ESAB Cutting systems’ philosophy is to continuously research ways to maximize productivity. The process, including marking technique, is directly managed and monitored by the ESAB Vision controller. All parameters are automatically set avoiding any manual settings.  Thus enabling high productivity by first automatically mastering the marking and then the cutting sequence.  The marking sequence is managed by the CNC performing all offsets between the cutting tool and the marking tool, which greatly improves the production time.

Felt Pen Marking

This feature is mainly used on small machine range or for stainless steel applications.  It is a great solution in these cases because it does not alter the material surface in any way, and can be removed easily. A classic felt pen is used with a capacitive height control ensuring a constant distance and pressure of the felt pen on the plate surface. The pen is clamped onto its bracket via magnetic field device, which allows the on/off of marking. The marking speed can run up to 12m/min or 475 ipm. The marking accuracy depends on the tip thinness. This is the ideal solution to draw folding lines or assembling marks.

Powder Marking

This process requires a dry zinc powder, which is stored in a small tank. When the mixture powder and oxygen is combined at the nozzle, the melted zinc creates a visible line. The color of which depends on the powder color (grey or white). Different marks can be created such as continuous or dotted line marking, lettering, assembling indication. The line thickness will depend on the nozzle type and marking speed.

Air Scribe

Scribe Marker is a simple, rugged and reliable device that is ideal for high-speed, high accuracy marking. The scribe marker uses an industrial hand tool with hardened steel tip to create single point marks or scribed lines on any metal. The scribe operates on ordinary compressed shop air, and is equipped with an airline oilier for reliability. To scribe lines, the “HF” vibrating tool is moved across the surface of the metal, floating in the vertical direction on a linear bearing slide. A pneumatic cylinder raises the scribe from the work piece when not in use. The scribe marker is usually added in tandem with a cutting station. Depending on machine type, it can also be supplied with automatic height control and motorized lifter. The Pneumatic Scribe Marker is smaller and lighter than the Pneumatic Punch Marker, and makes a thinner, more accurate scribed line.

Punch Marker

This system is mainly installed on medium and large sized machines. The use of a punch-marking device is highly efficient when the plate must be drilled in a subsequent operation by initially creating the drilling spot to be tooled later on. This device is equipped with a pneumatic hammer unit, which hits the plate surface. The marking frequency and punching power are adjustable and allow the NC-controlled punch marking of dots, lines or letters. A marking speed of 3m/min or 120 ipm is usually recommended for longer lifetime of the tip device. The process might be slightly noisy, according to the plate thickness. In the event a water table is utilized raising the water level to the bottom of the plate can reduce the noise.

Pin Stamp Marking

The Pin Stamp Marker station is a high-speed text marking system for marking text on the metal plate. This system allows the cutting machine to quickly and easily mark multiple lines of variable text strings of different sizes in multiple locations. The Pin Stamp is ideal for customers who require extensive text marking on their parts, and want to get an accurate quality mark that will not fade, fall off, or disappear when painted. The marked characters are clear and crisp, easily readable, and remain visible even after painting. While there are many different marking tools that can be used for text marking, none is better optimized for text than the Pin Stamp Marker. Clear, deep, permanent marks and well formed characters are some of the advantages. The text can be seen even after painting, making it ideal for part numbers, heat numbers, or serial numbers. The printer head is mounted inside of a protective enclosure, which mounts the height control sensors, and is suspended from a breakaway crash protection device. The entire assembly is mounted to a heavy-duty vertical lifter for accurate positioning.

Plasma Arc Marker

Plasma marking is an excellent method of signing mild steel, stainless steel or all electrical conductive material. A plasma torch and low current power source up to 20 Amperes is used to plasma mark. Dots, letters, lines, assembly signs, ... are easily produced with a speed from 3 m/min or 120 ipm up to 18 m/min 700ipm. Amperage can be directly controlled and monitored by the controller. The line width can be set to a constant line width from 0,6 mm or .020” to 3 mm or .12”.This guarantees exceptional marking accuracy. One of the biggest advantages of plasma marking is the capability to mark on wet, oily or rusted surface. Also, the consumable lifetime is very long compared to conventional plasma because the marking is at low amperage.

As with normal plasma applications, the plasma torch is installed on an anti-collision protection device, which avoids damaging the torch main body. By adjusting the current and speed to suit your application, the plasma mark can be seen or hidden after a galvanization, sandblasting or painting, depending on the customer wishes.

Inkjet Marking

When the application requires that the material type can’t be scratched such as stainless steel, inkjet is the ideal tool for the job. Additionally, inkjet is one of the fastest methods to mark bar codes, references, assembly signs, etc. on the plate surface within one pass. The character size and fonts can be programmed to 10 mm or .39”or 20 mm or .78”height. All in all 6 font types can be chosen. The marking speed is up to 20 m/min or 780 ipm and in order to mark in all directions, the tool can be installed on a rotating head +/- 90°. The marking sequence is automatically synchronized to all the machine movements, which guarantees a perfect and clean mark.

“Lettering” Software Option

To enable full and easy integration into the programming software, the ESAB controllers can be equipped with the “lettering buge software option”. In fact, the programming software just has to insert into the machine program an Auxiliary function followed by the text to be written, avoiding extra and complex text programming. The marking system provides fully automated marking which can be combined with any cutting process in the same part program. This ensures accurate and user-friendly text positioning. Furthermore, plain text programming means that the text to be written on the plate is programmed in plain ASCII text format within the part program. It can easily be read and edited by the machine operator, for last minute changes or data entry.