Lasering all information directly at the cutting stage eliminates problems and reduces costly errors.
Aurora, Ohio—FeneTech Inc., provider of software automation products to the glass industry, is offering a fully integrated laser marking system that allows a revolutionary method of efficiently marking and identifying any type of glass with special logos (tempering or customer logos), trademarks, freely definable text, or any other type of information either on the edge of the glass or in a visible area, depending on the application.
Powered by an integrated Synrad (Mukilteo, WA; www.synrad.com) CO2 laser device, the FeneVision Laser Marking system can be used for any type of application and comes either as a vertical or horizontal conveyor system, including all necessary software control systems such as loading and offloading touch screen display stations.
According to Horst Mertes, director of global sales, FeneTech, founded in 1996, has been installing horizontal marking systems since 2000. Now with new rules and regulations covering installations of glass panels and additional requirements for marked information the company has introduced a new version higher-speed and more efficient system.
The vertical laser marking system shown last month at GlassBuild America in Atlanta, GA, allows efficient marking and identification of each glass sheet directly after the breakout table at the cutting stage. At a comfortable working height the operator can locate each sheet against a positioning stop onto the conveyor. After confirming the sheet by means of a touch screen monitor the automatic laser device marks all necessary and configured information onto each sheet of glass—in seconds. And the laser marked panels can be read manually, eliminating the need for laser scanners.
After this process each sheet is then automatically indexed on the conveyor to a position where an offloading monitor displays the necessary racking or slotting information to the second operator. This way the two operators after breakout are working well synchronized and each sheet can be automatically marked within the normal cycle time. The entire system is controlled by powerful FeneVision software and the laser marking system can also be fully integrated with the main FeneVision ERP software solution.
Advantages of the FeneVsion system include: elimination of labeling errors, savings in expensive label costs, increased cycle times and smooth production flow, the laser marking process can be done without any additional labor, higher quality conforming completely to the certification standards by marking the correct and accurate information onto the glass, readable information, and the process can be used for any application: annealed, tempered, laminated, or IG glass. Also the fast and efficient procedure is freely definable, and specific customer logos can be marked onto the glass. FeneVsion reduces rejects at the cutting stage and improves quality control.
Ron Crowl, president of FeneTech comments: “For years FeneTech has been involved in custom machinery development—typically associated with a high level of software integration. We are excited to bring the FeneVision Laser Marking system to market and find it a natural extension to our innovative software products.”
Mertes adds: “Having to apply labels manually has always represented a problem since this manual system is prone to errors and labels have to be taken off again, in the case of tempering. Lasering all information directly at the cutting stage will eliminate these problems and will reduce costly errors.”
For more information on this new glass panel marking system, contact [email protected].