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LT7

At Tube & Wire 2018 BLM GROUP will present LT7, the result of years of investment in technological research, and the development of innovative software and hardware solutions. It is unquestionably the new benchmark for tube laser systems.

LT7 machines tubes from 12 to 152 mm diameter up to 23 kg/m bar weight ensuring excellent performance in the whole tube processing. From the smallest to the largest tube, all adjustments are automatic. Sections with open profiles, L and U, and flat bars are considered part of standard machining and are processed in a fully automatic mode.

The 3kW fiber laser source allows great flexibility of thicknesses and materials, from 12 mm of mild steel to 4 mm of brass.

3D machining completes the framework of this extremely flexible system able to manage the most different applications.

Productivity, quality and accuracy, flexibility and automatisms, ease of use, for each of these aspects the LT7 has advanced solutions that fear no comparisons.

Production rate

The incredibly rapid machining speed is only one of the characteristics that make the LT7 system a real champion of productivity. Experience has shown that a Lasertube system should not be measured in meters per second, but instead in parts produced and it is exactly here that LT7 shows all its potentialities, thanks to the solutions implemented to manipulate the tube in all process phases.

For example, because of the speed of the scimitar bar change system, together with a fully automatic section change also for special sections, excellent productivity can be obtained even in the case of very diversified productions.

The result is found at the end of a working day when parts produced are counted, that LT7 has produced more parts than the other systems.

Quality and accuracy

Machining line of the LT7 system is a combination of technological solutions able to ensure maximum quality in any situation.

Between the spindle and the steady rest, the supports driven by controlled axes are equipped with rollers and self-adjusting templates to ensure optimum support both for small and light tubes and for large and heavy tubes. Downstream of the cutting area the tube is supported by the unloading table, which is also equipped with rollers for side containment, that follows the position vertically thus ensuring a steady and efficient support. Steadiness of tube during machining is source of quality and accuracy of cut. The tube surface is always protected in every phase, from loading to unloading and is never dropped.

Active Tools and a database of cutting parameters are the elements that characterize performance in terms of quality and accuracy of all the Lasertube systems and are all present in the LT7 system.

Flexibility and automatisms

Flexibility is to carry out 3D machining on small tubes as well. The TubeCutter head, with autofocus, specifically designed by BLM GROUP for tube processing is particularly suitable for 3D machining and is one of the most interesting features of LT7 considering its dimensional range.

On the other side, loading and unloading of the LT7 system are examples of unmatched flexibility for this class of machine. On the rear side, to ensure maximum reliability the bundle loading system with pushers has been integrated with a chain loading surface that can be easily interfaced with automatic bar handling systems. On the front side, a wide access to the machining line facilitates manual loading of a single tube to be eventually machined in semi-automatic cycle. Flexibility deriving from the use of auxiliary chains for loading the double loader is undoubtedly reflected on productivity as preparing the next processing on the second loader, while the machine is completing the previous tube bundles, means saving valuable time and producing more parts.

Cut parts, always separated from scraps, are loaded indifferently on front or rear side and deposited on accumulation carriages that receive parts carefully without dropping or dragging them.

Ease of use

The graphic interface, designed according to ergonomic criteria, is extremely clear and easy to use and only a few intuitive operations are necessary to start a new production.

Programming is carried out by the powerful CAD/CAM, Artube which simplifies operations that have required years of experience in field to be developed. With Artube, transformation of a complex frame into machine programs for the LT7 systems is carried out in few seconds.

In the end, the Active Tools are functions that make operations on machine extremely simple. Just think about how much experience would be necessary to properly set drilling parameters that are automatically managed by Active Piercing or to find out cutting parameters in areas where speed slows down as Active Speed performs automatically in function of the instantaneous machining speed. Active Marking marks a part in a rapid and effective way according to parameters and Active Focus automatically and safely adjusts focus point position.

Integration/Interconnection

LT7, as with all BLM GROUP Lasertube systems can be used in connection with a BLM GROUP bending solution to create an All-In-One system. Integration among production systems, with the exchange of technical information to obtain the realization of a cut or bent part from the first time, is a characteristics of BLM GROUP.

ProTube Enterprise is the MES package developed to plan and monitor production of BLM GROUP systems and in general to interconnect these systems with the company ERP.

The LT7 exploits all potentialities of the software suite BLMelements, together with applications that assist the user in the use of the Lasertube systems.

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