiation 14 to reach the workpiece 26. A pump 30 is connected to the subsidiary chamber 42 to draw the stream of gas 48 from the chamber, and the pump inlet 50 may be substantially axially aligned with the direction of travel of the gas 48. The subsidiary chamber 42 may have a smoothness value in range 0.8-1.6μm Ra for an inner surface and may be maintained at a lower vacuum than the main chamber 40.
Laser welding apparatus
2021-12-15
Patent
Electronic Resource
English
NTIS | 1965
|Engineering Index Backfile | 1965
|Wiley | 2023
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