The high-tech company TRUMPF
presented the latest generation of its laser marking systems at the AMB international metalworking exhibition in Stuttgart. “With the TruMark 6030
marking laser, companies can mark just about any industrial product permanentlyand with high precision. The spectrum ranges from brand names on everyday objects such as cooking pots or shower heads to medical technology, on which a data matrix code can be applied to track a product in accordance with current legal regulations. The process times are often shorter compared to other marking lasers,” says Holger Breitenborn, product manager responsible for marking systems at TRUMPF. This is made possible by the average power of 25 watts and the ability to process a workpiece on both sides in just one process step. The user can switch the laser beam off and on again safely and in a flash. He doesn’t have to power the laser down and back up again. The full laser power is available within a few milliseconds. This makes the laser suitable for highly productive production lines. Thanks to many interfaces and detachable connection cables, users can quickly integrate the laser into their production unit.

Consistent marking results even with millions of components.
The marking laser operates with excellent beam quality and high power densities. As a result, the laser achieves clean material removal and the markings are particularly rich in contrast. Power control ensures that the system always operates at the desired laser power. Users can easily add further production systems to their production line for particularly high volumes, as each marking laser has the same power curves. “Right from the start, users get consistent marking results, even after several million components. Advanced manufacturing technologies and high-performance optical components make this marking laser one of the most powerful in our industry,” says Breitenborn.

Marking three-dimensional components
With the TruMark 6030 combined with TruTops Mark 3D software with VisionLine, users can effortlessly mark surfaces of complex three-dimensional components. With VisionLine image processing, the system looks directly at the marking process through the lens. It thus works even more precisely. The image processing recognizes the actual position of the component and automatically positions the marking at the right place. It can also detect the workpiece surface and use the autofocus function to set the correct working distance.

TruMark Station 7000 is suitable for high part quantities

TRUMPF will also showcase the TruMark Station 7000 at AMB. “With the largest workspace of all TRUMPF marking systems, users can use the system to mark individual, large components weighing up to 100 kg,” says Breitenborn. The marking system is suitable for marking plastic washing-machine panels, for example. Dark, high-contrast scales or brand names are produced. These have no edges and are pleasant to the touch because the marking laser does not foam up the plastic.

As an alternative to a single large component, users can mark a particularly large number of small parts arranged next to each other. “The system is suitable for high volumes – especially if the system is equipped with our rotary changer,” says Breitenborn. With the rotary changer system, users can load the TruMark Station 7000 with additional components while the laser is still working.

The high-technology company TRUMPF plans to strengthen its additive manufacturing (AM) division: The Ditzingen-based company is in advanced talks with its Italian partner SISMA S.p.A., a leader of manufacturing high-technology machines, to acquire the joint venture TRUMPF SISMA S.R.L. completely. Up to now, TRUMPF holds 55 percent of the shares.

In addition, TRUMPF intends to continue SISMA’s additive manufacturing business activities in the industrial, dental and medical sectors.

Simultaneously with its divestment from the joint venture, SISMA plans to focus on the jewelry and fashion industry and for this purpose to enter into a cooperation with TRUMPF in 3D printing.
TRUMPF SISMA was founded as a joint venture in 2014 and is based in Schio in northern Italy. Around 60 employees work there in the development and production of metal 3D printing machines with Laser Metal Fusion technology.

The transaction is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2021. The two companies did not provide further details.

Compact multi-laser machine prints bridgework and caps layer by layer in a metal powder bed – Top flexibility for specific customer demands – Up to an 80 percent increase in productivity

At the International Dental Show (IDS) in Cologne, Germany, laser and laser system manufacturer TRUMPF presented its TruPrint 1000 3D printer with multi-laser option. This laser system, which is designed to process metal powder, has been optimized for the large-scale manufacturing requirements of the dental industry. What’s special about the new system is its multi-laser principle: the highly productive TruPrint 1000 features two 200-watt laser beam sources that work in tandem to create components of the required shape by layering metal powder. Using this additive manufacturing process, it is possible to produce bridgework or caps, for example, out of cobalt-chrome or titanium alloys for custom dental prostheses. The hallmarks of the system are the great flexibility it offers for satisfying specific customer demands and the speed at which parts are ready.

