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Configuration Manual Lantek Expert Cut PDF
Configuration Manual Lantek Expert Cut PDF
Configuration Manual Lantek Expert Cut PDF
www.lantek.es
Cutting module
Lantek
Contents
1.1.
1.2.
1.3.
1.4.
1.5.
1.6.
1.7.
1.8.
1.9.
1.10.
1.11.
1.12.
1.13.
1.14.
1.15.
1.16.
1.17.
1.18.
1.19.
1.20.
1.21.
1.22.
1.23.
1.24.
1.25.
General
Startup
Sheet Clamps
Work Chutes
Lift / Grip
Save options
Work zone
Reposition
Grid
From point
Sheets data
Upload / Download sheets
Sheets remnants
Configure machines: Properties of material thickness
1.14.1. Configure machines: Dependent data of material-thickness
1.14.1.1. Cutting parameters
1.14.1.2. Sheets data
1.14.1.3. Automatic technology
1.14.1.4. Lead-in / Lead-out values
1.14.1.5. Automatic Lead-in / Lead-out values
1.14.1.6. Micro joint values
1.14.1.7. Automatic micro joint values
1.14.1.8. Loop values
1.14.1.9. Chamfer values
1.14.1.10. Bridge values
Cutting parameters
Common Cutting parameters
Multitorch data
Automatic nesting
Automatic machining
1.19.1. Cut
1.19.2. Component removal
1.19.3. Automatic cycles on leads-in
Lead-in / Lead-out values
Automatic Lead-in / Lead-out values
Micro joint values
Automatic Micro-joint values
Loop values
Chamfer values
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1.26.
1.27.
1.28.
1.29.
1.30.
1.31.
1.31.
1.31.
1.31.
1.31.
1.31.
1.31.
1.31.
1.31.
1.31.
1.31.
1.31.
1.31.
1.31.
1.31.
1.31.
Bridge values
Postprocessor
1.27.1. General
1.27.2. Block numbering
1.27.3. Free tape
1.27.4. Specifics of cut (only cutting machines)
1.27.5. Reserved
Tables of technology
Time calculation
1.29.1. Cutting parameters
1.29.2. Reposition / Extracts
1.29.3. Accelerations
1.29.4. Postprocessor words
1.29.5. Upload / Download sheets
Cost calculation
Annex A: Show on sheet the machining modifications made on parts
Annex B: Ink-Jet
Annex C: Manual Lead-in / Lead-out assignation
Annex D: Manual micro-joint assignation
Annex E: Manual Loop assignation
Annex F: Manual bridge assignation
Annex G: Laser parameters
Annex H: Simple cycle
Annex H1: Example of different number of sheets with multitorch
Annex I: Assignation of the dimensions of the contour
Annex J: Cut - Configure Execution of fixed cycle
Annex K: Extractions - Configure carriage movement
Annex L: Technology - Micro - joints
Annex M: Main elements - Work Centers - Cutting Machine - Tools
Annex N: Rapid movements
Annex O: Button bar for tool selection
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Cutting module
The parameters that can be configured are divided in different sections. In order to configure the
parameters of a particular section, double click on it or select the desired one and press the button
Configure. These sections are:
Cutting module
Lantek
With the minimum rectangle, the system will try to rotate the part and calculate the minimum area used
on the sheet by the part. The increments of angle to try is what Angle Step sets up. Then, in the
Automatic Nesting the program will place the part in the angles allowed (this can be configured on
Rotation Posibilities in the Automatic nesting -see page 88- dialog).
In some cases, activating this parameter, may produce Nesting with better usage of the sheet.
Restrict
rotations
in
manual
mode
Cutting module
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If the Prompt for data when ordering contour is disabled, the selected contour ordering will be applied automatically
in any of the previous configured assignation (when saving part or when executing nesting module).
Cutting module
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Part time
The cut time which is going to be calculated in the Drawing module, this setting has no effect in the
calculation of the nesting module.
The system will calculate the time internally
The calculation will be done using a generic postprocessor
The calculation will be done using the postprocessor of the current machine. This option
is used in water machines where the speed changes frequently.
Cutting module
Lantek
sometimes with more than one part for each file, it is recommended to uncheck this option.
The part will be modified keeping the same position on the sheet. If the
part was machined, the following parameter will decide what to do:
Enabled, will keep the existing machining on the part. If disabled, the system will delete all the machining
on the part in the sheet.
