Rapid and flexible laser marking and engraving of tilted and curved surfaces

We present a novel method for rapid and flexible laser marking and engraving of tilted, curved and freeform work-piece surfaces. The method is based on integrating a three-dimensional (3D) laser measurement system into a 3D laser marking system. We use the same laser source and optics for measurement and processing with a minimum of additional hardware components. A low power CW laser regime is used to measure the 3D shape of a work-piece surface while a high-peak power-pulsed laser regime is used for processing. The acquired 3D surface data are used to determine the 3D trajectory of the processing beam focus. Neither the 3D shape of the work-piece nor its orientation needs to be known in advance as long as the processed surface lies within the working range of the 3D laser processing system. This eliminates the need for exact work-piece positioning before processing and substantially improves processing flexibility (allowing, e.g. variations in work-piece shape or/and orientation from mark to mark). This paper discusses key issues concerning an implementation of the method and presents typical examples of markings and engravings, which demonstrate the advantages of the method with respect to the existing industrial 2D and 3D laser marking and engraving methods. The method can also be applied to flexible laser structuring and microprocessing of curved surfaces.