Every minute the laser is waiting for parts, the welding system is literally in a holding pattern, which decreases the potential for increased throughput and revenue.  In order to counteract this and maximize the economic justification for a laser welding system, the “beam on part” time should be as close as possible to 100%.  One thing that can be done to maximize “beam on” time is to utilize a process that has become known as “remote welding”.

Remote laser welding, or “welding on the fly”, combines a robot and scanner optics to position the focused laser beam on the workpiece on the fly. In takes only a few seconds to join components like car doors with high integrity laser welds. The robot arm guides the scanner optics along a smooth path about half a meter over the workpiece. Extremely nimble scanning mirrors direct the focal point in fractions of a second from weld seam to weld seam.  A fiber delivered, solid state TruDisk disk laser, far away from the processing station is the source of the joining power.

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