Fiber System protects against harmful back reflection.
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Press Release Summary:
Luminator fiber-optic system protects fibers from possible damage caused by back reflection during high-power welding of highly reflective materials, such as copper and aluminum. Terminations at each end of cable enables users to weld at full power without risk of harming equipment or fiber-optics. Luminator technology takes heat away from terminations where it is routed to detector that tells user how much back reflection is being produced.Original Press Release:
Patented Fiber System from GSI Lumonics Provides Protection from Harmful Back Reflection
FARMINGTON HILLS, MI & RUGBY, ENGLAND, June 2002 - GSI Lumonics Inc. (Nasdaq: GSLI and TSE: LSI) introduces its new, super robust fiber-optic system for delivering laser power from laser sources for material processing. The Luminator fiber-optic system includes patented technology that protects fibers from possible damage caused by back reflection during high-power welding of highly reflective materials, such as copper and aluminum, which have previously been very difficult to weld with fiber-optic systems. The system's patented terminations, closed-loop feedback, flexible design, and significant decrease in required maintenance provide users with a significant reduction in cost of ownership over current design offerings.
With patented terminations at each end of the fiber-optic cable, GSI Lumonics, who was the first to offer industrial fiber optics for high-power lasers back in 1985, has engineered a robust fiber system that enables users to weld at full power without risk of harming the equipment or the fiber-optics. At the onset of laser welding or drilling, 80-90% of the laser's light can be reflected back onto the fibers, until the welding surface breaks down. If not handled properly, this reflected light can potentially damage the fibers, requiring the repeated purchase of costly replacement fibers. To safely handle back reflection, the patented Luminator technology takes the heat away from the terminations where it is routed to a detector that tells the user how much back reflection is being produced at any given time. This closed-loop feedback triggers an automatic system shut down if the amount of back reflection reaches beyond acceptable levels, thereby protecting the fibers from damage.
Each termination is plug-in and pre-aligned, which reduces maintenance time from hours to minutes. Users are no longer required to manually align each fiber to the laser beam because every fiber is pre-adjusted at the factory.
The Luminator fiber-optic system is now standard on all new industrial welding products developed at GSI Lumonics, including the new JK802 and JK1002 continuous wavelength lasers,
as well as the updated JK700TR series pulsed laser system product line. The fibers are available in a range of time and energy multiplexing options to minimize process downtime.
Retrofit kits are available for systems currently in the field so that current system users can benefit from this technological breakthrough.
GSI Lumonics Inc. brings laser-based automated advanced manufacturing systems and components to leading industrial companies worldwide. The Company supplies products and services to the semiconductor, electronics and industrial manufacturing markets, as well as precision optics for telecommunications. GSI Lumonics' common shares are listed on Nasdaq (GSLI) and The Toronto Stock Exchange (LSI). For more information on GSI Lumonics, please visit www.gsilumonics.com.
For more information, please contact:
Steve Crang
Corporate Communications Dept.
GSI Lumonics Inc.
22300 Haggerty Road
Northville, MI 48167 USA
Tel: 248-449-8989 x2664
Fax: 248-735-2460
E-mail: crangs@gsilumonics.com
