Highend audio equipment accessory, the aim being product branding of the connector by laser marking. The main body being finished with a very thin polymer coated surface.
The fiber laser pulsing at a very low level, removes the coating, to expose the base material surface. Due to the pulse mode and power levels, the removal of the plastic takes place with very little impact on the base materials. Care has to be taken, to ensure that the top coat is removed without introducing too much heat. The plastic coating will discolour if too much heat is absorbed. Because the fiber can be run at very high speed, we can remove materials by skimming, so that heat absorption is minimised. The mark dimensions are less than 16 mm long, and about 3 -4 mm high. In some cases, it is worth facilitating a second, very low power, pass from the laser. This will tend to remove any discolouring, created during the initial top coat removal. The pass can be processed at very high speed, and has little impact on the price.
The combined precision of the beam placement along with our tooling design, means the part and mark are precisely aligned every time we set up a new batch of parts. Tooling design uses a cross slot and dowel locating system, while jigging is specifically designed to accommodate both simple and complex shapes as required. The operating software holds positional data, so that the laser and tooling are aligned.
If you would like further information on this laser application, or any other application, please request a call back or talk to one of our laser marking specialists on 01737 826902.