In its standard version, the compact and robust TruPrint 1000 is equipped with one 200-watt laser. Although TRUMPF developed the multi-laser version with two lasers with the dental industry in mind, this highly productive system is also suitable for other industries. The main advantage the multi-laser version has over the standard model is increased productivity. With no change in capacity utilization, the machine generates up to 80 percent more parts; pure processing time for producing parts in the powder bed is cut almost in half.

Cost-effective and efficient manufacturing – even for custom parts
Easy and intuitive to operate, the TruPrint 1000 can quickly and flexibly produce parts with a maximum diameter of 100 millimeters and up to 100 millimeters in height. It does this using the laser metal fusion (LMF) technique, in which one or more lasers melt metallic powder layer by layer in a powder bed to produce complex parts. LMF is particularly suited to the cost-effective and efficient manufacture of geometrically complex and custom parts – such as those required not only in the dental industry, but also in the automotive, medical engineering, supply and jewelry industries.

What sets TRUMPF apart are the company’s many years of expertise and the range of technologies it offers in the fields of machine tools, laser technology and additive manufacturing. TRUMPF has mastered the two additive technologies relevant for metallic 3D printing: laser metal fusion and laser metal deposition. The company offers its customers a comprehensive package comprising laser beam source, machine, powder, services and application consulting – all from a single source.

The laser and laser system manufacturer TRUMPF recently showcased the latest generation of its TruDisk disk laser at the Laser – World of Photonics trade fair in Shanghai. As the most advanced high-power solid state laser on the market, this new generation of disk lasers boasts built-in intelligence, offering optimum hardware features for a digitalized future and Industry 4.0. The ability to carry out condition and trend analyses – also known as condition monitoring and predictive maintenance – is a basic prerequisite for successfully implementing lasers in digitalized and connected manufacturing environments.

“The new TruDisk is not just the smartest, most advanced generation of disk lasers we’ve ever developed, it’s also the most compact and energy efficient,” says Klaus Löffler, managing director and head of sales at TRUMPF Lasertechnik GmbH. “Combined with our Condition Based Services for condition and trend analyses, the new TruDisk lasers are the perfect production tool for superior Industry 4.0 production lines.” Condition Based Services are a modular component of TruConnect, the TRUMPF technology for connected manufacturing and Industry 4.0. They increase the availability and productivity of connected laser systems while identifying potential cost savings.

All-new control system, diodes, and cooling technology
The critical hub of the smart TruDisk beam source is the built-in control system known as CPX. This is the laser’s brain, where all the condition data and process parameters are collected. During processing, a broad array of sensors measure multiple parameters, including the actual laser output at microsecond intervals, all internal and external signal characteristics, the utilization rate of the beam source, and the condition of additional components. The new generation of TruDisk lasers also incorporates a clever new feature that significantly enhances the quality of the data obtained from the readings. Known as Precision Time Protocol, this feature synchronizes all the sensors and provides them with an identical time stamp. But perhaps the most impressive development of all is how TRUMPF is planning to use Condition Based Services in the future. With the customer’s prior approval, the services will be used to analyze data parameters, carry out algorithm-based trend analyses, and take targeted measures to determine the risk of potential laser failure in advance and prevent unscheduled downtime.

The second major improvement inside the new-generation TruDisk lasers can be found in the new laser diodes, which TRUMPF develops and produces at its U.S. plant in Princeton, New Jersey. The new laser diodes are both compact and energy efficient. That keeps running costs down while also reducing the laser’s footprint, which – at just 0.85 square meters – is currently the benchmark for multi-kilowatt high-power lasers. There is even room in this small space for the laser’s smart cooling system, which enables the use of cooling water at feed temperatures of up to 26 degrees Celsius. This eliminates the need for an external cooling unit in the majority of cases.

