Thin Sheet Metal Laser Cutting with Exceptional Accuracy

Legend Laser, Inc. (New Taipei City, Taiwan) specializes in building a diverse range of laser marking, micro-machining and micro-tube processing systems for customers worldwide. In collaboration with NUM Taiwan (Taichung City, Taiwan), they developed the SRC-610 precision sheet metal cutter, a unique three-axis system for precision cutting of thin sheet metal parts. Based on the latest-generation Flexium+ CNC platform, this system combines high dynamic performance linear motors with a pulsed fiber laser and is expressly designed for 24/7 operation in a standard production environment. The SRC-610 has a working area of 1,000 mm x 600 mm and an above-worktable clearance height of 150 mm. It is mounted on a high inertia platform, comprising a large mass solid granite base with a rigid metal frame. To ensure smooth, burr-free cutting and to prevent any heat-induced deformation of thin metal workpieces, the power output of the pulsed fiber laser is fully synchronized to the cutting operation. The laser has a peak output power of 1.5 kW and can cut sheet metal with a thickness between 20 µm (0.02 mm) and 1,000 µm (1 mm) at speeds ranging from a few mm per second to a hundred mm per second.

The SRC-610 is also suitable for cutting and drilling ceramic and sapphire plate. Thanks to its high dynamic performance and continuously variable laser power level, it is capable of exceptional cutting precision: within only ±10 microns (10 µm or 0.01 mm). The X-Y axes of the system – which control the lateral movement of the sheet metal workpiece and the laser cutting head respectively – are capable of very fast acceleration/deceleration and ultra-precise positioning. Both axes employ linear induction motors, driven by NUMDrive X servo amplifiers. The Z-axis, which controls the vertical height of the laser cutting head and thus the gap between it and the workpiece, uses a NUM BHX series AC brushless servomotor and a NUMDrive X servo amplifier. The gap between laser cutting head and workpiece is controlled very accurately during the entire cutting process through use of a unique ‘Dynamic Operator’ (DO) function in the Flexium software that employs special fast calculation and communication facilities that enable event-driven machine cycles to be integrated into the real-time CNC kernel.

NUM is supplying Legend Laser with a complete CNC solution for the SRC-610 precision sheet metal laser cutting system. In addition to the Flexium+ 8 CNC system and NUMDrive X servo amplifiers, this includes a custom HMI (human-machine interface) that is dedicated to laser cutting, PLC software, specially developed part program macros and system commissioning.

NUM Corporation, 603 East Diehl Road, Suite 115, Naperville, IL 60563, 630-505-7722, [email protected], www.num.com.

Legend Laser Inc., 8F-11, No. 3, Wu Cheng 1 Rd., Xinzhuang District, New Taipei City, Taiwan, +886 2 229 880 08, www.legendlaser.com.