Compiled by Laureen Belleville, [email protected]
Compact marking system
Available in 10- and 20-watt versions with a footprint of 600 x 600 mm, the MaxBox packaged laser marking system from Electrox (Indianapolis, IN; www.electrox.com) can be fitted into small workshops. The laser can operate accurately at temperatures up to 45° C ambient and is unaffected by humidity levels, airborne contamination, or vibration. The fiber laser generates less waste heat than other types of laser so the system can be entirely air cooled. Features include 5.5- or 8.7-inch diameter mark area, visible alignment laser for parts alignment, focus finder laser to speed focus adjustment, and Scriba Version 3 Windows-based software. The system can be used to mark a wide range of materials, including metals and plastics.
The laser connects directly to the scanning head, so there is no coupling loss or reduction in beam quality. It is immune to misalignment or optical contamination. And maintenance is minimal because there are no mirrors to align or clean and the system is dust-sealed for life.
Cross-flow resonator
Mitsubishi’s (Wood Dale, IL; www.mitsubishi-world.com) X-Flow Resonator Series features a three-axis, cross-flow design and reportedly requires two to five times less maintenance than previous designs. Compared to traditional fast-axial flow technology, cross-flow technology reduces laser gas consumption down from 30 liters per hour to three liters per hour. Because the beam-on process reaches full power in 45 seconds, the resonator can be shut down between shifts and during breaks, increasing uptime while reducing electricity consumption. Furthermore, the cross-flow technology utilizes one premixed bottle of gas, which eliminates the need for a mixer system and reduces annual gas consumption expenses.
Workstation software
The latest release of Miyachi Unitek’s Laser & Systems Division (Monrovia, CA; www.miyachiunitek.com) laser workstation software provides uniform, standard, validated control over a wide range of industrial laser welding or marking operations. The software utilizes G/M code programming for high post-sale supportability and free software upgrades. This release supports the company’s Delta and LMW workstations and features an integrated user interface that combines laser programming and control, vision inspection, vision directed motion, and motion control programming.
Cutting systems brochures
NTC America Laser Group (Farmington Hills, MI; www.ntclaser.com) offers two four-page, four-color brochures. One details the operating advantages of the TLZ series, its ultra-high-speed three-axis, two-dimensional CO2 laser cutting systems. The other introduces the advanced operational and productivity performance of the TLM series of five-axis, three-dimensional CO2 laser cutting systems.
Micromachining laser
The picosecond laser Rapid from Lumera Laser (Kaiserslautern, Germany; www.lumer-laser.com) is a tool for microstructuring virtually any material micron resolution in x-y dimensions; the depth of the structure can be machined with nanometer resolution. Each laser pulse removes about a 10nm layer of material without thermal stress to the remaining material. Up to 500,000 pulses per second allow for high efficiency. For example, with a 10W laser up to 1 mm3 of steel can be removed with high precision within one minute.
Dust collector
Dust collector systems from Micro Air Clean Air Systems (Wichita, KS; www.microaironline.com) utilize the Roto-Pulse cartridge cleaning system, which cleans 100 percent of the filter area. Systems can be designed with the capacity to generate 60,000 CFM or more. The modular, bolted-together design results in a heavy-duty system.