An automated procedure for laser milling of textures for mould manufacturing

In this paper an algorithm for texture generation by means of laser milling process is presented. The aim of this work is to develop an original software that automatically generates texture on general surfaces (cylinder, sphere, plane, cone) particular useful in mould manufacturing (automotive, leather, plastic molding, automotive and packaging).The geometries representative of the textures were obtained from bitmap images on two levels (white and black) or with a continuously variable density. The algorithm digitalizes the bitmap of the base texture and project it on the acquired surface realizing many replicas of it in order to cover all the working area. The system subdivides the single features of the texture and makes a triangulation of it (each pixel two triangles). The depth inside the material depends on the color gradient of the bitmap. The algorithm subdivide the texture in singles optical working areas and inside these areas the scanning heads deflect the laser beam and remove the material layer by layer as in milling.