Height and collision sensor for waterjet and other cutting processes increases efficiency and accuracy by maintaining optimal cutting distances and preventing cutting head impacts.
Dynamic contour follower avoids waterjet collisions Height and collision sensor for waterjet and other cutting processes increases efficiency and accuracy by maintaining optimal cutting distances and preventing cutting head impacts. Flow, the world's leading developer and manufacturer of ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) waterjet technology equipment used for cutting, cleaning (surface preparation) and food safety applications, introduces its new Dynamic Contour Follower (DCF), designed to increase efficiency and accuracy by maintaining optimal cutting distances and preventing cutting head impacts. The DCF is a key component of an abrasive waterjet system in helping customers achieve superior cut quality and part accuracy by maintaining perfect stand-off height.
Whether the waterjet is cutting at perpendicular or in dynamic mode with an angle, the DCF allows for automatic set and track of the stand-off distance between the mixing tube tip and the material being cut.
If the DCF senses a change in material contour, the Z-axis vertical position adjusts to avoid crashing.
The DCF is designed to work in conjunction with the PASER ECL Plus cutting head system and Dynamic waterjet cutting heads.
The DCF is ideal for job shops and metal service centers, needing to cut precise parts in a cut quality that is independent of height variation, or applications that require extra protection when cutting material is warped, stacked, stressed (such as tool steel), or slightly curved.
'The DCF will help users improve their operations by increasing machine uptime and operator productivity since the DCF senses material variations and continues cutting by automatically adjusting around it,' said Andreas Meyer, technical director of Flow Europe.
Flow's ultrahigh-pressure waterjet shapecutting systems have become the global 'machine technology of choice' for many applications.
Flow's abrasive waterjet cutting systems are ideally suited for cutting a variety of materials ranging from stainless steel and aluminium to titanium, Inconel, composites and even stone and glass.
Flow waterjet systems can cut virtually any material up to 254mm (10in) thickness with accuracies down to the range of some tenth millimetres depending on material and complexity of contour.
* About Flow - with more than 30 years of experience and more than 9,000 installations Flow is the world market leader in the development, design, and sales of ultrahigh-pressure pumps and complete waterjet and abrasivejet cutting systems for processing a wide variety of materials.
Flow Europe is a subsidiary of Flow International Corporation, USA, and European Headquarters for all products relating to ultrahigh-pressure waterjet cutting technology.