SYNRAD, INC. - http://www.synrad.com  
Thursday, December 5, 2002
Issue 51
 
Cutting Sail Cloth Marking Coated Aluminum Cutting Paperboard

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.

Cutting Sail Cloth 

 

   Cutting synthetic sailcloth fabric with a CO2 laser results in clean cuts with sealed (non-fraying) edges. The pink fabric sample (.004" thick) and yellow sample (.007" thick), shown in the photo to the left were cut at speeds of 1181 inches per minute (IPM), and 780 IPM respectively, using 20W of laser power. The clear reinforced fabric was cut at a speed of 360 IPM.

The sailcloth samples shown above were cut with 20W of power using a lens with a 0.004" focused spot size and 10 PSI air assist.

 

Marking Plastic-Coated Aluminum

 

   Plastic-coated aluminum is commonly used in the packaging industry. Since the coating produces a contrasting mark, a laser marked bar code is easily readable using an inexpensive hand-held scanner. A 1" x 0.7" bar code and human-readable text were marked on this PET-coated aluminum sample using a Synrad 48-1 CO2 laser and FH-Series marking head. With a 125mm focusing lens installed in the marking head, bar code and text objects were marked using 6W at a speed of 35 inches/sec. Total cycle time was 2.5 seconds.

This PET-coated aluminum was marked using a 48-1 10W laser and FH-Series marking head with 125mm lens.

Cutting Paperboard

 

   Using 100W, this 0.25"-thick paperboard packaging material was cut at 60 IPM, with cut speeds increasing to 150 IPM at 240W of power. The cut sample shown here was made using 40 PSI air assist, producing cut edges with some discoloration, but no heavy charring. Changing the assist gas to nitrogen serves to decrease edge discoloration, however maximum cutting speeds will be reduced slightly.

This paperboard cutting application was processed using both 100W and 240W sealed CO2 lasers. Although the paperboard is 0.25" thick, the beam was focused by a lens proving a 0.004" spot size and a 0.07" depth of focus.

 

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

Contact Us:

 

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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Copyright (c) 2002 SYNRAD, Inc. All rights reserved.

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.