Abstract: A method for producing bipolar plates for fuel cells, one metal strip or two metal strips is/are guided through a second or third device. The second device is designed to carry out fine cleaning and/or nitriding of the metal strip, and the third device carries out surface coating on one side of a surface with a metal layer that improves adhesion. Applying a carbon layer in a fourth device. The metal strips are then shaped, during which process channels are formed. The shaped metal strips are moved and positioned such that surface regions come into contact with one another. Joining is performed with a laser beam, which is directed into a gap between the shaped metal strips moved towards one another. The individual steps in the devices, like shaping and joining, are carried out in a continuous process.

Abstract: A method for producing bipolar plates for fuel cells, one metal strip or two metal strips is/are guided through a second or third device. The second device is designed to carry out fine cleaning and/or nitriding of the metal strip, and the third device carries out surface coating on one side of a surface with a metal layer that improves adhesion. Applying a carbon layer in a fourth device. The metal strips are then shaped, during which process channels are formed. The shaped metal strips are moved and positioned such that surface regions come into contact with one another. Joining is performed with a laser beam, which is directed into a gap between the shaped metal strips moved towards one another. The individual steps in the devices, like shaping and joining, are carried out in a continuous process.

Abstract: A method is for cutting machining of a workpiece using a laser beam. The method includes (a) directing the focused laser beam onto a surface of the workpiece for a formation of a kerf; and (b) removing a material exclusively by ablation. The laser beam has a power density in a focal point of at least 1*107 W/cm2. The laser beam has a feed speed taking account of an absorption capability of the material to be removed of at least 150 m/min up to a maximum of 1200 m/min.

Abstract: A method is for cutting machining of a workpiece using a laser beam. The method includes (a) directing the focused laser beam onto a surface of the workpiece for a formation of a kerf; and (b) removing a material exclusively by ablation. The laser beam has a power density in a focal point of at least 1*107 W/cm2. The laser beam has a feed speed taking account of an absorption capability of the material to be removed of at least 150 m/min up to a maximum of 1200 m/min.

Abstract: In material depositing processes such as welding or thermal spraying the large variety of processes and material parameters necessitate a broad range of the resulting characteristics of the applied material. The task of the present invention is comprised of providing a process and a device for determining the quality of specific layer characteristics, in particular their adhesion or strength of joining to the base material. This task is solved thereby, that as the quality characteristic there is employed the degree of mixing of the applied material with the base material.

Abstract: The invention relates to a method for producing shaped bodies or applying coatings on workpieces. The aim of the invention is to produce shaped bodies which are structured in an almost arbitrarily three-dimensional manner or contoured coatings are allowed to be formed on most different workpieces wherein simultaneously the required time and energy will be reduced in comparison with conventional procedures. According to the invention, a shaped body will be built-up in layers or a coating that consists of at least two individual layers will be applied on a workpiece. For this, a platform whereon the shaped body will be built-up or the workpiece is held in a clamping device which is movable within at least two axes in relation to two different sources of heat.

Abstract: The invention relates to a device and method for structuring the surface of floor coverings which have already been laid, comprising various floor coverings which may also consist of mineral materials such as natural or artificial stone. The object of the invention is to provide floor coverings which have already been laid with a structure on their surface, which structure makes it possible to at least increase the nonslip properties even in the presence of slippy media, e.g. water. To do this, the invention uses a device with which at least one laser beam can be moved with controlled intensity and in at least one dimension across the surface to be structured, the elements for guiding and shaping the laser beam(s) being accommodated in a mobile part of the device, so that this mobile part is guided intermittently or continuously across the floor surface which is to be structured and, in the process, the structuring can be formed by means of the laser beam.

Abstract: The invention relates to a method and a device for laser-beam welding, because the invention is especially suitable for deep welding a wide variety of materials. The object of the invention is to weld a wide variety of materials by means of laser radiation, especially by deep welding, with a reduced amount of work and at the same time good quality of the welded joint produced. The procedure adopted for this according to the invention is that the intensity of the laser radiation is set by beam-shaping in and on the surface of workpieces in such a way that a small area in the workpiece is irradiated with a great intensity, to form a steam capillary there, and a further, larger adjacent area on the workpiece surface is irradiated with a lesser intensity, and as a result a bell-shaped opening of the steam capillary is formed on the workpiece surface and the cooling rate of the melted material is reduced.

Abstract: Apparatus and methods for processing work piece components in which a molten phase is produced by a local energy input from at least one of an electric arc, a jet of combustible gas, an electron plasma, and a laser beam. At least one transducer is included for imparting oscillations having a frequency above 15 kHz. The oscillations can be imparted to one or more of the components, the region of the molten phase, and/or to any filler material that is added to the region of the molten phase. The apparatus and methods can be used with known thermal soldering, welding and cutting methods to improve the quality of weld beads and cut edges that are formed, and to increase the processing rate.

