SYNRAD, INC. - http://www.synrad.com  
Thursday, June 19, 2003
Issue 65

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 Barcode Tags

     The photo on the left shows before and after results of laser-marked metal barcode tags after being subjected to a hot dip galvanizing process. The tag marking system, designed and manufactured by InfoSight Corporation, uses an integrated Synrad 10W CO2 laser to mark the coated metal tags, which are designed to survive hot dip galvanizing (850° – 1000° F), chromate dipping, caustic solutions, and acid baths.

     These UV stable and weather-resistant tags can be laser-marked with company logos, bitmap images, text, as well as AIM-specification 1D and 2D barcodes.

     For more information about the KettleTag™ Plus metal barcode tag, contact InfoSight Corporation by phone at 740.642.3600 or on the web at: http://www.infosight.com.

Marking Hardened Steel

   This hardened steel bearing race was marked using 100W of power, delivered through an FH-Series marking head at a marking velocity of 3 inches per second (IPS). A 125 mm HP (high-power) lens focused the beam to a spot size of 180 microns. Depth of focus for the 125 mm HP lens is ±1.5 mm. The thirteen-character contrasting mark was obtained in a cycle time of 1.2 seconds.

   Alternatively, in applications where cycle time is less important, an identical mark is possible using only 60W of power. Mark velocity was set to one IPS, which increased overall cycle time to 3.4 seconds.

Marking Labels

   The self-adhesive label shown on the left was marked using 10W of power focused through an FH Series marking head. The 125 mm focusing lens provided a 180-micron spot with a ±1.5 mm depth of focus in a 74 x 74 millimeter optimized mark field (85.7 x 105.6 mm maximum field size).

   Human-readable barcode text (0.072” high) and a lot number /expiration text (0.12” high) were marked using 10W at a mark velocity of 50 inches per second (IPS). Both barcodes, 18–20 characters each, were marked using 10W at a velocity of 125 IPS with a resolution of 240. All marking was accomplished in a total cycle time of 1.65 seconds.

   Note that because the barcode is marked on a dark background, WinMark Pro’s Barcode Inverted property was changed to Yes. This property adds leading and trailing white spacing, a quiet zone, to indicate the beginning and ending of barcode data (Barcode Quiet Zone Size was changed from its default width of 0.1” to 0.05”). After marking, barcode data was verified using an RVSI barcode vision system.

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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