What can laser technology do better?

Laser cutting of foils compared with punching and knife cutting

Both the enormous variety of materials for synthetic films and increasingly demanding customer requirements are causing the market to look for flexible and efficient production methods. Innovative laser technology is becoming increasingly significant for these applications. High precision is opening up new opportunities, whereas alternative processes are already up against their limits. As in industrial film machining, the advances in laser systems are very much in demand, so that, meanwhile, laser systems are frequently integrated into fully automatic production lines.

A comparison of laser cutting with punching and knife cutting shows the following basic advantages:

A COMPARISON OF FOIL MACHINING

 

Laser cutting

Knife cutting

Punching

Cutting edge quality

  no exfoliation

  exfoliation

  exfoliation

Cut quality in the cycle

  constant

  decreasing

  decreasing

Cutting accuracy

  good

  good

  average

Fine details / small holes

  yes

  conditional

  no

Cut edge sealing

  heat-sealed

  no sealing

  no sealing

Flexibility / Individuality

  high

  conditional

  slight

Tool storage costs

  no tool store

  low storage costs

  average storage costs

Speed

  high speed

  average speed

  very high speed

Tool wear

  no wear

  easy exchange, if worn

  expensive exchange, if worn

 

COMPARISON OF THE WORK PROCESSES

Laser:

Design

Process

Product

Knife:

Design

Clamp knife

Process

Separate residual material from product

Product

Die:

Design

Produce dieboard Clamp

Process

Separate residual material from product

Product