General Lasertronics Corporation

Thomas, James W.

Wool, Mitchell R.

Mitchell R Wool

James W Thomas

Robert L Cargill

Raymond J Noel

Ray Noel

A laser-based coating removal apparatus to remove a coating from a surface without damaging the surface. The apparatus comprises a laser source to provide a laser light, a routing element coupled to the laser source and configured to direct the laser light onto a target region of the surface thereby removing the coating from the target region, and a detection element to detect the coating as the coating separates from the target region of the surface. The detection element is able to prevent the surface from being damaged by limiting or eliminating the laser light directed onto the target region after all the coating has been removed. The detection element is able to detect the separation of the coating from the target region by detecting incandescence, acoustic signature, motion, fluorescence and/or chemical properties produced by the separation of the coating from the surface.

Coating ablating apparatus with coating removal detection

A laser-based method of removing a coating from a surface comprises directing a laser pulse to a first position on the surface, removing the coating from the first position by rapidly elevating a surface temperature of the first position using the laser pulse and thereby disassociating the coating from the surface and collecting the disassociated coating. In some embodiments, the coating comprises an environmentally harmful substance such as Hexavalent Chromium. In some embodiments, the coating comprises Diamond-Like Carbon (DLC), Vitrified Contaminant Material (CMAS). The disassociated coating is collected by a waste collector.

Laser ablation for the environmentally beneficial removal of surface coatings

A coating removal apparatus removes a coating from a surface. The apparatus has a movable scanning head and scanning optics. The scanning head is movable in one dimension, and the scanning optics adjust in two dimensions to compensate for movement of the scanning head to implement long range scanning with a uniform scanning pattern. Further, a surface roughness is determined by measuring specular and scattered reflections at various angles. For composite surfaces, the apparatus utilizes UV laser radiation and a controlled atmosphere to remove coating and alter the chemical characteristics at the surface.

Methods for stripping and modifying surfaces with laser-induced ablation

A coating removal apparatus utilizing a common optics path to provide laser pulses to a coated surface and to direct a light illumination reflected from the coated surface to a photosensitive detector and analyzer. The apparatus is an integrated device including a laser source, a beam splitter, scanning optics, a waste removal apparatus, one or more light illuminators, a photosensitive detector, a comparator, and a control logic circuit. Alternatively, the laser source is external to the integrated device and a fiber optic cable is used to connect the laser source to the integrated device.

Color sensing for laser decoating

A coating removal apparatus utilizing a common optics path to provide laser pulses and light illumination to a coated surface. Reflected light resulting from the light illumination impinging the coated surface is directed to a photosensitive detector and analyzer. The reflected light is either sensed directly from the coated surface by the photosensitive detector or the reflected light is directed along at least a portion of the common optics path to the photosensitive detector. The apparatus is an integrated device including a laser source, a beam splitter, scanning optics, a waste removal apparatus, one or more light illuminators, a photosensitive detector, a comparator, and a control logic circuit. Alternatively, the coating removal apparatus is configured as a head component coupled to a body component.

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Sunnyvale, CA, United States of America

Mitchell R Wool