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Motion favours high-precision laser welding

A RA Rodriguez product story
Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Apr 30, 2004

When leading automotive component manufacturer TRW required a bespoke laser welding system that had a positioning accuracy of +/-5um, it chose Werner linear motion systems.

When leading automotive component manufacturer TRW required a bespoke laser welding system that had a positioning accuracy of +/-5um, it instructed its system integrator, Chess Systems of Horsham, to contact Werner's representative in the UK, RA Rodriguez.

The move was prompted by TRW's positive experience of Werner linear motion systems in Germany and the resultant UK installation has proved just as successful as its counterparts in mainland Europe.

The now-installed system is required to weld a small field-effect transistor, used in an automotive power steering control system.

These units are welded at the rate of 2500 units per day.

To do this, the operator manually loads the component onto a rotary table that turns 180 degrees to position the FET in the laser field.

The accurate positioning of the FET under the Nd:YAG laser head is critical, as the laser is required to weld a copper post to a chassis.

The post itself stands proud of the chassis by 10mm or so.

To do this the laser beam must travel truly concentric to the post.

It has to follow a circular path to weld the base of the post to the chassis while maintaining its fine tolerance band.

The system supplied by RA Rodriguez to Chess Systems for this dedicated application, was a three axis Profiline system complete with servo drives and controller.

Werner's Profiline was introduced to provide a comprehensive range of linear positioning components and options that allows for the simple construction of multi-axis systems using standard connection elements.

This system added a new, all-in-one design to the Werner range that completely excludes dirt and debris to ensure consistent linear performance and long life.

So important is the integrity of TRW's FET weld that initially a camera system was specified to confirm component positional accuracy.

However, the Werner positioning system has proved to be so consistently accurate that the camera system has since become redundant.

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