Fine cutting system
Precitec (Gaggenau, Germany; www.precitec.de), the Fine Cutting System with integrated camera monitoring can be used for high-precision applications that require laser performances of up to 500W. Clearance widths of approximately 10µm can be achieved with a high quality beam. The adjustable coaxial LED lighting with external power input provides optimal illumination even during operation. It also has an optically optimized monitoring system for online monitoring by camera. The system can be operated with disk, fiber, and Nd:YAG lasers.
Fiber laser marking system
Columbia Marking Tools' (Chesterfield Twp, MI; www.columbiamt.com) Pro-Mark pulsed fiber laser system features a rotary index table that enables the operator to continuously load parts while the previously loaded part is being marked. All parts are loaded into adjustable custom made fixtures where wireless part present sensors attached to the rotary table detect that parts are loaded correctly before proceeding to the mark station. Once a part is loaded the operator depresses dual touchless palm buttons which initiate a cycle start. Once in cycle the air powered 4-station dial table indexes the part to the staging position where it is verified if the part was loaded properly. If a properly loaded part is detected the part is indexed into the mark station to be marked. If a mis-loaded part is detected the cycle is interrupted and the operator is prompted to reload the part. Once in the marking station the total marking cycle time is approx 6-8 seconds depending on the part diameter. The company uses the 20W fiber laser option because of its reliability and maintenance free operation. The third station contains a fully integrated Cognex Verification system to automatically verify that a UID-2d barcode is within spec. If the UID is verified as being correct the part is then indexed back to the operator where it is unloaded.
Combination laser/turret punch press
The goal of the model LC2012C1-NT, also known as the C1, from Amada America Inc. (Buena Park, CA; www.amada.com) is to provide manufacturers working with materials up to 1/4in thick with seamless process integration of laser and punching operations to increase productivity while reducing costs. The laser portion of the C1 features the Amada/Fanuc AF2000i-B LU2.5 resonator with 2.5kW of cutting power. The laser head moves in the Y-axis via a direct drive servo mechanism for maximum speed and accuracy, and is isolated from punching vibration to help maintain beam integrity and cut quality. A cartridge-type lens assures simple and fast lens changes when required. The resonator is located on a frame designed to reduce floor space requirements and to provide isolation from punching vibration.
Motorized rotary stage
AGR series motorized rotary stages from Aerotech (Pittsburgh, PA; www.aerotech.com) offer significant improvements in speed, load capacity, and long-term positioning performance versus previous generations of worm-gear-drive stages. The AGR stages address a wide range of applications for general purpose positioning in laboratory and industrial uses. A unique preloading scheme avoids changing wear characteristics, allowing orders of magnitude increase in stage life without any degradation in stage performance, and allows stage operation over a wide temperature range. The addition of a larger clear aperture is a key enhancement over previous generations of worm-gear-driven stages.
Precision profiler for thin sheet metal
ES Technology's (Oxfordshire, UK; www.estechnology.co.uk) new ES-CUT150 system has been designed around the wide range of metals typically used in the production of medical device components including stainless steels, titanium, aluminum, gold, silver, and brass. Capable of cutting material up to 5.0mm thick, the 150W pulsed YAG laser can be configured to produce a kerf width of only 18µm, enabling high precision cutting and profiling with minimal burr formation. The material to be processed is manipulated under the fixed laser optics by a Baldor brushless - servo driven X-Y table, which has a 400mm x 400mm work envelope. With an accuracy of +/-10µm and speeds of up to 35.0mm/s the system can cut and profile high quality components at high speeds. A micrometer adjustment facility allows the processing head to be set to the optimum height for the material thickness being cut at the time, and appropriate air assist gasses can be introduced via attachments to the processing head. Additional options such as a honeycomb mounting base and extraction unit are available to remove any fine dust created during cutting,
Beam shaping optics
The new collimator model pShaper_37_34_1064 from MolTech (Berlin, Germany; www.piShaper.com) is optimized for up to 6 kW fiber coupled solid-state or diode lasers, as well as for fiber lasers operating in near-IR spectrum. The pShaper converts, with nearly 100% efficiency, a divergent TEM00 or multimode laser beam into a collimated flattop beam keeping a uniform intensity profile over a large working distance and providing low divergence of the output beam. Variety of provided beam profiles, easy integration in robotic and other industrial systems, absence of internal focusing, and high damage threshold are features that make the product a unique tool for such industrial applications as welding, hardening, annealing, and cladding.
Punch/laser combo
Finn-Power's (Arlington Heights, IL; www.finnpower.com) new punch/laser combination provides versatile manufacturing capacity based on the availability of both servo electric punching and laser cutting capability in an integrated, flexible manufacturing cell. The New LPe6 features a turret punch press with punching force of 23 or 33 tons and high-quality 2.5kW laser beam for maximum sheet size, either 120in x 60in or 169in x 60in. The maximum material thickness in punching is 0.314in and in laser cutting 0.236in (mild steel 0.236in).