SYNRAD, INC. - http://www.synrad.com  
Thursday, March 27, 2003
Issue 59
 
Marking Chewing Gum Wrappers Cutting Nickel  Marking Titanium

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 Chewing Gum Wrappers

    In this application, foil chewing gum wrappers were marked for tracking, quality, and inspection purposes using a Synrad 25W CO2 laser and FH-Series marking head equipped with a 125mm focusing lens. The seven-character sans serif stroke font spans a total area of only 330 by 100 mils (a mil is equal to 1/1000 of an inch). Using WinMark Pro’s fast-marking stroke fonts, the mark was generated in a total cycle time of 150 milliseconds at a velocity of 65 inches per second.

   The foil gum wrapper is actually a thin layer (1 mil) of aluminum foil, sandwiched onto a 10 mil thick layer of transparent plastic. The code is marked on the plastic surface and the visual contrast occurs because of the differences in the shadowed indices of refraction between the aluminum foil and plastic layer.

This contrasting code was marked on a foil
chewing gum wrapper using a Synrad 25W laser
and FH marking head.

 
 
 
 
 

Cutting Nickel

 

    This nickel CD master was cut using a Synrad Evolution 240W laser and exhibits little to no edge burring. Beam delivery was accomplished using a 2.5” positive meniscus lens with a 0.004” spot, and cutting speed was 59 inches per minute. To obtain the smooth cut, air assist was set to 135 PSI and the laser was pulsed at 1.25 kHz with a pulse length of 480 microseconds, producing an average laser output power of 188W.

 

This 0.012”-thick nickel CD master was cut with
little to no burring using an Evolution 240W 
laser and 135 PSI air assist.

 

A close-up view of the edge cut quality. 

 
 

Marking Data Matrix Codes on Titanium

 

   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.

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

   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 was set to 50 DPI, 2D Barcode Bitmap was "No", and the overall code was 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.
This close-up of the individual Data Matrix cells
shows the pentagon pattern. 		 

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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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.