 |
|||||||||||
|
SYNRAD, INC. - http://www.synrad.com |
 |
||||||||||
|
|||||||||||
|
SYNRAD's sealed CO2 lasers are used in a variety of industrial processes including cutting, welding, drilling, and marking. This news brief showcases some of the interesting materials and products that are processed daily by Synrad's line of CO2 lasers and marking heads. |
|||||||||||
|
Cellulose sponges are known for their ability to absorb large amounts of liquid. This application involves laser cutting compressed natural cellulose sponges for use in soldering stations. At the typical soldering station, a small amount of water is placed inside the center cutout of the sponge until the sponge is just damp. During the soldering process, the end of the soldering iron is drawn across the damp sponge in order to clean excess solder, flux, and other impurities off the tip. Our cutting setup consists of a Firestar t-Series 100-watt laser, an FH Series marking head (equipped with a 125HP lens), and our WinMark Pro laser marking software. The 125 mm high-power lens provides a 180-micron (0.007") focused spot and a 3 mm (0.118") depth of focus across the entire mark field. The compressed cellulose sponges measure 1.6-mm (0.0625") thick during cutting, but expand to almost 25.4 mm (1.0") when dampened.
|
|
||||||||||
|
In order to fit the sponge holder in the soldering stations, the rectangular sponges are cut to the shape shown on the left. To do this, we created a 64-mm ( 2.52“) diameter circle using WinMark Pro's Circle tool. To cut the sponge, we set a Velocity of 127 mm per second (5 inches/sec) and a Power (duty cycle percentage) corresponding to 100 watts. At these settings, we achieved a cycle time of 1.55 seconds per part. The compressed cellulose sponge cuts nicely with just a slight discoloration of the cut edge. |
|||||||||||
|
Curved surfaces abound in the industrial world—containers, tanks, and pressure vessels along with tooling, hydraulic cylinders and much more. For some products, a self-adhesive label suffices, while for others a permanent mark is desired, especially in situations where the product is exposed to harsh chemicals or in conditions where a label or tag could become unreadable over time. When marking around curved surfaces, lens selection is crucial. Metal surfaces require a short focal lens length to maximize power density; however, the corresponding short depth of focus limits the mark surface's curvature to large diameters. The high absorptivity of plastics allows the use of longer focal lengths/larger depth of field lenses in which case, the surface curvature is limited by aesthetics; i.e., when the diameter becomes small enough (or the text string long enough) that the mark becomes skewed or distorted because of the acute angle of the beam to the part surface. |
|
||||||||||
|
Our marking setup included a Synrad 100 watt laser and FH Series marking head equipped with a 125 mm, high-power lens. This lens provides a 180-micron (0.007") focused spot with a 3 mm (0.118") depth of focus. Although in this case our 2 mm change in height falls within the lens' overall depth of focus, careful attention to the exact point of focus will always yield the most uniform laser processing results. |
|||||||||||
|
Polymethyl methacrylate, more commonly called PMMA or acrylic, is highly resistant to abrasion, weathering and discoloration. PMMA is crystal clear and actually transmits more light than does glass. As a film, PMMA is often used as a laminated protective covering for other plastic materials and products. In this laser cutting application, we were asked to trim oversized PMMA-based templates to exacting final dimensions. The templates were produced by screen-printing the image on sheets of 312-micron (0.0125”) thick acrylic film that is covered with a protective backing. Our cutting setup consisted of a Synrad sealed CO2 laser and an FH Series marking head equipped with a 125 mm lens, which provides a 180-micron (0.007”) spot with a 3 mm (0.118”) depth of focus. We imported the full-size CAD drawing into our WinMark Pro laser marking software using a Vector Import Scale property setting of “One-to-One” (under the Tools menu, go to General Settings…, and then click the Object Defaults tab). On the Marking tab, we set a Power value corresponding to 50 watts, a Velocity of 216 millimeters per second (8.5 inches/second), and a Resolution of 150. To further reduce cycle times, we increased Off Vector Velocity (non-marking optical scanner speed) to 150 IPS. The overall cycle time to cut our the outer shape as well as the inner keypad area was 1.84 seconds per part, which is over three times faster than the customer’s current mechanical cutting method. |
|
||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||
|
Search our online library for more applications of Synrad's sealed CO2 laser technology. Sort by material, process, or industry. |
|||||||||||
|
Synrad, Inc. 4600 Campus Place Mukilteo, WA 98275 Tel: 1-425-349-3500 Fax: 1-425-349-3667 E-mail: synrad@synrad.com |
|||||||||||
| To unsubscribe, please click here. | |||||||||||
|
SYNRAD and Synrad product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of SYNRAD, Inc. All other trademarks or registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners. |
|||||||||||
