Jeans laser marking & engaraving graphic/Jeans marcação a laser e engara...

Nearly 70 exhibitors and more than 800 laser-industry experts, advocates and practitioners attended the inaugural Lasers for Manufacturing Event presented by the Laser Institute of America. Attendees came from as far away as Russia, Japan, Egypt, Korea and Turkey.





CO2 lasers are regularly used to mark denim blue jeans. Laser engraving can produce a dramatic contrast depending on the color of the denim.www.kitelaser.com



After attending the inaugural Lasers for Manufacturing Event (LME), presented by the Laser Institute of America, I will never look at designer jeans the same way again. For it was at the LME, held Sept. 27-28, that I learned the secret of creating jeans with graphics on them: lasers.



During his presentation on Laser Types Used in Manufacturing, Tom Kugler, fiber systems manager for Laser Mech, noted that CO2 lasers are regularly used to mark denim blue jeans. Laser engraving can produce a dramatic contrast depending on the color of the denim. He says that some clothing manufacturers use lasers to create "stone-washed" and "whisker" effects on denim jeans.



Following this presentation, I walked onto the trade show floor and into the booth of Coherent Inc., one of the largest producers of CO2 lasers in the world. In the center of the booth was a glass case, and within the case were samples of materials that could be laser-marked.



The marked denim example caught my eye and that of other show attendees, who were just as interested as I about the process of engraving jeans. Pete Peterson, staff market development manager, explained that a sealed CO2 laser was used to create the graphic on the denim.



Peterson says that the laser was directed into a scanner-based marking system that burned dye from the denim at a speed of several meters per second. He also says laser marking provides superior reproducibility and maintains material quality better than conventional marking methods such as bleaching and stone-washing.





Tom Kugler, fiber systems manager for Laser Mech, presented “Laser Types Used in Manufacturing” on the opening day of the Lasers for Manufacturing Event. Photo by Jim Camillo

“This show is helping to improve American competitiveness and it’s educating people on the technology they need,” says LIA Executive Director Peter Baker. He says LME drew nearly 70 exhibitors and more than 800 laser-industry experts, advocates and practitioners from the USA and other countries, including Russia, Japan, Egypt, Korea and Turkey.



Gus Anibarro, LIA’s education director, says LME is unique because it’s just about the latest in lasers-unlike the association’s annual CALIO event for laser research and its biennial laser safety conference. Anibarro says next year’s LME will take place Oct. 23-24 and feature live equipment demonstrations.



Anibarro noted some trends in laser technology, including femtosecond lasers. This type of laser produces an extremely fine beam, one that is much smaller than a nanosecond laser. The beam does not put heat into any plastic or metal object it cuts or marks. For this reason, the femtosecond laser is growing in popularity among medical device manufacturers.



Jimmie Bates, salesman for Altos Photonics, says that femtosecond lasers are often used to cut cardiovascular and other polymer stents because nanosecond lasers can melt the stents. He also says femtosecond lasers perform surface oblation better than nanosecond lasers.



Dr. Mark Richmond, product manager for JK Lasers, says stents and other small tubes cut with a femtosecond laser have very smooth edging. As a result, they require little or no post-processing, lowering production costs.



Another topic of interest to me was 3D laser cutting, which I learned about from Dr. Daniel Wildmann, chief customer officer for Precitec KG. This German company showcased its SolidCutter system, which allows robots to perform variable-speed cutting of complex molded components.



The system is being used by automotive manufacturers, supply companies and job shops. Applications include hole cutting in finished vehicle bodies and underbodies, as well as in hot-formed steel and hydro-formed profiles.



The system features fast-reacting distance sensors, an integrated linear Z drive in a closed control loop and a double chamber. Recently developed, the double chamber provides a hermetically sealed optical path without external purging air. This feature produces long service life for optical components, even in environmentally harsh conditions.









Nearly 70 exhibitors and more than 800 laser-industry experts, advocates and practitioners attended the inaugural LME. Photo by Jim Camillo

Finally, I learned about the impact of laser technology on the aerospace industry from Todd Rockstroch, consulting engineer for GE Aviation. Rockstroch talked about how GE Aviation has developed direct metal laser melting (DMLM), a type of laser-layered additive manufacturing, to produce its gas turbine fuel circuits at higher yields and lower cost.



