Product category:
Laser and electron beam welding
News Release from: Rofin-Baasel UK | Subject: Remote Production Laser Welding System
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 10 October 2005
CO2 slab unit laser-spot welds car seats
A remotely controlled 6kW CO2 slab laser was shown at 'Schweissen und Schneiden' performing high speed laser-spot welding of automotive seat backs.
The highlight among the exhibits on the Rofin Sinar stand at 'Schweissen und Schneiden' (Welding and Cutting) exhibition in Essen, Germany, was the new Remote Welding System ('RWS'), which now has an even greater working space The system is equipped with the Rofin DC 060 W, a CO2 Slab laser with an average output power of 6kW
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 30 Apr 2004 at 8.00am (UK)
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Passenger vehicle seat backs were welded live at the trade show using the system.
The RWS is designed to implement highly flexible, multiple spot welds within a very large work area at the highest speeds.
The version diversity in the welding geometry has no limits here: All requirements can be fulfilled in a short time based on simple programming, whether they are dots, circles, lines, waves or any other forms.
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Manual laser micro welding station is compact
A manually-loaded turnkey laser welding system is ideal for where positioning speed and accuracy are critical for small components.
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Pulsed YAG lasers, fitted with dynamic beam positioning, offer an easy package to integrate into production automation equipment for the automotive and other industries.
The laser beam of the RWS is expanded via a telescope and is focused within the work space by optics at a focal distance of up to 2m to allow processing in an extremely large work area.
The positioning of the focal point occurs via these optics in the Z axis through the assembly on a linear motion slide, while the coordinates of the X and Y axis are controlled via a rotating mirror.
The work area is again expanded by an additional traverse movement of this mirror along the Y axis.
The extremely rapid traverse motion between individual processing points, described as 'rapid move', sets standards in regards to speed in multiple spot weld applications.
These rapid moves provide considerable potential reductions in cycle times as compared to conventional spot welding.
The 'rapid move' concept also sets new standards related to machine availability and process optimization: Approximately 20 million welding cycles at more than 300km of weld joint lengths in a three shift operation without replacing typical system wear parts make this welding system superior over conventional processes using mechanical axle drives and many spot welding guns.
The production process is optimised in regards to time and cost with the option to carry out an x-amount of joint versions without requiring any adjusting and clamping operations and due to the high speed.
The RWS will be presented at the trade show in combination with a diffusion-cooled CO2 Slab laser from Rofin's patented DC series, the Rofin DC 060 W, a laser with an excellent beam quality.
Only high power outputs at a very high beam quality (<5mm x mrad) make the economically logical use of wide-range remote welding possible, since a high energy density must be specifically guaranteed for the very long focal distances.
The term 'remote' is derived from the great distance between optical components and the work piece.
The lasers of the DC product family have a perfect fundamental mode structure over the entire performance range, which produce an energy density even at great focus distances, from which the high welding speeds result.
A working range of 2.9 x 1.8 x 1.0m therefore results at a focusing distance of 2000mm.
The system will be seen in a very compact version at the trade show, since the low dimensions of the laser head of the DC 060 W allow a placement above the processing cell.
This results in a complete system with little space requirements, which is ideally suited for processing of larger components or assemblies.
Specifically in the field of automotive vehicle body manufacturing (body in white), designs are increasingly demanding more accessibility during processing.
Therefore, welding positions are made available by the flexible positioning capability of the laser beam, which cannot be achieved in resistance spot welding.
* Reliable joining of tubes and profiles - the second highlight presented in the Macro area is the Profile Welding System ('PWS'): a complete system to weld tubes and profiles in which the sensor technology is integrated for gap detection and seam tracking.
This guarantees the greatest processing reliability.
The system operates without contact and has a programmable control system, which can also take over additional functions such as the control of gases required for the welding process or the control of the laser performance.
The PWS can reach a production speed of up to 30m/min and a positioning accuracy of up to 20 micron due to rapid and precise linear drives.
Depending on customer-specific requirements, the PWS can be equipped with nozzle geometries that are specifically optimised for the application method, producing the best possible welding results.
Depending on the application requirements, the nozzle can be rotated by 30 deg.
This produces an elliptic beam and results in process optimization, especially at higher welding speeds.
Additional specific requirements, such as documentation of process data required for quality monitoring can also be easily integrated into existing.
Simple and clear operation and central monitoring of the laser controls, as well as the weld joint monitoring on the work piece, are guaranteed by a movable display that is assembled to the support arm.
The PWS is combined with the top model of the patented CO2 Slab laser series, the high-performance ROFIN DC 080 W.
These laser sources require high processing speeds due to their excellent beam qualities of K >0.9 during manufacturing processes, ideally suited for tube and profile welding as well as tailored blanks.
The Rofin DC 080 W is not only distinguished by the excellent beam quality, like all of the other lasers of the DC product family, but also by the fact that these lasers do not require any gas recirculation or transmissive optics.
The laser beam exits through a diamond window without any optical function and a gas replacement is only required every 72 hours.
This makes the ROFIN DC series extremely low maintenance, easy to service and economical.
Micrio - focus on fine systems - the Micro sector, under the management of Baasel Lasertech is the strategic center of the Rofin Group for laser-based system solutions for precision welding, precision cutting and micro-structuring.
* StarWeld Performance CNC - precision welding of metal - Rofin now delivers the leading manual welding laser StarWeld Performance with up to three CNC controlled axes and an optional rotary axis.
It is an extremely compact and very precise system for an outstanding price/efficiency ratio.
It combines the advantages of CNC technology with the easy operation of a manual welding laser at minimum change-over and programming times.
Programming is extremely easy: The user programs the axes either with the mouse or with cursor keys, and completes a quick 'teach in' to the desired contours.
Drawings can be imported or created via the CAD system (DXF or HPGL interface) and exported to the axis system.
A direct CNC programming is also possible.
The Performance CNC can be used for single-piece production as well as for mass-production and can also be used as a manual welding laser without any changeover times.
Work pieces of up to 400mm x 200mm x 100mm maximum (LxWxH) can be processed by the StarWeld CNC at a repeat accuracy of less than 20 micron.
The finest spot welds with diameters of below 100 micron to 2.5mm can be placed with the Performance CNC.
Precious metals and a series of high-grade special alloys are common materials in addition to stainless steel, titanium, copper and aluminum.
Combinations of the finest wires and foils or high-reflecting materials such as copper, aluminum, silver or gold are only successful with constant welding power.
Rofin Micro provides unequalled pulse-to-pulse stability.
The patented Sweet Spot Resonator eliminates the laser-typical, high-energy initial pulses and maintains the beam quality almost constant, regardless of the performance. Request a free brochure from Rofin-Baasel UK ...
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