After sixty years of experience in the processing and cutting of tubes and profiles, almost thirty years of experience in laser cutting and more than 3,000 Lasertube systems installed all over the world, the BLM GROUP moves once again to the side of the users into analyze the subjects that characterize the laser cutting of tubes and profiles. Over 20,000 hours of design, testing and trials in which for every problem an innovative solution was found, for each requirement an efficient answer and all this was implemented in the new Lasertube LT7.
It is a new generation of Lasertube; the one with the greatest features. Ever.
The broadest field of use
The LT7 works in 2D or 3D, tubes from 12mm to 152mm (0.47” to 5.98”) in diameter, lengths of 6.5 or 8.5 meters (21.3’ to 27.9’). The 3kW fiber laser source ensures an extremely broad field of use in terms of materials and thicknesses that can be processed. Soft steel, stainless steel, aluminium, copper and brass are cut with, once again, surprising speed.
An unmatched system in productivity and efficiency.
The cutting technology has evolved with new devices and sensors that adapt each process to the conditions of the material in order to always maintain the highest cutting speed.
The mechanical rigidity of the entire system allows for higher accelerations in all conditions without compromising the precision of the processing.
Manipulation is enriched with solutions that underline the high dynamics of the axis.
Bar changes are the fastest ever.
The result of all these advantages? A number of pieces in the container that has never been seen before and the lowest cost per piece ever.
Also available within the LT7 are the Active Tool features that enrich the Lasertube offering from the BLM GROUP. Active Piercing automatically controls and optimizes the drilling stage and Active Speed automatically modulates the cutting parameters according to a number of factors in order to maintain optimal cutting quality. Active Scan helps to compensate imperfections in the material. Active Focus increases the strength and reliability of the cutting process. Active Marking allows marking individual components with identifying texts that can be programmed on the machine itself. Active Weld improves the identification of tube welding and the management of the cut near welds.
Already at birth, the LT7 is the most comprehensive and advanced lasertube system in the market, making it the new reference in laser processing of tubes.
LT-FREE is the 5-axis laser cutting system that the BLM GROUP developed to offer maximum operating flexibility and ease of use in the laser cutting of bent tubes, flat and moulded sheet metal, hydroformed components and welded assemblies. A few technical innovations make the system even more powerful and efficient.
The true innovation of this versatile system is the new 3D graphic programming software Artcut. Artcut allows off-line programming and simulation of the LT‑FREE work cycle thus reducing times and costs of production and allowing the system to work 24/7.
Programming with the new Artcut software is simple, fast and suitable for any 3D piece.
Artcut allows you to work on your 3D cutting system model, complete with all of the components you acquired. Each component is visible in a realistic fashion; it is possible to drag objects with drag&drop and a series of available additional graphic supports make programming a simple and intuitive experience.
With off-line programming you also have all the time you need to program, simulate, make quotes, quantify the times and costs without having to stop the machine.
This means that you have the time for an accurate programming and the assurance of continued production 24/7.
Artcut also helps with the correction of the trajectories of the axis in order to avoid collisions of the head with the piece or other elements of the machine. Thanks to the collision resolution algorithm, Artcut autonomously resolves collisions.
Artcut makes the use of this 5-axis laser cutting system very fast and easy, eliminating its operating limits and allowing it to be used in very different application, from prototyping up to production in series, in sectors such as the automotive, aerospace, motorcycles, appliances, HVAC, furniture or in light carpentries working with tubes and assemblies.
Using a fibre laser source of 1 and 3 kW grants LT-FREE the ability to cut a very wide range of materials with low power consumptions and low maintenance costs.
In order to meet any specific requirement, four different system configurations are available:
- ENTRY LEVEL is the configuration dedicated to prototyping and job shops that work in small production volumes. The system is equipped with a single table to which the workpieces should be attached. When the quality of the work and the simplicity of use are more important than the production times, this is clearly the most interesting configuration.
- PIECE VALUE is the system intended for mass production, typically in the automotive sector. Applications that don’t have frequent need for retooling, but require high productivity can find in this rotating table configuration the ideal solution.
- MID-FLEX is the configuration adapted for those that have small size pieces with some extra requirements in terms of productivity, the two translating tables that operate in separate workstations allow optimizing the cycle times executing the loading/unloading operations in background.
- HIGH FLEX is the most comprehensive, versatile and powerful configuration, with two independent and robotic tables that ensure the maximum level of flexibility. In addition to sheet metal and mechanical assemblies, this system is capable of working with precision and efficiency in curved or hydroformed tubes that, during processing, can be held in position by the robot without requiring complex equipment.
In the HIGH FLEX and PIECE VALUE versions it is also available the Bin Picking system, a powerful loading/unloading station that allows the LT-FREE system to work in complete autonomy.
With the help of a precise vision system, it is capable of identifying the single pieces inside a container where the pieces to be processed are stored, collect one, via an external anthropomorphic robot, and deposit it on the work table of the LT-FREE system, ready for processing. The cycle is concluded with the collection from that same work table of the previously processed piece, which is placed in another container for the storage of finished pieces.
More generally, the presence of an external loading robot offers multiple opportunities to customize the loading-unloading system of the LT-FREE system with automatic solutions that include the possible interconnection with other BLM GROUP systems. It is possible, for example, to assume that the robot, placed on a liner conveyor, can collect the piece directly unloading it on a tube bender or collecting it from an interconnecting conveyor belt to take it to the LT-FREE system.
All in a continuous cycle operating process 24/7, capable of ensuring fixed work times and, therefore, constant productivity at known costs.