Now even better
To boost the energy efficiency of the new TruDisk lasers, TRUMPF has not only increased how efficiently the lasers work, it has also equipped them with a new pulse function. This makes it possible to ramp the current of the pump diodes down to zero amps even during very short laser-off times between two processing steps. The new generation of lasers comes with a smart energy management system that switches the laser between different power-saving modes for each operation, reducing energy consumption to a minimum. The disk laser’s optics have also been redesigned to ensure optimum use of the diode pump light.

The TRUMPF TruDisk laser has proven its worth thousands of times over in practical applications. Real-time power regulation ensures the power applied to the workpiece remains stable from one operation to the next and throughout the system’s entire service life. What’s more, TruDisk technology is built to withstand laser radiation reflected from the workpiece, making it an extremely robust disk laser that is ideally suited to tough industrial environments. It also offers a modular design, making it easy to upgrade the machines with individual components and functions at a later point in time. This is a disk laser designed to tackle a remarkable range of applications. From auto making, aerospace engineering, medical devices, and electronics right through to the supply sector and heavy industry, the high beam quality of a TruDisk laser makes it a reliable tool for joining, coating, additive manufacturing, hardening, and cutting with high quality and reproducibility.

The new generation of TruDisk lasers is available for laser outputs of between three and five kilowatts with fiber core diameters between 100 and 600 micrometers. Further models are due to be released this year.

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Connected machines deliver double the bending length and press force – single-machine operation boosts capacity – ToolShuttle with space for 60 meters of tools – shorter set-up and search times, higher productivity bold

The sheet-metal plates that demonstrate the power and precision of the TruBend Series 8000 are famously big and fat – and now the TRUMPF machines for bending large-format components can actually deliver twice the performance. How? In a tandem version. Bending expert Babette Kopp from TRUMPF Machine Tools in Teningen explains: “If you utilize two machines as just one, it gives you the option of doubling the bending length, that is, up to 8100 millimeters, and also of doubling the press force – and that adds up to 10,000 kilonewtons. In other words, the parts portfolio can be expanded significantly, because compared to any stand-alone machine in the 8000 series, the user can bend longer material.”

The tandem version comes as standard with a C-frame with a throat depth of 820 millimeters and a maximum distance between table and press beam of 820 millimeters. This, combined with the fact that the table width is a mere 140 millimeters despite the enormous bending forces, further increases bending flexibility and part variety. Of course, each machine can also be operated individually, for double the capacity with less setup work.

Rapid speed is also no problem in tandem operation

For safe operation in stand-alone mode, the two machines are separated from each other at the push of a button by a protective door. In tandem operation, the door moves back automatically, so that bending can take place along the entire length. To ensure maximum process reliability, the BendGuard safety systems of the two individual machines are connected to one another – so the entire bending length is directly under control on the tandem machine, enabling rapid speed even in connected operation. 

Surface-mounted version for easy installation

Installation of the tandem is uncomplicated because, unlike other large-format bending machines, it arrives as standard in the production hall as a surface-mounted version. Costs for elaborate machine foundations are no longer necessary. Instead, the two stand-alone machines are individually loaded from the truck and simply connected to each other. Here, the tandem partners are fixed together precisely using tensioning screws with fine threads. In addition, the machine tables are bolted using solid connecting elements – ensuring stability and accuracy during tandem operation for the best possible bending results.

Fewer tool changes for more productivity and part variety

With the TruBend Series 8000, high-quality bending is guaranteed by means of mechanical crowning with a precisely adjustable crowning curve. Thanks to the selective adjustment option of the crowning and precise synchronization of both machines, the tandem version offers bending results that are just as good as those of the stand-alone machine. The CNC-controlled crowning ensures constant angle accuracy along the entire bending length.

In contrast to the eight-meter-long stand-alone machine, the TruBend Series 8000 tandem version enables lower tool offset (I-axis) along the entire bending length. This allows a great variety of different bends, and also folds, using the same combination of upper and lower tools. The number of tool changes decreases, while productivity and part variety are both increased.

