A single software for a large number of applications
Eurolaser
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Drawing, camera recognition, nesting, raster engraving and system activation all in one
The launch of the extensive OptiSCOUT software range means that many laser applications, such as raster engraving and vector engraving and cutting, CCD camera positioning, can all be carried out simultaneously in a single work step using just the one programme. This saves preparation time and expensive licensing fees for different activation and graphics programmes.Extensive standard functions such as process gas and suction turbine switching as well as standard settings of the cutting parameters must be stored in the driver. This driver can be extended individually because the different cutting data are saved in a database and can be accessed according to the job in hand.
Click on image to enlargeConnecting a camera for recognition of cutting markings is child's play thanks to the USB Video grapper card, because you no longer have to make any changes to the PC hardware. The OptiSCOUT positioning system can recognise adjusting markings independently and can make linear compensation for any deviations. Before a job is carried out the camera, which is mounted on the tool head, locates the position of special adjustment markings that have previously been printed at strategic positions on the part to be cut out.
OptiSCOUT's correction algorithm compares the actual position of the adjusting markings with the ideal position of the original job. Using this data any necessary compensation can be made to linear inaccuracies resulting from the printing process. You can follow the scan or import process, the localisation of the adjusting markings and the process itself in a preview window. The user can see the status of the job production at any time on a real- time camera image.
Click on image to enlargeOther advantages of the OptiSCOUT software include the setting of lead in paths, for example, to allow tangential or vertical movement towards the cutting contour. As is the case with other software solutions, automatic cutting width correction is a must for the laser driver as this is needed to compensate material evaporation. Simple determination of the cutting sequences and extensive import functions from all standard graphics programmes are also a standard for any good laser system software. In addition to a nesting module other available options include a drawing module and extensions such as vectorisation, bitmap and serialisation tools.
Signgrafs Technology Co. - longstanding eurolaser partner in Asia
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Skyscrapers, traffic congestion and the daily appearance of new building sights - these signs of Asia's economic boom can be seen everywhere in the metropolises of China and Taiwan. For years now an up-and-coming industry for electronic devices has been developing in between the cookshops and little markets; devices that the industrialised countries of the west can no longer do without in their day-to-day business lives. Whether computers, telephones, televisions or other multimedia products - they all have one thing in common: an ever increasing demand for accuracy on the production machines. In many cases laser is the best tool for a lot of the processing steps because components are getting smaller and smaller and end users are demanding higher and higher standards of quality. Jimmy Liao, one of eurolaser's first agents and owner of the Signgrafs Technology Co., also notices this development. Many of his currently 40 eurolaser system customers operate successfully in the field of acrylic and foil processing and after a very short time invest in a second or third laser system. The headquarters of Signgrafs is located in Taipeh, the capital of Taiwan. The company also maintains four offices in China in order to cope with the high demand for machine servicing in this particular region. In addition to the sale and servicing of eurolaser systems, Signgrafs also manufactures laser processed components and end products in small and large series which it supplies to a great variety of branches.CO2 - Carbon dioxide laser
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The carbon dioxide laser (CO2 laser) was one of the earliest gas lasers to be developed (invented by Kumar Patel of Bell Labs in 1964), and is still one of the most useful. Carbon dioxide lasers are the highest-power continuous wave lasers that
are currently available. They are also quite efficient: the ratio of output power to pump power can be as large as 20%.
The CO2 laser produces a beam of infrared light with the principal wavelength bands centering around 9.4 and 10.6 micrometers. The active laser medium (laser gain/amplification medium) is a gas discharge which is air cooled (water cooled in higher power applications). The filling gas within the discharge tube consists primarily of:
- Carbon dioxide (CO2) (around 10-20 %)
- Nitrogen (N2) (around 10-20%)
- Hydrogen (H2) and/or (Xe) (a few percent)
- Helium (He) (The remainder of the gas mixture)
The specific proportions vary according to the particular laser. The population inversion in the laser is achieved by the following sequence:
- Electron impact excites vibrational motion of the nitrogen. Because nitrogen is a homonuclear molecule, it cannot lose this energy by photon emission, and its excited vibrational levels are therefore metastable and live for a long time.
