With laser technology the welding process can be performed very cleanly and precisely. The energy to melt the plastic is introduced only locally at the weld seam without heating and affecting nearby areas.
Since the parts to be welded are only pressed together during the welding process without any movement against one another, no particles or smoke are produced. Sensitive components such as electronics are not exposed to mechanical vibrations.
In laser plastic welding only a thin layer of material is heated and melted, so only low energy levels are needed. As opposed to adhesives, the welding technique needs no additional materials that may release solvents. This makes the laser technology for plastic welding not only a precise joining process but also an environmentally sustainable and green technology.
Turnkey Machines
Modula Assemblies
Modula Components
Turnkey Systems
Turnkey S
The Turnkey S is the small Turnkey machine that can be placed on a normal table. Despite its compact design, it is modular and can be equipped with various Modula components for all welding processes.
Turnkey M
The Turnkey M as the bigger ready-to-use machine is suited for larger parts up to half a meter in size. It is designed as a workstation that can be operated both standing and seated
Modula Components
Laser
The laser unit is the central module of the Modula product family. Besides the laser, it also contains the control unit, interfaces and operating elements.
The welding process can be set up and observed via the touch screen. Optionally, keyboard and mouse can be connected to the USB ports on the front panel. As a further option, an HDMI connection on the back of the laser unit allows connection of a larger screen.
Optics
Like the machines also the optics have a modular design to cover many different possibilities. In addition to the most commonly used spot optics, other geometries of the laser beam such as line, area, or ring are possbile. With DOE (diffractive optical elements) also any contours are possible. Depending on the beam shape, either the contour process or the simultaneous process is used.
Special versions of optics are the ball and the scanner optics. The ball optics allows the components to be pressed together with the rolling glass ball instead of a clamping unit. With the scanner, the motion system is integrated directly into the optics.
Motions
The selection of the motion system is closely related to the
type of welding process.
For very fast movements during quasi-simultaneous welding, the scanner head is the right choice. Since only the two deflection mirrors have to be rotated in x and y direction, high speeds of up to several meters per second are possible.
For slower movements in the contour process of typically a few centimeters per second, axes systems driven by servo motors are used. Two axes in x and y direction are usually required. If the parts have a slightly three-dimensional weld seam geometry or if welds at different heights are required, an additional z-axis can be useful
A single axis can be used as a rotation axis for welding around the circumference of a cylindrical component. A single axis combined with a line optic makes allows for welding a complete area
Clamping Units
The clamping unit presses together the parts to be joined during the welding process. The parts are inserted into the part-specific cavity on the drawer and pressed downwards by the movement of the upper clamping plate.
Modula Assemblies Inline
The Modula Assembly Inline is a specific compilation of Modula components to a process module, which can be very easily integrated into a fully automated production line.
The effort required to install the Modula Assembly Inline over a transfer system or on a large rotary indexing table is minimal for special machine building.
The process cell consist typically of a scanner optics with processing field 100 x 100 mm for contour or quasi- simultaneous process, a special clamping unit and a housing. But it can also be equipped with a ring, line, or DOE optics for simultaneous process type.