At the2008 EuroBlech exhibition, Precitec presented various new and enhanced developments as well as its existing systems for laser cutting and joining. The large number and good quality of contacts made this a successful event for the company ? no sign of economic crisis here.

In the field of laser welding, Precitec introduced a further development of its fine cutting system with integrated camera monitoring. This system has a laser performance of up to 500W and is used for high-precision applications, like the cutting of stents. Clearance widths of approx. 10 µm can be realized with corresponding beam quality. The system comes with adjustable coaxial LED lighting, which provides optimal illumination even during the cutting process ? and has an optically optimized system for camera monitoring. In turn, this enables cutting documentation, simply by recording and saving the camera data. The TCP is retained through adjustment of the X/Y focusing optics. The time required for readjustment after a nozzle, lens, or protective window change can be significantly shortened by fading-in electronic cross-hairs. Access was enhanced and the system now is shorter.

Precitec also presented a brand-new design of its proven HP1.5" cutting head. The integrated cartridge replacement system was expanded by a contact-free cartridge detection device. Design-wise, there are now no more protruding screws on the sensor insert, the pre-amplifier was integrated, and the gas flow is fully optimized ? and it is also possible to use process monitoring as a combination of a piercing and lens fault sensor.

For the first time at the EuroBlech, Precitec introduced the HP SSL cutting head. This head can be used in flatbed machines with fiber optic coupled lasers. Modeled on the design of the well-known and dependable HP series, it works with a monitored protective window cartridge and monitored replacement cartridges. The enhancements incorporated into the HP1.5", like optimized design, gas flow, integrated pre-amplifier, and non-protruding sensor insert screws were also adopted for this concept.

The company's range of processing heads was extended with the addition of the uniquely compact YW30 welding head. Thanks to its extremely modular design, the customer can decide which form the application-specific configuration should take. The welding head is mainly suitable for fiber and disk lasers - and the basic version is competitively priced. The company can also expand this system through the installation of modules with pre-process, in-process, and post-process monitoring, making it absolutely ideal for use in fully automated production. Despite its compact design, the YW30 welding head can be used for rugged laser performances of up to 6 kW.

Exhibition visitors also showed great interest in the SOUVIS 5000 seam inspection system, which was demonstrated on a robot. This system's main area of application is the inspection of welding and soldered seams based on image-processing technology. The SOUVIS 5000 works with two types of illumination, enabling the simultaneous acquisition of geometrical data and surface characteristics of a joint patch or seam. A profile measurement thus takes place by means of light stripe technology, whereby three-dimensional information like the convexity and concavity of the seam is calculated. Even more characteristics are provided by a surface analysis based on the evaluation of a high-resolution grey image of the seam. To identify defective flaws like pores, the surface analysis uses three procedures which work in parallel: analyses of seam structure, pores and fissures.

Thu Nov 20 11:47:00 CST 2008