ToolShuttle – storage space for a full 60 meters of tools

For even more productivity on large-format TRUMPF machines, the ToolShuttle now offers a special storage system for upper and lower tools. Babette Kopp explains: “With the ToolShuttle, users are being given a tooling concept for heavy tools for the first time. It enables simple and ergonomic setup while minimizing setup and search times.” For TRUMPF bending machines in the 8000 Series weighing up to 600 tonnes, the ToolShuttle has room for up to 28 upper and 32 lower tool compartments – that adds up to total storage space for more than 60 meters of tools! In order to avoid tilting of offset tools, special storage compartments ensure correct support. Further storage space is provided by practical drawers in the lower part of the ToolShuttle.

Easy transportation of heavy tools – with the intelligent transfer unit

Via a moveable transfer unit with three tool holders at the top and bottom respectively, the tools are brought to the bending machine. This not only protects the operator’s back: if he equips the upper and lower transfer unit with new tools and moves them to the bending machine, he can also push the tools to be changed into one of the free tool holders at the same time. This means that he can equip and remove tools in just one operation. A useful additional option: The turning unit makes it possible to turn heavy and/or offset tools through 180 degrees without any effort at all.

Laser system manufacturer TRUMPF has opened a new technology and laser center in Santa Clara, California. Its location in Silicon Valley puts the laboratory close to key customers and partners from a wide range of industries, in particular companies from the consumer electronics and e-mobility sectors. “Our new application laboratory for laser processing, micro applications and coating technology places us firmly at the heart of the U.S. technology industry and brings us close to our customers and partners in this region,” says Peter Leibinger, Vice-Chairman of the Managing Board of the TRUMPF Group and head of the Laser Technology/Electronics division. “This means we can examine each customer’s individual requirements and ideas on site. Add to that our many years of experience, and we can identify the optimum process and the right laser or generator for each application.” The decision to establish a new technology and laser center in Silicon Valley highlights the importance TRUMPF places on the high-tech California region.

The Santa Clara application laboratory is equipped with cutting-edge technology, including continuous wave (CW) lasers, short and ultra-short pulsed lasers, and the very latest beam sources and generators. It joins the other U.S. application laboratories TRUMPF has located in Detroit, Michigan, and Farmington, Connecticut, further boosting the company’s ability to offer specialized expertise to customers on a local level.

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TRUMPF, the laser systems manufacturer and Industry 4.0 pioneer, is at the Formnext trade fair in Frankfurt to present its new 3D printers – TruPrint 3000 and TruPrint 5000. These medium format machines are based on laser metal fusion (LMF) technology, using lasers to generate complete parts layer by layer in a powder bed. These parts can measure up to 300 millimeters in diameter and 400 millimeters in height. With an ingenious tool change cylinder concept, which allows the construction chamber and supply cylinders to be switched out quickly, and an industry-ready periphery, these new machines are geared towards the large-scale production of complex metal parts. What’s more, with the TruPrint 3000, TRUMPF is putting the spotlight on the complete process chain for additive manufacturing.

The first link in the process chain is preparing the data for the 3D design and production program. With its “TruTops Print with NX” software package, TRUMPF is offering the first comprehensive software solution with a standardized user interface across systems. By doing so, TRUMPF now has industry-ready solutions that cover every aspect of additive manufacturing – from a practical powder feed that supplies the large internal powder container and additive manufacturing technology itself, to downstream tasks such as the unpacking and cleaning of the newly minted part. And the laser pioneer’s approach to additive manufacturing also addresses Industry 4.0 in a move to optimize business processes across the board. For instance, users can apply any of a variety of solutions to monitor, analyze and remotely adjust a wide range of condition parameters during the manufacturing process. Industry 4.0 solutions by TRUMPF are brought together under TruConnect; the name references connected manufacturing, which links machines, people and information.

High productivity thanks to minimum downtime
Both the TruPrint 3000 and TruPrint 5000 systems can be used to manufacture complex metal parts out of powder. Depending on the part in question, it may be made from any weldable material – such as various forms of steel, nickel-based alloys, titanium or aluminum – in powder form. Since the TruPrint 3000 is equipped with two supply cylinders, up to 75 liters of powder are available for each job, which is around two and a half times the construction volume – enough powder, in other words, to complete the entire manufacturing process without having to stop for refilling. And even if the powder were to run low, the ingenious tool change cylinder feature kicks in: the TruPrint 3000 is designed so that the supply and overflow cylinders can be changed out without interrupting the manufacturing process. This reduces downtimes while also increasing the 3D printer’s productivity.

