SYNRAD, INC. - http://www.synrad.com  
Thursday, September 4, 2003
Issue 70

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.

Laser "Blasting" Images on Glass

    Using a 25W CO2 laser, an FH Series Marking Head, and WinMark Pro Laser Marking Software, you can create a decorative, sandblasted look on glass. This decoration was created by importing a bitmap image into WinMark Pro.  A 370mm lens with a 540-micron spot allows us to obtain a "sandblasted" image as large as 9.5 by 11.7inches.

   In WinMark Pro, we set a Power level of 12W, a mark Velocity of 30 inches per second and a marking Resolution of 200.  In addition, Bidirectional Raster was set to "No" and a Vertical Raster Scan Direction was chosen. To limit heat input and thus fracturing, we set WinMark's Spot Marking Style to"Yes" and set a Spot Mark Duration of 100 microseconds. 

   Text, Bar Codes, and Data Matrix codes can also be laser marked on glass to resemble sandblasting.  Click here for more information on this process.

Degating Acrylic Parts

    These clear acrylic parts were degated (trimmed) from their injection molding sprues using 50 watts of power at a speed of nine inches per second. In this application, an FH Series marking head fitted with a 200 mm lens provided beam delivery,  although an XY system would work as well. Focused spot size was 290 microns (0.011”) with a 5 mm depth of focus. WinMark Pro was set to produce two mark passes in order to minimize melt back on the degated edge, creating an overall cycle time of 0.14 seconds.

This acrylic part was degated on the left side of the part. 

Cutting Fabric Housing

   The outer 0.055” thick housing, consisting of 50% Nomex and 50% Polyester, was cut from the braided steel hose shown in the photo to the left using a Synrad 25W laser.  To make the cut, the hose was rotated at 100 rpm with the beam stationary and positioned 1” from the hose end. After the circumference cut was made in 1 revolution, the beam was moved along the length of the housing slicing the material lengthwise to aid in removal. The polyester content in the fabric helps to provide a sealed cut end. 

   To achieve these results we used a Synrad 25W laser with the UC-2000 controller along with 10psi air assist gas.  A 2.5” lens was used to create a spot size of 0.004 inches.

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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