Laser cutting of plastic parts using a robotic arm

17. 5. 2024

The combination of the laser with the deflection head and the robotic arm creates an interesting multi-purpose system. Among other things, it can be used for very efficient trimming of specific parts of plastic parts. The result is a clean and fast material cut with high repeatability.

We were approached by a plastic parts company to trim specific parts.

A laser, in this case a CO2 laser, in combination with a robotic arm is an excellent tool for cutting off sprues or overlaps in plastic parts as well as cutting out complete geometries.

The robotic arm is used here for the basic manipulation of the part, in particular its correct rotation to the laser and its displacement to the correct focusing distance. Faster beam movements on the part creating cutting contours are then performed by a laser scanning head with significantly better dynamics and a working area of approx. 100×100 mm. The application thus requires programming the path of both the robotic arm and the laser beam itself.

Because the laser with the scanning head has a larger focal length in the order of a few hundred mm, it can cut even in recesses of the part that would be difficult to reach with a standard process head.

The laser cutting speed depends on the type and thickness of the material and the laser power used. Higher powers allow faster cutting through the material, where the shorter time of the material with the beam reduces parasitic effects of the process such as melting or other material degradation.

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