Abstract: Apparatus and methods for processing work piece components in which a molten phase is produced by a local energy input from at least one of an electric arc, a jet of combustible gas, an electron plasma, and a laser beam. At least one transducer is included for imparting oscillations having a frequency above 15 kHz. The oscillations can be imparted to one or more of the components, the region of the molten phase, and/or to any filler material that is added to the region of the molten phase. The apparatus and methods can be used with known thermal soldering, welding and cutting methods to improve the quality of weld beads and cut edges that are formed, and to increase the processing rate.

Abstract: A multiplicity of laser diodes aim laser light directly onto the surface of a workpiece and are disposed over and according to the to-be-shaped contour of a workpiece, so that a detector unit for determining the spatial shaping of the workpiece and an evaluation and control unit can determine process parameters for further illumination in dependence on a comparison of an actual state of shaping and a desired state of shaping of the workpiece.

Abstract: The invention relates to a method for applying a coating by means of plasma spraying to a substrate, in which method the beam of a laser is additionally used, it being possible to coat a very wide variety of substrates in order, in particular, to improve the properties on the substrate surface. Moreover, the method according to the invention is to achieve a high coating rate and, in addition to advantageous adhesion and density of the layer, also to influence in a controlled manner the layer structure which is being formed.

Abstract: A device for plating two or more metal plates, strips, etc., by the absoron of laser energy. The device is fitted with beam-forming optics which form the laser radiation into a beam with a rectangular cross-section. The radiation source is a laser-diode array in which several laser diodes are disposed next to each other in the same plane to give bars which can be laid next to each other, as well as stacked one on top of each other, in any numbers. In order to homogenize the laser radiation produced by the array to give a rectangular cross-section, the device proposed is fitted with special optics such as a prism which converges in the shape of a wedge, a glass plate, with a rectangular cross-section, reflective boundary drives, etc. The rectangular cross-section beam heats the two surfaces of the metal plates being plated only locally, over limited areas and to small depths, to the plastic state.

Abstract: A process for material working with plasma induced by high-energy radiati especially laser radiation, in which the radiation originating from the region of the workpiece is observed along the axis of the laser radiation focused along the axis on the workpiece as a function of the time. To obtain a measure of the penetration depth of the vapor capillary in the workpiece the process is so carried out that exclusively the cross section of the vapor capillary is observed with a depth of field encompassing the entire workpiece thickness, and that the mean value of the intensity of the plasma radiation is used as a measure of the penetration depth.

Abstract: A welding process in which laser radiation is trained on the seam area fod between two sheet-metal workpieces, one of which has an edge projecting above the other. In addition, the arc is guided along this edge to melt the edge and contribute molten metal to the pool formed by the laser.

Abstract: The invention relates to a process for material treatment with diode radiation, especially laser diode radiation. To match the radiation profile to the treatment process, the process is so carried out that radiation emitted from a multiplicity of diodes is directed with a predetermined radiation profile upon the treated region of the workpiece and that a change in the intensity distribution in the radiation profile is effected by controlling the diode output power.

Abstract: The laser beam melts a plate or strip workpiece with the formation of a vapor capillary at a cutting point and the melt is driven off by a cutting gas consisting of a mixture of inert gas and hydrogen gas, the hydrogen gas making up to 25% by volume of the cutting gas. In order to maintain the vapor capillary, the cutting gas is taken to the surface of the melt at the cutting point at such a pressure and with such a pressure distribution that the temperature at the surface of the melt is kept at boiling point and the melt is continuously driven out of the cutting seam in the side away from the cutting direction of the vapor capillary. The plate or strip workpiece can be a magnetic steel sheet. An additional stream of gas, liquid, or solid particles can be used to move melt out of the cutting seam.

Abstract: A waveguide is arranged in radial extension on a support mounted in rotary manner and whose pivot pin is parallel to the laser beam axis. The outer end thereof intersects the laser beam during a rotation of the support and in each case detects a partial beam of the laser radiation. By means of the waveguide, said partial beam is supplied to a detector, which is arranged in fixed manner in the pivot pin of the support. A hollow waveguide or light guide serves as the waveguide. A parallel displacement of the pivot pin of the support is possible by means of a stepping motor to enable the complete beam profile to be determined by a plurality of sections through the laser beam. In place of the stepping motor, the support can be provided with several waveguides of different lengths, distributed with the same angular spacing over the support circumference and which successively supply the detected partial beams to the same detector.

Abstract: A method of machining workpieces with a laser beam wherein the machining cess, in particular the melting depth or the through-melting distance is monitored by detecting an optical and/or acoustical signal created by an unshielded laser-induced plasma or vapor. In order to receive monitoring date which as much as possible is independent of signal variations in the process the signals are subjected to a frequency analysis and the average amplitudes (Ax, Ay) of two different frequency bands (x, y) of the analyzed frequencies are used with a predetermined calculation function to determine a rating value (B).

Abstract: A process for treating workpieces by means of laser radiation, particularly or the cutting, hole burning and material removal with respect to metallic workpieces, in which the treated site of the workpiece is monitored by a radiation detector which contributes to reducing the intensity of the laser radiation when an upper limit value is reached and to increasing it when a lower limit value is reached.