Industrial powder and parts management
Among the decisive factors in any industry-ready, large-scale production process are system periphery and powder management. The automated sieve station by TRUMPF refines several hundred kilograms of powder every hour, thereby ensuring consistent powder quality. When it comes to powder, TRUMPF leaves nothing to chance: no matter whether it’s a question of grain size, grain-size distribution or flowability, developers working in a special lab determine the optimum parameters and test what laser output and process speed will maximize powder performance. Before the powder is delivered, TRUMPF performs an internal check to ensure it meets the customer’s quality requirements.

Once the manufacturing process is complete, the new parts then have to be removed from the machine, cleaned and detached from the substrate plate. This is why TRUMPF added an unpacking station to the production program, seamlessly integrated into the process chain. The covered construction chamber can be fitted directly into this station. Customers benefit from the higher machine availability that results from the external unpacking. Thanks to the station’s safety gloves and sight protection, users don’t come into direct contact with the powder during unpacking and cleaning. Excess material ends up back in the sieve station, ensuring a safe and sealed powder cycle.

New machine concept leads to enhanced productivity
And what about the next generation of 3D printers? TRUMPF is working on machine concepts to make additive processes still more productive. The TruPrint 5000 demonstrator on show at formnext is based on the multi-laser principle. It features three 500-watt TRUMPF lasers, which are simultaneously active at multiple points in the process chamber. This means they can generate parts in the construction cylinder faster and more efficiently.

Regardless of the number and geometry of the parts, they can be exposed to all three lasers in the construction chamber at the same time. The lasers are not limited to predefined areas, leading to faster build-up rates. Smart exposure strategies automatically determine the ideal laser paths so that all three lasers can always expose multiple parts. In addition, the lasers can be easily assigned to specific parts – the advantage being that the outer contours are produced, literally seamlessly, by a single laser. Thanks to its integrated preheating function that can go up to 500 degrees Celsius, the TruPrint 5000 also offers high part quality and meets the stringent manufacturing requirements for large-scale industrial production.

A high-precision fully automated machine, which takes care of the production itself – this is the new TruLaser Center 7030. It offers highly efficient, automated and synchronous processes from programming to sorted and stacked workpieces. The machine operates with a hybrid drive system to meet the high-level development goal: eliminating all of today’s process hurdles during laser cutting. These include, for example, stoppages due to collisions with tilting parts, microjoin rework, splashing on the underside of the parts, and high programming effort.

The TruLaser Center 7030 moves the sheet metal and the cutting head at the same time and replaces support strips with brushing tables. It can reliably discharge small parts and sort them into containers, dispose of residues and slag, collects, sorts and stacks larger parts at the same time in parallel. In addition, it loads itself on the smallest surface even with raw sheets, stacks residual lattice and is largely programmed automatically. Numerous new, innovative and patented detailed solutions contribute to the coherent overall concept. Heinz-Jürgen Prokop, Managing Director of Development and Purchasing in the TRUMPF Machine Tools Division: “We were increasingly attracted to our customers’ needs, which required solutions for a secure overall process. This was not possible with the established machine concepts, we had to think completely new. ”

High dynamics through additional axis of optics
The TruLaser 7030 Center works with a TruDisk solid-state laser with six kilowatts of laser power. In terms of cutting productivity, it is in no way inferior to today’s high-end machine with flying optics, although the sheet with its relatively high mass is precisely moved over the brush table in the Y direction. This is achieved by two approaches. The sheet – maximum large format with the dimensions 3000 mm x 1500 mm – is moved over the short side. And: The cutting optics, which travel mainly in the X direction, has an additional axis in the Y direction with a travel distance of ± 55 mm. Thus only small masses have to be accelerated in small contours, which allows a high dynamic.

