Worthington Specialty Processing Orders LaserCoil Blanking System
Perrysburg, Ohio (PRWEB) November 26, 2014 -- LaserCoil Technologies LLC announced today that it has received an order for a LaserCoil coil-fed blanking system from Worthington Specialty Processing (WSP), a toll processor for the automotive industry. The 2100-mm wide dual-head system, featuring two-6kW lasers, is being installed at the company’s Jackson, Mich. facility to help expand WSP’s capacity, especially in the production of Advanced High Strength Steel (AHSS) blanks, which can challenge traditional mechanical presses.
“As we partner with our automotive customers to develop solutions for reducing the weight of vehicles, this laser blanking system will give us the flexibility to run a variety of materials including AHSS and aluminum,” said Greg Shakley, General Manager at Worthington Specialty Processing.
The increased tensile and yield strength of AHSS has little to no impact on laser cutting speeds, so the cost of laser consumables is much less than maintaining the die and tooling. Additionally, the ease of the LaserCoil system programming enables production changeovers in less than a day, significantly reducing the typical 14 – 16 weeks required to produce a final blanking die.
LaserCoil’s coil-fed laser cutting technology featuring numerous patents is based on over half a decade of research and successful production runs since 2012. Gantry-mounted laser heads stationed in multiple cutting cells travel along the moving strip to balance the workload for improved productivity. The system’s dynamic profile conveyor features adjustable lanes that support the coil strip while automatically repositioning as needed to clear a path for the laser cut. This feature also facilitates gravity-shedding of scrap and offal, delivering only totally finished blanks at the end of the process.
This robust design enables higher yield rates than other systems – into the 60,000 piece range – making it a viable alternative for processing a wide variety of coil material in aluminum, mild steel, high-strength steels and other materials, as well as structural components in thicknesses from 0.5 to 3.5mm and up to 2100-mm coil at any length.
The coil fed laser blanking line will combine LaserCoil’s laser blanking technology along with leveling equipment supplied by the Automatic Feed Company (Napoleon, Ohio). The new line at WSP is expected to be running production by early 2016.
For more information on this approach to laser cutting of coil strip, the equipment or processing of components at the LaserCoil facility visit http://www.lasercoil.com
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About Worthington Specialty Processing
Worthington Specialty Processing (WSP) was established in 1986 to serve automotive manufacturers’ need for high-quality, class-one processing, and today operates three toll processing facilities located in Canton, Jackson and Taylor, Mich. The company has slitting, blanking, cutting-to-length, laser welding, tension leveling and warehousing capabilities. WSP is a joint venture between Worthington Industries and U.S. Steel. More information at http://www.WorthingtonSteel.com.
About LaserCoil Technologies
Founded in 2011, LaserCoil Technologies LLC provides metal fabricating systems and solutions featuring advanced and patented technologies for laser cutting of blanks, based upon over five years of research and successful production runs since 2012. It originated out of the Automatic Feed Company, a known innovator in pressroom automation with nearly 65-years manufacturing expertise focused mostly on blanking and cut-to-length lines. This depth of experience provides LaserCoil the right qualifications to deliver effective and unique press feeding technology to the market, while being supported by a financially stable organization. The company holds multiple patents, including; U.S. Pat. Nos. 8253064, 8471175, 8841578, Japanese Letters Patent No. 5591831, and other patents pending.
About Automatic Feed Company
Established in 1949, Automatic Feed Company is a privately-held, leading designer and manufacturer of coil processing systems and other pressroom automation solutions. It provides turnkey capability inclusive of design, mechanical and electrical engineering, fabrication, machining, assembly and inspection as well as 24-hour customer service. It has established relationships with automotive OEMs and Tier suppliers, serving their needs across the globe. Automatic Feed Company started development of the now, LaserCoil, laser blanking in 2008.
Jay Finn, LaserCoil Technologies, http://www.lasercoil.com, +1 (419)591-7012, [email protected]
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