Laser Printer Accurately Cuts Many Materials

For years, companies have used laser printers to produce quick, high-resolution copies of word documents and images. At Omnica, laser printing could refer to that mature technology, or a relatively new one, which doesn’t print on paper at all. Here we have a printer which uses a 60-watt carbon-dioxide laser to cut a variety of materials like wood, plastic, rubber, or acrylic, and engrave metal or glass.

The laser cutter is easy to program and operate.

We use an off-the-shelf graphic software program (Corel Draw) to create the design or cutting path (a drawing like a font, line art, or a picture). Next, the user specifies the laser settings like cutting speed and laser power. The parameters are based on the type of material (and depth) to be cut. For instance, thin silicone is lot easier to cut than a piece of half-inch acrylic. That file is exported to the laser cutter using the same print dialog box that gives the user access all the rest of our usual in-house paper printers.  

A good example of how this machine benefits our customers occurred just two weeks ago. 

A client we had been working for received their 510-K notifying them that they could begin selling their device, an oxygen concentrator. The hold-up was 100 silicone gaskets (see picture at left) that needed to be cut and installed in the integrated plastic manifold. A project like this usually requires fabrication of a steel rule die so the parts can be stamped and precisely cut. If everything went right, with no modifications to the tool, it would take a week and a half before the parts could be delivered. The traditional method wasn’t going to be quick enough.  

Fast turn-around with the laser printer.

We received the bulk silicone sheets on a Monday, laser-cut the parts on Tuesday, and shipped them that day for delivery on Wednesday. We saved our clients thousands of dollars in time savings and the cost of a die. The bottom line is that we completed the project at least a week ahead of schedule.

Not all of our projects are on a tight time line (most, not all), but we still try
to keep the product development process moving at a brisk rate. The laser cutter is especially good for prototyping different configurations of items like circuit boards for fit testing testing. When Andy March was finishing the ID for a flashlight project he was working on, there was a question of the optimum PC board size for the design. He was able to cut different layout variations (from ABS) with the laser printer, have our electronics department mount the components, and test them in the actual flashlight body. Later, our EEs had the real boards made, and everything fit just fine. 

The picture above shows the prototype board (at bottom), 
the production board with batteries installed, and the complete flashlight.  

Technology keeps moving forward and becoming more affordable. 

The print quality of a paper laser printer was amazing in its time, and now we are using a CO2 laser beam to cut an array of dissimilar materials quickly and accurately. What’s next, a 3D printer? Have we told you about our FDM machine?

To learn more about our capabilities, and what we can do for you, visit www.omnica.com