Secure parts support through the mobile “SmartGate”
In a hybrid machine of the support table for the sheet must be divided below the traverse of the cutting head. This results in a gap through which the laser beam can escape downwards, through which slag, nozzles and cutting gas are sucked off. The TRUMPF developers have invented the SmartGate to prevent sheet metal contours and allow highly efficient extraction. Two slides move synchronously with the cutting head. They can vary their distance from one another in order to create differently sized passage openings. With two positive consequences: the sheet metal is reliably supported during the cutting process, while small parts with dimensions up to 160 x 160 mm can be ejected downwards at the same time.

In order to ensure maximum process reliability, a push-out cylinder is installed on the cutting head which ejects the sheet metal parts downwards. The TruTops Boost programming system calculates the ideal ejection point automatically as a function of the part contour. Since the slides form a counter-bearing which is parallel to the plate from below, the workpieces can not be tilted. Residues and slags fall directly into the car or are transported from the machine by a conveyor belt. Gut Sorts a retractable sorting switch, the SortMaster Box Linear distributes it to up to eight containers.

Process-safe removal of parts from the skeletons
for the automated removal of the remaining portions of the skeletons, the TRUMPF experts SmartLift with the components and SortMaster Speed developed an intelligent, completely new, and above all process-safe approach: The cut-away portions are positionable from below via free Pins of the SmartLift with a lifting movement lifted out of the residual lattice – a total of 180 pins, also known as pins, are available. Each one can lift a weight of up to ten kilograms. This results in a much higher force compared to today’s vacuum solutions. At the same time, the SortMaster Speed presses from the top with its suction pads and provides an exact linear guidance during lifting. This makes it possible to reliably prevent tilting in the cutting gap. The two telescopic arms of the SortMaster Speed are equipped with three suction pads each, and can store and stack parts on up to eight Europalettes with a total area of 1.6 by 4.8 meters.

Only minimal cutting interruptions
The optimal positions of pins and suckers calculated TruTops Boost also automatically. This means that both very large and smaller parts can be taken up to check card size. Even complicated or very filigree geometries, which until now have been considered as non-removable, are raised safely and without additional programming effort from the sheet metal. The strategies for removing and cutting the parts are coordinated with each other in such a way that the machine cuts during transport.

Area productivity is now an important decision criterion. An order for the developers of the TruLaser Center 7030 was therefore: Space saving. This is achieved by means of a solution, which includes the transport route of the production hall at times. The machine has three drawer-type carts which can be driven out electrically to the aisle. In the middle carriages, pallets with raw metal stacks of up to 130 mm in height with a maximum weight of three tonnes can be inserted from the aisle. In the same way, there is a carriage for a residual lattice stack with a height of up to 250 mm and a carriage which carries the pallets with cut parts out of the machine. The separation, lifting and loading of the blanking plates into the clamping claws takes place automatically and parallel to the unloading of the residual lattice.
Programming in a single step

the various possibilities and the synchronous interaction of the individual processes have a substantially fully automated programming indispensable. The TruLaser Center 7030 works almost as easily as a printer in the office. If you send a document with the appropriate job data – geometries, number of pieces, material types, sheet thickness – finished parts are sorted and stacked according to order. This includes the boxing of the parts on the sheet, the allocation of the cutting technologies, the removal strategies and the placing of the cut parts on the storage surfaces or the discharge into the containers.
SmartGate, push-out cylinder, pins, sorting switch and SortMaster Speed do not have to be programmed individually. Simulations running in the background take into account the properties of part geometry and material and thus ensure an optimal calculation result. They are supported by the clear order management of the TruTops Boost programming software. Programming is thus carried out in a single step and largely automatically, whereby the programmer can interactively adapt any proposal.
Consistently on the future oriented

The TruLaserCenter 7030 is able to operate over long periods independently and without operator intervention. This and the equipment with all necessary interfaces and functions makes it an ideal industrial 4.0 machine. Many TruConnect solutions can be used directly: The Performance Cockpit provides an overview of relevant production data. The Dot Matrix Code supports the networking of different processing technologies and creates transparency in the traceability of parts. The MobileControl app reduces the operator’s already very small presence time by remote control to a minimum.
With the TruLaser Center 7030, TRUMPF is a manufacturer of sheet metal pallets from all industries that cut sheets with a thickness of one to twelve millimeters thick. The fully automated laser cutting machine can be used in a single layer. With a utilization of two layers, the processing costs decrease by up to 30 percent compared to automated standard machines with solid state lasers. Heinz-Jürgen Prokop summarized: “TRUMPF has always strived to define the state of the art in its core work areas and to provide its customers with competitive advantages. The TruLaser Center 7030 is another proof. “

