Arrangement for changing the geometrical form of a light beam

Claim 1

An arrangement for changing the geometric form of a light beam, the arrangement comprising: beam source means for supplying a light beam defining a beam path; a mirror disposed in said beam path; said mirror having a plurality of strip-like mirrored segments disposed one next to the other and said segments defining a common symmetry axis; said segments having respective sizes selected so as to cause the light beam to impinge simultaneously upon several of said segments so as to reflect respective zones of said beam; said segments each being formed and aligned so as to cause each one of said zones to be reflected and directed to a strip-like region of an object with said zones being superposed on each other on said strip-like region; and, a diffraction grating disposed in a spaced relationship to said mirror and being arranged in said beam path for fanning said beam and to coact with said mirror to convert said laser beam into a two-dimensional intensity distribution which is constant in one direction and has any preselectable intensity distribution in a direction perpendicular to said one direction.

Claim 6

A method of processing the surface of a workpiece with a laser beam defining a beam path and a mirror having a plurality of strip-like mirrored segments defined by rotational bodies and being disposed one next to the other and the segments defining a common symmetry axis, the method comprising: directing a laser beam toward said mirror so as to impinge simultaneously upon several of said segments so as to reflect respective zones of said beam; forming and aligning all of said segments so as to cause said zones to be reflected and directed to one strip-like work area on the surface of the workpiece; and, placing a diffraction grating in the beam path for fanning the beam and for coacting with the mirror to convert the beam into a two-dimensional intensity distribution which is constant in one direction and has any preselectable intensity distribution in a direction perpendicular to said one direction.

Claim 7

A method of processing the surface of a workpiece with a laser beam defining a beam path and a mirror having a plurality of strip-like mirrored segments defined by rotational bodies and being disposed one next to the other and the segments defining a common symmetry axis, the method comprising: directing a laser beam toward said mirror so as to impinge simultaneously upon several of said segments so as to reflect respective zones of said beam; forming and aligning all of said segments so as to cause said zones to be reflected and directed to one strip-like work area on the surface of the workpiece; and, placing a diffraction grating in the beam path for fanning the beam and for coacting with the mirror to convert the beam into a two-dimensional intensity distribution which is constant in one direction and has any preselectable intensity distribution in a direction perpendicular to said one direction.