HLT Is now UK's sole source of high energy diode lasers for plastics welding
HLT Is now UK's sole source of high energy diode lasers for plastics welding
Keywords: Lasers, Plastics, Welding
Herfurth Laser Technology Ltd, (HLT), of Coventry, has recently signed an exclusivity agreement with the world's sole manufacturer of diode array lasers for the power range 250W to 750W. This is the power range required for effective laser transmission welding of plastics to ensure that sufficient weld strength can be achieved at the speeds required in the production environment. With the signing of the agreement, HLT is now the only company m the UK which has the resource, the capability and the expertise to offer this new plastics welding technology throughout the industrial sector.
Laser transmission welding relies on the fact that a joint can be produced between two plastic components, if one component transmits the high power laser energy and the other absorbs it. In many cases, the strength of such a weld can exceed that of the parent materials.
Conventional laser welding technology for plastics uses fibre optics, with the result that beam width is restricted to around 1mm, making the welding of large or complex geometry workpieces a long and difficult process. In addition,with conventional laser welding, the energy which can be applied to the workpiece is also limited by the power which can be transmitted down the fibre,making it difficult to achieve the high energy transfer often required for plastics welding.
Herfurth high power direct diode laser welding can generate a beam width of up to 20mm and the diode array ensures that sufficient, evenly distributed energy can be delivered across this beam width to achieve the weld required. This is very important in plastics welding, as some plastics can dissipate up to 80 per cent of the applied energy before the reaching the welding interface.
Herfurth laser welding systems are available in a range of sizes. They have a small footprint, within, typically, a 300 x 130 x 160mm housing, offering practical design capability on the production line. No bespoke tooling is required and Herfurth can design and supply robot- mounted laser systems to make laser welding extremely cost-effective, even on short run production lines,where change-over times must be minimal.
Inquiries: Richard Icke, Herfurth Laser Technology Ltd, Barclays Venture Centre, University of Warwick Science Park, Sir William Lyons Rd, Coventry CV4 7EZ. Tel: 02476 323088; Fax: 02476 123001
