SYNRAD, INC. - http://www.synrad.com  
Thursday, June 10, 2004
Issue 89

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.

Degating Acrylic Keypad Buttons

0.048-inch thick (1.21 mm) button

The 0.048-inch thick (1.21 mm) buttons were cleanly degated using 50 watts of power. Beam delivery through the FH Series marking head was focused by a 200 mm lens featuring a 290-micron spot and 5 mm depth of focus. Velocity was set to 8 inches per second (IPS) and cycle time for each cut was 0.08 seconds.

In this particular application, we used WinMark Pro’s Circle tool to draw a circle matching the radius of the keypad buttons and then modified Arc Start and Arc End properties to create an arc of the correct length and orientation to trim each button away from the molded runner/gate assembly.
 

Cutting PET Sheet Material

0.0045” thick PET sheet material

PET (polyethylene terephthalate) is a form of polyester commonly used to package medical, pharmaceutical, food, and non-food products. The properties of PET include chemical inertness and gas barrier properties (to withstand sterilization processes) as well as strength and transparency.

This 0.0045” thick PET sheet material was cut using 55 watts of power at a speed of 2000 inches per minute (IPM). Cut edges are clean and burr-free. In some cases, because of PET’s exceptional clarity, the cut edge may appear “cloudy” due to deposition of vaporized PET residue. Careful placement of fume extraction (or a secondary cleaning process) easily eliminates this issue.

Marking 2D Data Matrix Codes on Titanium

A 0.175”-square Data Matrix code and
human-readable text were marked on Grade 2
titanium sheet using 25W.



This close-up of the individual Data Matrix cells shows the pentagon pattern..

The marks shown in the photo to the left were made with a Synrad 48 Series, 25W CO2 laser and FH-Series marking head using an 80mm lens that provided a 116 micron spot size. Marking velocity for the text was 0.75 inches per second (IPS) and 0.5 IPS for the 2D code; two Mark Passes were used for both objects. The entire mark - 2D code and text - was created in a total cycle time of 18 seconds and is readable using a handheld scanner. 

Typically, WinMark Pro's Spot Marking Style is used to mark small 2D codes where each cell is comprised of a single spot. To produce this type of mark, Resolution is set to 50 DPI, 2D Barcode Bitmap is "No", and the overall code is sized to fit the spot.

Each 2D code cell in this example however, was formed using five spots arranged in a pentagon shape. By selecting various 2D Barcode Circle Radius and Resolution settings, different fill patterns for code cells are possible. In this case, a Resolution of 300 DPI and 50% circle radius was set. A close-up view of the code cells is shown in the lower photo, where the pentagon cell pattern is clearly seen.

Browse Synrad's Applications Database

Search our online library for more applications of Synrad's sealed CO₂ laser technology. Sort by material, process, or industry.

http://www.synrad.com/search_apps/Default.htm

Do you have an interesting application using Synrad Lasers?  Would you like to see it published in the Synrad Newsletter?  We would love to hear from you!  Please send your story ideas to: editor@synrad.com

To unsubscribe, please reply to this email and type REMOVE in the subject line.
 

Copyright (c) 2004 SYNRAD, Inc. All rights reserved.