“DMLM is a powder bed process wherein a 20-micron layer of metal powder is spread across a platen and a laser is scanned across the layer to selectively fuse the two-dimensional cross-section to itself and to any underlying structure,” says Rockstroch. “Thousands of layers thus produce the finished part. The primary engineering challenge is providing repairable access ports to remove the entrapped powder upon completion.”



Rockstroch says the selected design will be used in production core engine testing in 2012, Federal Aviation Certification in 2013 and full-scale production in 2014 on the GEA commercial Leap engine.

SABER COMPRAR A MÁQUINA... MAIS LASER NO JEANS / KNOW THE MACHINE SHOP ... MORE LASER IN JEANS

s critérios de escolha devem ser bem avaliados e não ficar limitados apenas a preço. Como o investimento em um sistema de marcação a laser não é pequeno, O bom seria consultar um técnico que não tem vinculo com as empresas que oferecem o equipamento, para que ele avalie exatamente o que cada lavanderia vai precisar

TAvaliar o suporte pós venda é um dos mais primordiais. No laser, nem sempre começar pelo mais barato é a melhor estratégia. Nesse caso, preço tem a ver com desempenho, capacidade, potência e área de marcação. Os equipamentos na faixa inicial de preço disponíveis no Brasil partem de um patamar entre R$ 180 mil e R$ 200 mil. Portanto, a lavanderia deveria fazer várias contas para selecionar o modelo mais adequado ao tipo de trabalho que pretende oferecer e ao nível estimado de demanda pelo serviço. A conta deverá incluir os investimentos necessários para o funcionamento do equipamento, que exige local específico, em sala climatizada e com exaustor para saída do calor, para modelos refrigerados a água, e principalmente consultar se o equipamento não precisara comprar itens extras, como estabilizadores de energia ou nobreak ou ate mesmo o computador. 

A falta de ambiente adequado prejudica a vida útil e o funcionamento do sistema por super aquecimento. Capacidade é um atributo importante e depende da quantidade de peças a serem tratadas por esse método. Pense que no começo pode não ser uma quantidade expressiva, mas, a tendência é tirar o máximo proveito do investimento. Devido as vezes ao convencimento dos representantes de venda dos equipamento e da falta de nível técnico dos mesmos a maioria da lavanderias compraram máquinas pequenas se viram compelidas a comprar uma segunda, de maior porte, para dar conta da produção.

        Resistentes à tecnologia no início, outras partem para comprar a segunda máquina entusiasmadas com o resultado. Algumas não se dobram aos apelos tecnológicos para fazer esse desembolso por avaliarem que a demanda local ainda não justifica o tamanho do investimento. Mas lembrem-se esse é o nosso futuro.investimento. Mas lembrem-se esse é o nosso futuro.

he selection criteria should be evaluated and not be limited only to price. As investment in a laser marking system is not small, the good would be to consult a technician who has no link with companies that provide the equipment, so that it evaluates exactly what each will need laundry.

Evaluate the after-sales support is one of the most paramount. In the laser does not always get the cheapest is the best strategy. In this case, price has to do with performance, capacity, power and area marking. The equipment in the initial price range available in Brazil starting from a level between £ 180,000 and £ 200,000. Therefore, the laundry should make multiple accounts to select the most appropriate model for the type of work you want to offer and the estimated level of demand for the service. The bill should include investments needed to operate the equipment, which requires specific place in temperature-controlled room and hood for heat output, water-cooled models, and mainly refer to the equipment not needed to buy extra items such as stabilizers energy or UPS or even the computer.

The lack of proper environment affect the life and operation of the system by overheating. Capacity is one important attribute and depends on the quantity of parts to be treated by this method. Think at the beginning may not be a significant amount, but the tendency is to get the most out of the investment. Due to time convincing the sales representatives of equipment and lack of technical level of most of these small machines laundromats bought themselves compelled to purchase a second, larger, to account for the production.

         Resistant technology early, others depart to buy the second machine excited with the result. Some do not bend technology to make calls to this disbursement assess local demand does not justify the size of the investment. But remember this is our future.

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