The laser system manufacturer TRUMPF has made extensive changes to the second generation of its hot forming machine TruLaser Cell 8030th At the trade fair Euro plate in Hanover, the company shows new features that enable the productivity of the plant can be increased by up to 20 percent. Other issues of significance is the so-called x-blast technology that can be machine downtimes and collisions between the cutting nozzle and the workpiece significantly reduced. Main fields of application of the revised TruLaser Cell 8030 is to continue the laser cutting of hot-formed 3D components as they are primarily in the automotive industry.

Fewer collisions thanks to larger nozzle spacing
The innovative x-Blast technology TRUMPF is a trick succeeded: In order to achieve good cutting quality, installed at the processing optic cutting nozzle had been as close as possible to act on the workpiece. The closer the nozzle, however, moves to the workpiece, the greater the risk of contact during the cutting process. And after each contact, the machine stops once, the productivity of the system can be sensitive to fall.

The new x-Blast technology, the working distance between the nozzle and the workpiece can now almost doubled. This reduces the number of nozzles contacts with the component significantly – and that in turn leads to considerably less machine downtime and at the same time to increased productivity. Since it comes with the x-Blast technology to less contacts also the lifetime of a cutting nozzle tenfold increased. Or in other words around: For the customers have to pay only 20 percent of the original cost of cutting nozzles.

Another advantage of the new technology: The process bandwidth doubled. Even with critical 3D geometries, in which the laser has to work under difficult process conditions, the TruLaser Cell 8030 can now cut the component quickly and in very high quality thanks to x-blast technology. With an ever-increasing proportion of automated machines in production, the advantages of x-Blast technology provide the ideal basis for a stable and reproducible component quality.

New functions for more convenience
Advanced TRUMPF has also its optical Butzenerkennung for quality control, called ObserveLine Comfort. It recognizes Schneidbutzen reliably and thereby increases production reliability. Problems caused by the plant operator collisions with trees or component can affect the machine accuracy. With the new feature ObserveLine Professional helps ensure this accuracy over a variably adjustable inspection interval. If the customer wants his machine, for example, at every hundredth component check succeeds – allocated to the individual component – in as low as 0.02 seconds. Thus ObserveLine Professional works almost at neutral and causes no noticeable delay in the production.

The new feature also provides Smart Approach especially when partial trimming of the workpiece improvements. Smart Approach determined accurately and quickly the actual height of the component edge; the laser fires the beam before he stands above the workpiece, and then moves the cutting contour from quickly. Smart Approach increases the productivity of the plant by up to nine percent. Another eleven percent coming from the dynamic drives. TRUMPF has readjusted and optimized the mechanical components at critical points and thus reaches the maximum acceleration of the drives now much faster than before. Overall, the productivity of the TruLaser Cell 8030 increases the 3D cutting of hot-formed components by up to 20 percent. Which laser is used for 3D cutting, can be selected flexibly depending on customer and application requirements. The TruLaser Cell 8030 is available with the proven TRUMPF disk lasers TruDisk 2000 TruDisk 3001 and TruDisk 4001 with two respectively three or four kilowatts of laser power.

Getting started with laser welding is now easier than ever before thanks to tolerant laser welding with the FusionLine technology and the production launch package. New design and software components have made operation even simpler.

Laser welding offers numerous advantages over conventional techniques: better weld quality, a robust bond and faster processing times. Right on time for Euroblech 2016, TRUMPF will be showcasing the TruLaser Weld 5000, a new laser welding cell that greatly simplifies the laser welding process for experts and beginners alike. This is thanks to the FusionLine option, which makes tolerant laser welding possible. It’s a laser welding process using welding wire supply that allows for the welding of components having gaps. Customers can also benefit from TRUMPF’s expertise with the production launch package: on request, TRUMPF experts will assist the user in starting up production for the first series part.