- Collisional energy transfer between the nitrogen and the carbon dioxide molecule causes vibrational excitation of the carbon dioxide, with sufficient efficiency to lead to the desired population inversion necessary for laser operation.
Because CO2 lasers operate in the infrared, special materials are necessary for their construction. Typically, the mirrors are made of coated silicon, molybdenum, or gold, while windows and lenses are made of either germanium or zinc selenide. For high power applications, gold mirrors and zinc selenide windows and lenses are preferred. Historically, lenses and windows were made out of salt (either sodium chloride or potassium chloride). While the material was inexpensive, the lenses and windows degraded slowly with exposure to atmospheric moisture.
The most basic form of a CO2 laser consists of a gas discharge (with a mix close to that specified above) with a total reflector at one end, and an output coupler (usually a semi-reflective coated zinc selenide mirror) at the output end. The
reflectivity of the output coupler is typically around 5-15%. The laser output may also be edge-coupled in higher power systems to reduce optical heating problems.
The CO2 laser can be constructed to have CW powers between milliwatts (mW) and hundreds of kilowatts (kW). It is also very easy to actively Q-switch a CO2 laser by means of a rotating mirror or an electro-optic switch, giving rise to Q-switched peak powers up to gigawatts (GW) of peak power.
Because the laser transitions are actually on vibration-rotation bands of a linear triatomic molecule, the rotational structure of the P and R bands can be selected by a tuning element in the laser cavity. Because transmissive materials in the infrared are rather lossy, the frequency tuning element is almost always a diffraction grating. By rotating the diffraction grating, a particular rotational line of the vibrational transition can be selected. The finest frequency selection may also be
obtained through the use of an etalon. In practice, together with isotopic substitution, this means that a continuous comb of frequencies separated by around 1 cm-1 (30 GHz) can be used that extend from 880 to 1090 cm-1. Such "line-tuneable" carbon dioxide lasers are principally of interest in research applications. Because of the high power levels available (combined with reasonable cost for the laser), CO2 lasers are frequently used in industrial applications for cutting and
welding, while lower power level lasers are used for engraving. They are also very useful in surgical procedures because water (which makes up most biological tissue) absorbs this frequency of light very well. Some examples of medical uses are laser surgery, skin resurfacing ("laser facelifts") (which essentially consist of burning the skin to promote collagen formation), and dermabrasion.
Because the atmosphere is quite transparent to infrared light, CO2 lasers are also used for military rangefinding using LIDAR techniques.
It is good to know "Types of Lasers"
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- Solid-state lasers have lasing material distributed in a solid matrix (such as the ruby or neodymium:yttrium-aluminum garnet "Yag" lasers). The neodymium-Yag laser emits infrared light at 1,064 nanometers (nm). A nanometer is 1x10-9 meters.
- Gas lasers (helium and helium-neon, HeNe, are the most common gas lasers) have a primary output of visible red light. CO2 lasers emit energy in the far-infrared, and are used for cutting hard materials.
- Excimer lasers (the name is derived from the terms excited and dimers) use reactive gases, such as chlorine and fluorine, mixed with inert gases such as argon, krypton or xenon. When electrically stimulated, a pseudo molecule (dimer) is produced. When lased, the dimer produces light in the ultraviolet range.
- Dye lasers use complex organic dyes, such as rhodamine 6G, in liquid solution or suspension as lasing media. They are tunable over a broad range of wavelengths.
- Semiconductor lasers, sometimes called diode lasers, are not solid-state lasers. These electronic devices are generally very small and use low power. They may be built into larger arrays, such as the writing source in some laser printers or CD players.