Laser welders optimise plastics bonding

A Horizon Instruments product story
Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Feb 5, 2007

Laser welding is increasingly recognised as an innovative and flexible method of joining a wide range of plastics.

With plastics playing an ever-increasing role in both cutting-edge microtechnology applications as well as high-volume manufacturing situations, so are the challenges in developing welding and joining procedures which are effective and versatile on a wide range of plastics.

Traditional joining procedures for plastics such as ABS, PA, PC, PP, PMMA and COC include glue cured by heat or UV light, ultrasonic welding and hot gas welding.

However, most of these methods cannot be easily adapted to microstructured plastic parts, either because of adhesive dispensing problems and the chemical and surface properties of the adhesives or, with the latter methods, the generation of unwanted particulates.

Laser welding is increasingly recognised as an innovative and flexible method of joining a wide range of plastics such as those developed by specialists Leister Lasersystems, represented in the UK and Ireland by Horizon Instruments.

A new development from Leister is the Globo welding method which is acknowledged as offering important features and benefit.

For example, the process enables arbitrary joining geometries in two and three dimensions, welding can be completed without the need for a clamping device, it provides optimal synchronisation of clamping pressure and energy application and is also suitable for robotic applications.

Globo welding works in the same way as contour welding, where a laser beam is focused at a point on the joining plane via a glass sphere, rotating on a friction-free air bearing.

The glass sphere not only focuses, it also serves as a mechanical clamping tool and while the sphere rolls on the component, it applies a continuous pressure at the point on the joining plane.

This ensures that the laser beam is only incident at the point at which the contact pressure is also applied.

The glass sphere replaces the conventional mechanical clamping device and expands the scope of laser welding for both continuous and three-dimensional applications.

With conventional methods, clamping pressure cannot be applied for continuous foils and technical textiles, whereas the Globo technique produces perfect synchronisation between the laser beam and the clamping pressure.

Also, large surface complex 2D components require considerable design complexity when using a conventional clamping pressure system.

Thanks to the Globo head's gap-free contact, high quality welding seams are achieved at significantly lower costs.

Automotive tail lights are typical 3D applications where high quality, visually attractive welding seams can be achieved.

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