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SYNRAD, INC. - http://www.synrad.com |
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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. |
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Although the interaction of a CO2 laser beam with nylon does not produce a high contrast (black-on-white or white-on-black) mark, the resulting engraved mark usually exhibits a readable contrast due to light reflecting differently between the nylon surface and the engraved depression. To achieve this mark, we created an eight-character text object in WinMark Pro using the Simple font, one of WinMark’s twelve built-in stroke fonts, and then set a Text Height of 0.125” (3.2 mm) and added 0.1” of Extra Character Spacing to enhance readability. To mark the text, we set a Velocity of 20 inches per second (IPS), a Power (duty cycle) percent corresponding to 25 watts, and a Resolution of 300. Using an FH Series marking head equipped with a 125 mm focusing lens (180 micron spot and 3 mm depth of focus), each mark was made in a cycle time of 0.19 seconds. |
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When FH Series marking heads are integrated into automated systems, customers typically use text strings in the mark file as dynamic objects – that is, they setup text to increment serially for each piece marked or to read in a new data value from a text file or serial port. To complete the automation sequence for the date code shown in our example, select the text object and on WinMark’s Automation tab, choose Date Code Text from the Auto Text Type drop-down list box. For the Assign Date Format property, choose American Standard, which creates a date code formatted as MM/DD/YY. For each mark, WinMark Pro reads the computer’s system date and marks the date information in the specified format. Don’t’ see a standard format that works for your application? Using WinMark’s Date Format Customization dialog, you can create your own custom date string to include fixed data as well as dynamic information like day, date, week, year, time (hour, minutes, seconds), and even shift codes. |
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Glass marking continues to remain a dominant application for CO2 lasers in general and SYNRAD lasers in particular. This is especially remarkable considering that glass marking was once thought to be outside the domain of CO2 lasers due to the tendency of glass to fracture from thermal stressing brought on by its high absorption of CO2 radiation and its high thermal coefficient of expansion. Pioneering research at SYNRAD led to an understanding (and management) of the variables involved in glass marking, which has since created a large market for CO2 glass marking. |
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Soda-lime, or float glass, is the most common type of commercial glass on the market and is available plain, tempered, or chemically strengthened depending on it intended use. Compared to high performance glasses such as borosilicate and quartz, float glass is considerably more difficult to laser mark until that is; you begin to use its propensity to fracture in a controlled and repeatable manner. Depending on the specific formulation of the glass, available laser power, and beam spot size; marking occurs as a result of ring fracturing, “sandblast” fracturing, or stress relieving techniques. Using WinMark Pro, we imported our SYNRAD logo (in EPS format), and then added stroke text underneath. Best marking results were obtained with a laser power of 12 W, a Velocity of 45 inches per second, and a Resolution of 450. Additionally, we set Spot Marking Style to Yes and chose a Spot Mark Duration of 3 (0.3 milliseconds). WinMark’s Spot Marking Style marks objects using a series of spots instead of marking connected polylines; these spots help control fracturing by limiting heat input into the glass substrate. The choice of a high Velocity, high Resolution, and long Spot Mark Duration create an oval or elliptical fracture instead of the normal circular, or ring, fracture. |
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Woven stainless steel mesh is used for a variety of applications depending on the mesh count, the number of openings per linear inch. This 120-mesh sample consists of 0.0027” (0.07 mm) diameter wire woven in a plain square weave to create a 0.0057” (145 micron) opening. Stainless steel 120 mesh is often used in gas diffusion, for filtering hydraulic fluids or fuels, and for separating and classifying solid particles. As a point of reference, the mesh filter in your kitchen faucet is typically 60-mesh material. |
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Search our online library for more applications of Synrad's sealed CO2 laser technology. Sort by material, process, or industry. |
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Synrad, Inc. 4600 Campus Place Mukilteo, WA 98275 Tel: 1-425-349-3500 Fax: 1-425-349-3667 E-mail: synrad@synrad.com |
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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. |
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