El.En. at K2019 with Maklaus: CO₂ laser sources to process reels of stretch film

From the 19th to the 26th of October 2019, El.En. S.p.A. was at K2019 because of Maklaus, a leading company in the design of perforators for moving material. At the trade show, Maklaus presented the prototype of a machine with two CO₂ RF 303 laser sources and two Gioscan 1735 std resolution 35 mm scanning heads.

K2019 is one of the most important events in the field of plastic and rubber processing. Maklaus participated with a machine designed to perform laser microperforation of plastic film from roll to roll.

Micro-perforated plastic film, such as polyethylene, is used in various fields. One example of application is the packaging of food products in a controlled atmosphere. Laser microperforation makes it possible to meet the packaging need of different produce.

In fact, laser processing makes it possible to control the characteristics of the holes with extreme precision, to achieve the combination that best supports the storage needs of each product.

The machine designed by Maklaus is based on the combined use of two RF 303 High Peak power laser sources and two Gioscan 1735 std scanning heads with 35 mm resolution, both produced by El.En.

With their high peak power and sealed technology, the El.En. sources are ideal for this application. The use of two sources and of two scanning heads, each with a working area of ​​250 x 250 mm, allows the machine to achieve a much higher quality than with a single laser source on a larger work area.

The machine presented at K2019 has another advantage: it can perform machining operations from reel to reel. The laser sources and the scanning head work in coordination with the material’s movement.

The latter is processed as soon as it enters the working area of ​​the scanning heads. This system makes it possible to obtain hundreds of meters of microperforated film in a very short time: an unattainable result if the work were to be performed on single sheets of plastic film.

In a sector like packaging, that requires high execution speed, precision and flexibility, a machine like the one engineered by Maklaus is likely to be very successful.

The quality of its components and the engineering choices make it the ideal tool to face future challenges not only in the packaging sector but also in other related ones. This result stems from the collaboration between the Maklaus designers and El.En.’s experience in the field of CO₂ laser material processing.