Many commonly
used plastic
items can be
marked with a
laser for
traceability,
decoration and
product
identification
purposes.
Several
plastics, when
marked with the
laser, allow for
a contrasting
mark that does
not degrade the
material
itself. YVO4
and Fiber lasers
create a "color
change",
"foaming effect"
or a
"carbonization"
of the material
which in turn
develops the
contrast mark.
Because of the
contrast
tendencies, the
laser can even
apply machine
readable
barcodes and 2D
matrix codes.
There is
sometimes some
smoke and debris
caused by the
interaction
between the
laser and
material, so it
is strongly
recommended that
the end user
take advantage
of the large
range of exhaust
options Trotec
offers.
As
opposed to many
other
traditional
methods of
marking plastic,
the advantages
of laser
processing
include:
- Very
fast writing
speeds
-
Permanent
marking that
is resistant
to solvents,
IR radiation
etc...
-
Flexibility
and fast
changeover
-
Non-Contact
processing,
so no "hard"
clamping is
required
- Zero
laser
consumables
