Appeal No. 1997-1412 Page 3
Application 08/139,888
of assist gas must disperse through combustion products (viz.,
gas or melted metal) near the cutting surface.
The machining head of the invention features a main
assist gas nozzle on its central axis. An annular, sub assist
gas nozzle surrounds the main gas nozzle. The diameter of the
outlet of the sub assist gas nozzle is at least as wide as
that of the outlet of the main assist gas nozzle. Moreover,
the outlet of the main assist gas nozzle is upstream from the
outlet of the sub assist gas nozzle. This arrangement of
nozzles ensures that the flows of the main assist gas and of
the sub assist gas are not parallel and continuously changes
the pressure and flow of the main assist gas at its outlet.
The changes disturb the boundary layer in the combustion
reaction area to replace the combustion products with fresh
assist gas, which increases the speed of combustion.
Claim 1, which is representative for our purposes,
follows:
1. A machining head of a laser machining apparatus
through which a laser beam passes, comprising:
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