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.

The TRUMPF Group increased its income significantly in the fiscal year 2013/14. Earnings before taxes rose by 61.2% to 248 million euros (previous year: 154 million euros). This was announced by the company at its annual press conference in Ditzingen.

One reason for the significantly higher result is an increase in revenues. During the 2013/14 fiscal year TRUMPF realized a total of 2.587 billion euros – the highest figure in the more than 90-year history of the company. Compared to the previous year’s sales of 2.343 billion euros, this represents an increase of 10.4%. “Even more important for our higher earnings, however, are several broadly-based yield and productivity enhancement programs, thanks to which we were much more efficient over the past year and a half,” said TRUMPF President Dr. Nicola Leibinger-Kammüller at the annual press conference. The company’s return on sales improved from 6.6% to 9.6%.

The sales figures also include various acquisitions by TRUMPF for the first time. “Over the past fiscal year we have strengthened our company at strategically important points by means of acquisitions,” said Dr. Nicola Leibinger-Kammüller. “However, even if one deducts these special effects, sales have still exceeded the two and a half-billion-euro mark for the first time.” The largest acquisition in the past fiscal year was a majority stake in the Chinese machine tool manufacturer Jiangsu Jinfangyuan CNC Machine Company Ltd. (JFY).

In the new financial year of 2014/15 TRUMPF will continue to strengthen itself in key markets and key future technologies by means of acquisitions. At the press conference, the company announced two more of these: TRUMPF has acquired a majority stake of 51% in the Indian software manufacturer India Metamation Software Pvt. Ltd. (IMM), based in Chennai, as well as an interest in its American subsidiary Metamation Inc. (USMM), based in Reno, Nevada. The company ranks as one of the world’s leading manufacturers of software for machine tools.

In addition, TRUMPF acquires a majority stake of 80% in its longstanding trading partner in Turkey, the company KOZ Makina Sanayi ve Dış Ticaret A.Ş. With the purchase of KOZ, TRUMPF is strengthening its presence in an extremely dynamic emerging economy which is also important throughout the entire region.

In the 2013/14 fiscal year, TRUMPF’s order intake rose by 16% to 2.70 billion euros (previous year: 2.33 billion euros). Due to recruitment of new personnel and the recent acquisitions, the number of employees rose: On June 30, TRUMPF employed 10,914 people worldwide – 10% more than the previous year.

The new TruLaser Tube 5000, built by TRUMPF, is a high-productivity, all-round machine to cut tubes with a laser beam. It offers a wealth of innovations. These make the unit even more economical and, in addition, expand its field of application.

A single tool that eliminates four separate procedures. Laser cutting has made this possible, for some time now, in shops that process pipes and tubes. TRUMPF is now presenting the next generation of the TruLaser Tube 5000 at the Tube trade show in Düsseldorf. This machine is based on a time-tested concept and, with its many innovations, makes the first steps into the field of laser tube cutting easy. And it once again boosts profitability. The user enjoys two decisive benefits. On the one hand, the TruLaser Tube 5000 substitutes for four conventional manufacturing procedures: sawing, drilling, milling and deburring. That slashes the amount of organizational effort needed. But this concept also expands design latitude when compared with earlier processes. In the laser cutting systems built by TRUMPF, the lasers themselves, beam guidance, mechanical components, software and automation equipment all stem from the same development setting. This makes sure that all the details of the machine’s central components are fully coordinated one with another, right down to the last detail.

Precise and highly productive
The TruLaser Tube 5000 cuts tubes with walls up to eight millimeters thick and outer circles of up to 152 millimeters in diameter. Thanks to the increased axial speeds and optimized production procedures, the current model is even more productive than the previous machine. The new cutting head with its focal length of 155 millimeters also slices through all the approved gauges. The cutting head need not be changed out, even if the machine works a different material. FocusLine takes care of automatic adjustment of the focal position. This minimizes the time required for set-up.

To achieve the best results in processing, it is important that the tubes and profiles being machined are kept in position, both tightly and without damaging the material. This is taken care of in the TruLaser Tube 5000 by a clamping system incorporating conical rollers and used during both manual and automatic loading. The shape of the rollers automatically centers the tubes and profiles and puts them in the correct position. Here the stress at the point of contact is kept small, because even in rectangular or square tubes, contact is at the outside radius, i.e. at the corners of the profile. A new measurement system monitors the clamping force and the position of the clamping jaws. This increases the accuracy of the holding technique and boosts process reliability when automation is implemented. Along with square, rectangular and oval tubes, the TruLaser Tube 5000 with the optional adaptive clamping method can also handle additional unusual shapes.

Ergonomic and user-friendly
The concept behind the TruLaser Tube 5000 is consistently aligned with utility to the operator. User-friendliness is also in the foreground of the open design. This ensures enhanced accessibility to the working spaces. This will, for example, simplify manual loading if the machine is to make up a single piece from time to time. Control of the machine is carried out easily at a large, pivoted, 17-inch touchscreen. All the important views and elevations can be called up quickly and easily at the clearly organized user interface. TRUMPF developed this GUI especially for laser tube cutting machines.

To permit automated production, the system can be fitted with the LoadMaster Tube loading unit. The input material rests in a bundle space that can be refilled simultaneous to machine operation. Departing that storage area, the tubes pass singly to a conveyor belt. There four grippers lift them and prepare them for loading in the machine. Here the tubing is measured precisely, so that it is in the correct position when passed to the machine. The machine is unloaded via a part removal station. The finished components either pass through a chute into a container or, optionally, can be discharged onto a table fitted with a conveyor belt, at a height convenient for the machine operator to remove them.

The new SortMaster is the perfect companion to the 2D laser machines in the TruLaser Series 5000, which TRUMPF introduced in Stuttgart at the Blechexpo 2013. The flexible and productive TruLaser 5030 can handle every cutting assignment. Simultaneous to the machining itself, the SortMaster removes the parts, weighing up to 100 kilograms and cut from the sheet metal panel, which rests on the pallet changer. The parts are then sorted and stacked. To do this, it uses an array of 144 individually controllable large-surface suction cups, mounted on extendable spreading slats which can match a variety of contours up to 1,000 by 600 millimeters. An additional gripper also lets the SortMaster remove larger parts, up to 1,000 by 1,500 millimeters in size. By sorting and stacking the parts, the SortMaster achieves optimal preparation for subsequent processing – like bending.

A Perfect Match

With axis velocities up to 11 per cent higher than its predecessor, the new SortMaster reduces cycle times. It matches the greater speeds of TRUMPF laser machines with their high output levels. This is important, since faster machines can enhance productivity only when downtime is reduced as well. Should it ever be necessary, a vibrator on the lifting unit ensures that the part is effectively separated from the scrap skeleton. This boosts process reliability. To protect the material when moving the parts, the SortMaster uses brushes to clean the gripper and slats regularly.

When combined with a LiftMaster Sort, LiftMaster Store, LiftMaster Linear or LiftMaster Store Linear, the SortMaster makes for fully automatic operation at almost all TRUMPF TruLaser machines.

Image Courtesy: Trumpf