Hole opening device and hole opening method for eyeless needle

Abstract

There is provided a hole opening device and a hold opening method for an eyeless needle capable of accurately aligning the center of a needle material and the optical axis of a laser beam as well as opening a hole precisely even with a thin needle material. A plurality of needle materials 1 are arranged in a row and mounted on a table 21 , base ends of several needle materials 1 are photographed by a camera 25 , a needle material 1 to be processed is located from the photographed image, and the center location of the needle material is calculated. The optical axis of a laser of a laser oscillator and center location of a base end of the needle material 1 to be processed are matched, and a hole 1 c of a predetermined depth is opened by the laser. The plurality of needle materials are shifted, a needle material 1 to be processed next of the plurality of needle materials is located from the image photographed by the camera, the center location of the base end is located from the image of the base end of the needle material, and the plurality of needle materials are shifted so as to match the center location of the base end to be processed and the optical axis of the laser of the laser oscillator.

1 . A hole opening device for an eyeless needle, comprising:
 a table comprising a mounting surface for arranging in parallel a plurality of rod-like needle materials with respective base ends of the plurality of rod-like needle materials aligned in a row;   a shifter for shifting the table linearly;   a camera for photographing base ends of several needle materials which are a part of the plurality of needle materials aligned in a row;   a laser oscillator arranged opposite the base ends for irradiating a laser beam of an optical axis parallel to the needle materials;   an image processing means for locating a needle material to be processed from the photographed image taken by the camera and locating the center location of the base end of the located needle material from the image of the base ends of the needle materials; and   a control unit for driving the shifter so as to overlap the center location of the base end located by the image processing means and the optical axis of the laser beam irradiated by the laser oscillator.   
     
     
         2 . The hole opening device for an eyeless needle according to  claim 1 , further comprising an adjusting mechanism for adjusting so as for a shifting direction of the table by the shifter to be parallel with a direction in which the needle materials are arranged. 
     
     
         3 . The hole opening device for an eyeless needle according to  claim 1 , wherein the needle material to be processed located by the image processing means is the first needle material in the shifting direction when there is no needle material in which a hole has been opened, while the needle material to be processed located by the image processing means is an adjacent needle material to the last needle material to have a hole opened when there is a needle material in which a hole has been opened. 
     
     
         4 . The hole opening device for an eyeless needle according to  claim 1 , wherein when shifting the plurality of needle materials, the shifter first shifts the table a distance equivalent to diameter of one needle material, and then shifts a distance equivalent to misalignment between the center of the base end of the needle material to be processed and the optical axis of the laser beam accordingly. 
     
     
         5 . The hole opening device for an eyeless needle according to  claim 1 , wherein the image processing means determines a needle material to be processed next and locates the center location of that needle material, and the shifter shifts the plurality of needle materials so as to make the center location of the needle material to be processed next and the optical axis of the laser beam match. 
     
     
         6 . A hole opening method for an eyeless needle, comprising:
 a step of arranging in parallel a plurality of rod-like needle materials with respective base ends of the plurality of rod-like needle materials aligned in a row, and mounting them on a table;   a step of photographing, by a camera, the base ends of several needle materials which are a part of the plurality of needle materials aligned in a row;   a step of locating a needle material to be processed from the photographed image and locating the center location of the base end of the located needle material from the image of the base ends of the needle materials;   a step of matching the center location of the base end of the needle material to be processed and an optical axis of a laser of a laser oscillator arranged opposite the base ends of the located needle materials for irradiating a laser beam of an optical axis parallel to the needle materials by shifting the table;   a step of opening a hole of a predetermined depth along the length of the needle material from the base end by the laser; and   a step of locating a needle material to be processed next of the plurality of needle materials from the photographed image taken by the camera and a step of locating a center location of the base end of the located needle material from the image of the base ends of the needle materials, shifting the table so as to match the optical axis of the laser of the laser oscillator and the center location of the needle material to be processed, and opening a hole; wherein these immediately previous two steps are repeated until there are no remaining needle materials.   
     
     
         7 . The hole opening method for an eyeless needle according to  claim 6 , wherein after the plurality of rod-like needle materials are mounted on the table, a shifting direction of shifting the table linearly and direction in which the needle materials are arranged are adjusted so as to be parallel. 
     
     
         8 . The hole opening method for an eyeless needle according to  claim 6 , further comprising a step of aligning in parallel and in a row a plurality of rod-like needle materials, fixing them with a tape, and cutting an end of all of the needle materials to form base ends before the step of arranging in parallel the plurality of rod-like needle materials with respective base ends of the plurality of rod-like needle materials aligned in a row, and mounting them on a table. 
     
     
         9 . The hole opening method for an eyeless needle according to  claim 6 , wherein in the step of locating the needle material to be processed next, the first needle material in the shifting direction is located when there is no needle material in which a hole has been opened while an adjacent needle material to the last needle material in which a hole has been opened is located when there is a needle material in which a hole has been opened. 
     
     
         10 . The hole opening method for an eyeless needle according to  claim 6 , wherein when shifting the table so as to shift the plurality of needle materials, first shifting a distance equivalent to the diameter of one needle material is carried out, and then shifting a distance equivalent to the misalignment between the center of the base end and the optical axis of the laser beam is carried out. 
     
     
         11 . The hole opening method for an eyeless needle according to  claim 6 , wherein when shifting the table so as to shift the plurality of needle materials, first, a needle material to be processed next is determined from the image photographed by the camera, a center location of that needle material is located, and the table is shifted so as to match the center of the base end of the needle material to be processed and the optical axis of the laser beam.