GB2581378A

GB2581378A - Laser cutting sheet/material support system

Info

Publication number: GB2581378A
Application number: GB1902080.9A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Crease Philip; Hanbury Robert
Original assignee: Hanbury Autogil Ltd
Current assignee: Hanbury Autogil Ltd
Priority date: 2019-02-15
Filing date: 2019-02-15
Publication date: 2020-08-19
Also published as: GB201902080D0

Abstract

A metal sheet support system comprising of two hollow beams 2 where each beam has an opening, jet or nozzle 6 at an upper face to allow air to escape from inside the beam. The air acts as a cushion underneath material 1 that may be cut with a laser. The material may be a metal sheet or foil and may be stored on a roll or coil prior to cutting. Tensioning rollers Fig 1, 3 may be provided before and after the laser cutter to ensure the sheet is pulled taut whilst it is cut. Waste particles may be caught in a chute or hopper Fig 1, 7

Description

Laser Cutting Sheet / Material Support System Hanbury Autogil have designed a laser cutting machine to laser cut metallic materials 0.5 to 0.05mm thick.

To allow accurate cutting of these materials, the sheet to be cut is tensioned across two DOF bars (bars) to accurately locate the surface of the sheet. The sheet is un-supported in the area where it is to be cut.

This invention relates to accurately positioning a material in a flat plane of a laser cutting machine, the material is to be laser cut.

Sheet materials can be flat and uniform but often have rippled edges or bellied middles, this can make accurate or consistent cutting with a laser difficult. To improve the cutting process this invention uses bars to accurately position the sheet to be cut and a tensioning system to pull the sheet tight and keep the sheet uniformly flat within the depth of field of the laser.

Many methods of laser cutting thin sheets are to support the sheets on pins, honey combe sheets or bent strips of metal on their edges on which the sheet to be cut rests. All of these methods may not allow effective or consistently good cutting, on a continuously running or automated process, as the thinness of the sheet material would cause the sheet to be welded to the support system at each point where the cut profile and support cross. This invention removes the need for a support system by using the bars and tensioning the sheet.

Tension in the sheet can be created by using rollers, although the tension may also be created by grippers and levers.

The invention will now be described solely by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 shows the sheet material supported across two beams, tensioned by rollers Figure 2 shows the material being transported across the support bars using an air cushion In Figure 1, a sheet of material (1) is suspended across two beams (2) to position the material accurately and so that its position does not vary greatly when passed across by the cutting laser (4) in the cutting area (5). The sheet material (1) has a tension applied to it by two pairs of rollers (3) creating a taught flat surface in the cutting area (5) waste materials once cut from the sheet fall-out from the cut area (7). Item 4 shows an indication of the laser beam used to cut shapes into the sheet or cut shapes out of the sheet (1).

In Figure 2, the support beam (2) is shown with the sheet material (1) being supported on an air cushion (6) blown or pumped through apertures on the top face of the support bar (2) the beam can be hollow or solid.