Rugged, high power laser welding system for repairing large mould tools is mounted on wheels and can easily be transported by road in the back of a van to the customer's moulding shop.

The new StarWeld Tool Open from Rofin-Baasel UK makes on-site tool repair practical and straightforward. Rugged and mounted on wheels the high power (150W) laser has an integrated air to water heat exchanger and can easily be transported by road in the back of a van. Repair of very large and heavy tools is now possible without moving them offsite.

In this case it is much easier to bring the laser to the tool than vice-versa.

Anticipated applications are the on-site repair of large automotive moulds (fascias and bumpers) and any other moulds which are heavy or large and require metal to be added by laser for repair or modification.

The high power output allows moulds in copper and aluminium to be welded at higher speeds as well as the more normal tool steels.

Features previously available on the StarWeld Tool Integral are available on the open system too.

Synchro-Weld allows regular spacing of weld spots even if the speed of the axes is varied.

This allows welding of arcs and circles to be improved.

Viewing of the weld location is by high resolution camera, or by stereo microscope or the system can be fitted with both viewing options using a trinocular head.

A weight-compensated cantilever arm with a reach of 1.7m and capable of a maximum working height of 1.8m is used to direct the laser beam to the tool.

During transport of the laser system the support arm can be folded and parked in a storage location to protect the optics during transit.

At the end of the arm is a swivelling mount which carries the XYZ axes and compact focus head.

Normally, a quick adjustment of this arm allows the weld seam to be aligned so that only one axis of motion need be used.

This technique avoids the need to tilt or manipulate large tools, the adjustment being carried out instead at the laser head.

A remote laser control panel allows the operator to vary the weld spot diameter from 0.4mm to 1.6mm, using motorised focus adjustment.