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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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Surface Mount Technology (SMT) chip resistors are precision thin-film resistors developed for use on SMT circuit boards. These resistors, measuring 6 mm x 2.6 mm x 1.3 mm (0.24” x 0.10” x 0.05”), are fabricated by layering a thin Nichrome film over an alumina substrate. The Nichrome film is coated by a protective polyimide epoxy coating that can be marked with a resistance value or manufacturer’s part number. This customer application involved marking product information on individual chips without damaging the underlying Nichrome resistor film. Our marking setup consisted of a Firestar v40 laser coupled to our new FH Flyer marking head. The Flyer head was fitted with an 80 mm optic that provides a 116-micron (0.005”) focused spot over a 33 mm x 41 mm (1.3” x 2.9”) mark area.
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We created a 10-character text string in WinMark Pro using “European”, one of WinMark’s twelve built-in stroke fonts. On the Format tab, we set a Text Height of 0.94 mm (0.037”) and added 0.10 mm (0.004”) of Extra Character Spacing. On the Marking tab, we specified three (3) Mark Passes, set Power, duty cycle percentage, equivalent to 25 watts, and set a marking Velocity of 1270 mm per second (50 inches/second). Using these mark parameters, we were able to mark thin film chip resistors in a cycle time of 100 milliseconds (0.10 sec.) per piece. As shown in the close-up photo, the resulting engraved text is legible with some magnification, but more importantly, it does not penetrate into the Nichrome resistor film layer.
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Our Firestar f400 laser continues to build its reputation as the laser of choice for sub-kilowatt metal cutting applications. A TEM00 mode with an M2 value less than 1.2 produces a near perfect beam capable of out-performing other higher power lasers. With an integrated RF supply, the f400 is easily mounted on robotic arms or in large-area flatbed cutting systems.
When cutting stainless steel with oxygen assist gas, the oxygen reacts exothermically with the steel, which adds energy to the cut process and increases cut speeds. The downside is that this reaction coats the cut edge with a blackened oxide layer. Using high-pressure nitrogen instead of oxygen adds little, if any, exothermic energy, but the higher gas jet pressure does add mechanical energy, which serves to blow molten metal through the cut kerf before it cools enough to stick and form dross on the bottom edge of the cut face. |
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The photograph to the right shows a section of 3-mm (0.113”) thick stainless steel that was cut using our 400-watt CO2 laser. For this application, we used a 16.5 bar (240 PSI) nitrogen assist to eliminate oxidation of the cut edge and achieved a cut speed of 0.25 meters/minute (10 inches/minute). As shown in the photo, the cut face is clean with very slight underside dross. In applications where oxidation of the cut edge is not an issue, an oxygen assist increases cut speeds significantly. On this same sheet of 3-mm thick stainless steel, we cut through at a speed of 1.8 m/min (70 IPM) using an oxygen assist set at 5.52 bars (80 PSI). In both cases, our XY cutting setup consisted of a 63.5 mm (2.5”) focusing lens, which provides a 100-micron (0.004”) spot size with a 1.8 mm (0.07”) depth of focus.
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The latest trend in the packaging industry is to fit pre-formed, full-body PETG (glycol-modified polyethylene terephthalate) shrink sleeves around glass or plastic containers. These sleeves are often printed with colorful logos or labeling information and may even extend up around the bottle cap for added tamper-proof protection. This customer request is an unusual variation on a common CO2 laser application—kiss-cutting self-adhesive labels away from a coated paper liner. The unique requirement in this case is to kiss-cut a decorative oval pattern after the PETG shrink sleeve is tightly formed around a glass bottle. After being shrink fitted to the container, the sleeves used in this particular application measure 4.5 mils in thickness, which equals 0.114 millimeters or 0.0045”. To perform this operation, we set up a Synrad CO2 laser and an FH Series marking head equipped with a 125 mm lens. The 125 mm lens provides a 180-micron (0.007”) focused spot with a 3 mm (0.118”) depth of focus. Using our WinMark Pro laser marking software, we created a 66 mm x 36.6 mm (2.60” x 1.44”) ellipse object, set a Power level (duty cycle percentage) corresponding to 25 watts, and then entered a cutting Velocity of 1143 millimeters per second (45 inches/second).
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At these settings, we cleanly kiss-cut an oval shape out of the PETG sleeve with no effect on the glass bottle. Overall cycle time for each cut is a fast 0.2 seconds per bottle.
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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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