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technologies Reinventing coil-fed laser cutting Francisco Pérez, Director of the OEM Channel
Although it may seem relatively new, coil-fed cutting 2D parts is a reasonably old practice and isn’t, for that matter, a process linked to laser. In fact, the first coil-fed machines, instead of precut standard formats, were plasma machines and, more specifically, machines aimed at the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning sector (HVAC) given that they mainly used thin layers, 0.6 – 1.2mm, generally supplied in coils. However, with the rise of fiber laser, its cost savings, its “ease” in terms of manufacturing and, subsequently, its drop in price and popularization, this market niche has paved the way providing quite a few advantages over the conventional laser that uses pre-cut formats and has a fixed work table.
20 technologies
Here, we will focus on cutting with laser technology, although everything could all be applied to any 2D cutting technology (primarily plasma). We must remember that these machines are aimed at a specific market niche, that of thin sheet metal and with high production levels. Continuous format cutting (coil), improves on some problems encountered with the conventional laser, including: Optimization Of Time With conventional machines, using standard sheet metal formats (e.g., 3000mm x 1500mm) and thin layers, the existing laser capacities enable high-speed cutting (above 8000mm/min). This means that the time for changing the sheet metal
