Laser Marking

The new LASER MARKING LM Series from Hitachi is a Carbon Dioxide CO2 based Vector laser. Our wide ranging of wave-lengths as well as the flexible power and focal   ensures performance ideally suited to coding on various packaging substrates including paper, cardboard, glass or plastics. An innovative cascading cover design supported by an efficient cooling air stream provides a high level of reliability. The result is a very low electrical energy consumption and precise, clear coding even at small font sizes. Small outer dimensions and powerful on-boardcontrol system enable easy hardware and software integration of the LM series into factory networks.

• Compact single body space saving design for ease of mechanical integration
• An electrical power consumption of < 300 VA  reduces the overall operating costs to a minimum
• Low laser power and duty cycle translates to increased reliability and increased safety due to low operating temperatures
• Dual casing structure provides additional protection for the laser tube and optics which ensures  durability against harsh environments
• Laser Tube and Optics are classified and rated  to IP65
• Most efficient air cooling by a cascading cover design extends laser tube lifetime
• Optional lens air flow available to keep the focal lens in a clean condition
• User-friendly interface: PC based or with an   optional colour 10.4˝ Touchscreen
• Highest print quality at a variety of production speeds using vector as well as Dot Matrix fonts with a user friendly font editing tool

Intuitive operation

Our new, icon-based 10.4 full colourtouchpanel provides easy and straight-forward navigation. The WYSIWYGdesign provides stress-free operation by displaying marking data and settingsimmediately. The touchpanel is easy to use in both handheld and equipment-mounted configurations.

Control with standard PC equipment

The LM Series can also be operated with standard (industrial) PC equipment. The windows based laser application supports multiple text layers, secure image storage operations, preview image before downloading, manage and download the laser setup

for individual products and provides WYSIWIG  image design. Additional features include database connectivity, an easy to use font editor, powerful time and date calculations, management of log files and creation of reports. By utilizing the Laser Application Software no touchscreen panel is  needed to fully operate the laser.

Offline configuration

Data can be created and saved via a remote PC and then transferred into the laser coder located at a remote site. The USB port of the laser coder offers a convenient way to share image files or machine settings between the laser coder and the host PC. A quick backup of the most important data is ensured and further ease operation with the LM-C300 Series.

Even at high speed the LM-C300 Series maintains an accurate and aligned coding process. The new laser generates energy instantaneously and transmits it onto the product in a very fast time. The beam expander technology further reduces the focal point and generates extremely sharp and clear characters and vector lines onto the packaging material. Even though the LM-C300 series is a vector font based laser, dot matrix fonts can be printed on demand as well.

Intersection correction

Our LM-C300 Series offers a support function for crossless lines, which  prevents deep marking where lines intersect, eliminating the tendency of overlapping lines to distort the shape of output characters. These crossless fonts have been engineered and  designed by the powerful font editing tool which is available as part of the laser application software.Powerful Windows software available for net- working, status control and for designing the textlayout with True Type fonts, 1D & 2D barcodesand logo files.

The font editor

Each character of a font can be manually modifiedand aligned to the application requirements.Truetype fonts and laser fonts can be opened and changedplus some areas of an image might require a deeperand more powerful marking than others. In order to avoid pin holes, the individual character line can  be interrupted at any point. The package keeps its consistency and the product is safely protected. Wavelengths of 9.3 µm, 10.2 µm and 10.6 µm combined with various lens options allows for coding onto a wide range of substrates

High speed coding at 600 cps

Hitachi’s new laser is capable of printing up to 600 cycles per second (cps). This high performance scribing process can be achieved through the use of a new dynamic and precise optic assembly. Theoverall weight of all moving parts has been reduced to a minimum which results in a faster marking time.The edges of each character remains correctly marked with no degradation of the character formdespite the high speed.

Depth control

The LM-C300 Series offers many system settings which control the power of the marking at areas  susceptible to deep marking such as beginning and end of lines where straight and curved lines intersect.Unwanted dots or even missing lines are being  prevented.The dynamic depth control also removes less material from the product package and there-fore extends the filter life time of the fume extraction

Low power air cooled laser systems are the onlycompact laser technologies demanding less floor space and providing ease of mechanical integration into complex packaging lines. The new cascading cover design and the most efficient cooling air  stream leads to a high level of reliability and extends the lifetime of the laser tube significantly. The new Hitachi laser achieves IP54+ protection due to cascaded laser tube and enclosed optical box.

An optional air flow helps keep the focal lens in a clean condition. The overpressure keeps any kind of particulate off the lens assembly, avoids contamination and therefore reduces laser output power. This option helps to reduces operating costs, minimizes maintenanceand increases print quality.