Newsletter 118: Marking Ferrite, Marking Automotive Parts, Cutting Nylon Webbing

SYNRAD, INC. - http://www.synrad.com
Thursday, August 11, 2005
Issue 118


Marking Ferrite Insulators	Marking Automotive Parts	Cutting Nylon Webbing

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.

Marking Ferrite Insulators

Ferrite is a class of ceramic electro-magnetic material known for its high magnetic permeability and high electrical resistivity. Ferrite toroids are used as cores for transformers and inductors in power conversion devices while ferrite beads are commonly used as RF chokes or EMI (electro-magnetic interference) suppressors. Although ferrite varies in color from silver-grey to black, enough contrast is created by the CO₂ laser interaction to provide visible text and readable 2D Data Matrix codes.

To mark the ferrite insulator core shown in the photograph, we fitted our FH Series marking head with a 125 mm lens to obtain a 180-micron (0.007”) spot with a 3 mm (0.118”) depth of focus. This allowed us to mark 15 mil (0.015”) cells with an overall 2D code size of 4.6 mm (0.18”) square using 25 watts of power at a mark velocity of 18 inches per second.

Engraved contasting marks can be created
on ferrite insulators using 25W of power.

Because filled cells sometimes overlap unfilled cells, leading to poor print growth values during verification, careful attention to resolution settings is important. In this case we set a marking Resolution of 250 to prevent overscanning. These settings resulted in the completion of a raster-scanned code in a cycle time of 0.48 seconds. Using an RVSI CM4000 vision system, we obtained read rates averaging nine milliseconds while achieving an overall AIM (Association for Automatic Identification and Mobility) grade of “A”. AIM’s Bar Code Print Quality Guideline allows verification systems to grade directly marked codes for acceptability with grades ranging from A to F for contrast, axial uniformity, print growth, and error correction.

Marking Automotive Parts

The ever-expanding array of OE (Original Equipment) and aftermarket automotive components offers many opportunities for laser processing during manufacturing. Most, if not all, of the components used to assemble a modern automobile—rubber, steel, glass, fabric, leather, and various plastics—are easily marked, cut, welded, and drilled using CO₂ lasers.

This is one example, an aftermarket oil filter, where a manufacturing code is laser marked on a painted housing. The mark setup consists of an FH Series Index marking head, a Synrad laser, and our WinMark Pro laser marking software. A 200 mm FH lens provides a 290-micron (0.011”) focused spot with a 5 mm (0.196”) depth of focus. To create the static mark text, we created a Text object and then on the Format tab specified European, one of WinMark Pro’s twelve built-in stroke fonts. We set a Text Height value of 0.1538” and added 0.025” of Extra Character Spacing.

The last step is to specify marking parameters. On WinMark’s Marking tab, we set Power (duty cycle percentage) to correspond to an output power of 25 watts and set a Velocity of 15 inches per second. Using these mark parameters, we created the mark shown in a cycle time of 0.22 seconds per part. When dynamic serial numbers or date/shift codes are required, WinMark is easily configured to mark this information automatically.

A manufacturing code was marked on the
automotive oil filter, shown in these images, using
a 25 watt laser and FH Series marking head.

Cutting Nylon Webbing

Nylon webbing is used to produce hundreds of products for restraining, supporting, and securing loads. These products typically include horse halters and pet leashes, backpack, climbing, and parachute harnesses, seat belts, tow straps, and lanyards.

For this application, we were asked to determine optimum cut speeds for 1.14 mm (0.045”) thick nylon webbing. The beam delivery for our XY cutting setup consisted of a 2.5” positive meniscus lens with a 100-micron (0.004”) focused spot and a 1.8 mm (0.07”) depth of focus. We used 10 PSI of clean, dry air (CDA) delivered coaxially with the beam as an assist gas. With a power setting of 25 watts, we achieved clean cut edges with a slight melt-back at line speeds of 65 inches per minute.

When cutting nylon webbing with lasers,
sealed cut edges are produced which prevents
the woven nylon from fraying and presents a
clean, finished appearance to the item.

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

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Contact Us:

Synrad, Inc.

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Mukilteo, WA 98275

Tel: 1-425-349-3500

Fax: 1-425-349-3667

E-mail: synrad@synrad.com

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