FusionLine – tolerant laser welding
Laser welding is known for its perfect results and high-quality visible seams. However, preparing components for laser welding calls for specific expertise. There ought to be as little tolerance as possible in the design – or at least that is how things were in the past. Now, FusionLine offers an ideal complementary technology that helps users get started. FusionLine makes it possible to compensate for component imperfections in the welding process and even to close gaps of up to 1millimeter in breadth. At the same time, the welding seam results and processing times offered by FusionLine significantly outperform those of components processed using conventional welding techniques. This means that users can take advantage of the perfect combination of laser beam guidance, optics and a weld feed system to perform cost-effective laser welding operations even if their component portfolio is not optimized for laser welding. It is now possible to laser weld an array of parts developed for conventional welding without having to modify them specifically for the purpose. This enables users to manufacture parts true to the drawing, and also more kinds of parts than before.

What is more, customers retain full flexibility. They are free to switch between FusionLine and the conventional laser welding techniques of heat conduction and deep welding with no need to reset the machine. That way, they can manufacture one series of components that isn’t worth modifying for laser welding using FusionLine, then manufacture a subsequent series using heat conduction or deep welding. Users can also switch between techniques on the same component. This allows them to laser weld more components than before, and to make fuller use of their laser welding unit.

Help getting started from TRUMPF experts
Those just getting into laser welding can cut their learning time on the new machine by calling on the support of TRUMPF experts to get started with production. Users consult with a TRUMPF application advisor to choose an example component that will be used to play through the start-up process.

In the course of a three-day workshop either at the customer’s own site or at TRUMPF, users first learn the basics of laser welding and fixture design. This knowledge is then put into practice on the example component they have selected. TRUMPF then designs the fixture while users apply the principles they have learned to create the component in their CAD system. Once the new machine has entered service, a TRUMPF application engineer runs in the component together with the customer. The TRUMPF expert will set up the program and optimize the parameters for the best results. This means that users can see at first hand which principles are important – with reference to a real production component. Plus, the machine is operating productively from the moment it enters service.

Faster welding times thanks to rotary module for shield gas guidance
Shield gas is used in laser welding to ensure as oxide-free a weld as possible. Before, the shield gas has been applied via a four-finger nozzle fixed to the processing optics. This meant that the whole laser head had to turn whenever there was a change in orientation. Thanks to the rotary module, the new TruLaser Weld 5000 features a movable nozzle that rotates around the optics. The result is faster welding times, since the robot does not have to reorient itself as much. This also simplifies programming and fixture design.

Status monitor and production screen for better overview
As well as offering a camera view of the work area, the new status monitor also supplies further information about the production status, including the remaining time, the current production program and the quantity of components manufactured. This gives sheet metal operators the most important indicators at a glance.

The TRUMPF production screen provides operators with an additional control option. It enables users to perform simple tasks such as selecting an existing processing program from the TRUMPF control – even if they have no programming knowledge. In other words, operators require far less knowledge of KUKA control technology in order to launch an existing program. On top of this, the production screen also displays the active program, the remaining time and quantity of components manufactured similarly to the status monitor.

Cube design and other hardware innovations
The design of the TruLaser Weld 5000 departs from its predecessor in various aspects. This version of TRUMPF’s laser welding cell features the striking cube design. It also comes with a swiveling support arm for the control panel, which contributes to ergonomic working and improved handling. On the exterior, TRUMPF has now fitted the TruLaser Weld 5000 with a status light, as successfully employed in the TruLaser Cell. These lights provide an immediate assessment of the machine’s status. A continuous blue light, for instance, indicates that the machine is in teaching mode. Bigger windows provide a better view into the safety cabin, and on the interior there are new approaches to lighting and suction.
The laser welding unit operates using a TRUMPF TruDisk laser that can also power other machines such as a 2D laser machine. In this sort of laser network, several machines share a single laser – which can significantly reduce the initial investment costs in a new machine.