See the Example of how this parameters works (see annex A)
The system will delete all the parts of the nesting where the modified part
was, and will execute an automatic nesting.
This option is powerful if the part dimensions are changed because if keeping the nesting, there will
be collisions. There are three parameters to configure how the new nesting will be done:
Enabled, after the nesting the system will execute the automatic machining process.
Cutting module
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If, because of modifications, all the previous nested parts doesn't fit on the sheet, the program will show
a warning message if this parameter is enabled.
If, because of modifications, all the previous nested parts doesn't fit on the sheet, the program will show
a warning message if this parameter is enabled.
With this option enabled, the system will show a window allowing to configure the previous parameters
in the case of entering in the nesting module after changing a nested part.
Cutting module
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will show the dialog where the method for using the laser eye can be chosen:
Cutting module
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The Part No. will take an automatic value that will increase for
subsequent CNCs. Two additional parameters will displayed:
Number of characters for the Part No.
Speed Rates
In the following dialog, the different machine speeds can be configured:
Cutting module
Lantek
Number of clamps
The System will take into account the number of clamps of the machine. The position of each one can
be set up depending on the Positioning parameter:
Positioning
Any: The clamps can be located in any position. This option is used for machines whose clamps must
be placed manually with screws.
Fixed: When the clamps are placed into the linear turret, they take positions with fixed distance increments
between them. In this case, the position of the clamps can be configured easily with the following
parameters:
Although the turret has fixed positions, the first clamp site can be
in different position each time, then the rest of clamps will be placed
following it.
The distance between the first clamp position and the reference
point, from this first position the rest of the clamps will be placed
depending on the next two parameters:
Total number of positions of the linear turret.
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Cutting module
For example:
Position distance
Indicate the distance between different clamp positions.
If the clamp type is fixed, once these three fields have been specified, the Positions boxes will become
combo boxes displaying only the different possibilities for clamp placement.
If the clamp type is any, these fields (First position, Number of positions and Distance between positions)
will not appear and the Positions combo boxes will be able to contain any value (since all values will
be valid).
Reference point
The position of the clamps will be taken depending on this reference point:
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Pin 2
When working with small sheets, sometimes happens that if using the Pin 1 for placing it, the clamps
can't take it properly. For this, more centered that the Pin 1 is the Pin 2. The effect is like moving the
work zone, like making one reposition at the beginning of the machinning. The difference between this
parameter and the previous one is that here we can assign a fixed value for all the times, and in the
previous one, the value is prompted on every initializing.
The distance is fixed and must be configured clicking on the three points button, in the following dialogue:
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The machine can't make all the machinning without performing a reposition, if we give 500 as an initial
offset of the work zone, the machine will perform a 500 mm reposition in X at the beginning on the
machining:
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Offset
Is the minimum distance where the clamp can be placed from the side of
the sheet. For example, if the value is 70mm, and the clamp is going to be
placed at 40 mm, the system will place it at 70 mm.
I M P O R TA N T: T h e c l a m p m u s t h a v e s e n s o r f o r t e s t i n g t h i s .
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Clamp zone
When the machine is initialized, this is the clamp zone which the system will use before starting the
machinning. In Cutting-Punching machines (combined), the clamp zone is configured by station and
the most important clamp zone settings must be done in the turret configuration.
Clamps size
The clamps size can be set up here depending on the three parameters:
These settings configures the real clamps size which will be used for the automatic repositions. The
system will test if the clamp is going to be placed in a hole because if this happens the clamp will not
take the sheet properly. For these calculations, the system will take into account the L, R and U
parameters.
The machine initialization process must be done always before making any machine instruction. With
this option enabled, the system will show the Clamps dialog always when the initialization instruction
is executed.
Initializing the machine:
In the nesting module can be done manually using the option
Initialize... of the Machinning menu, or clicking on the Initialize
Button of the Machinning Toolbar.
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Cutting module
More button
With this button, the user can configure each clamp's properties like minimum and maximum allowed
positions and distances, if the clamp has sensor or the type of the clamp:
Simulation button
In the nesting/machinning module, the system will simulate the clamps size depending on the values
given in the following dialogue:
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Number of traps
The user will configure here the number of traps of the machine. Depending on this number, the system
will show the boxes needed to specify the respective coordinates:
All the distances are referred to the cutting/punching center. These
a r e t h e c o o r d i n a t e s f o r t h e l o w e r l e ft c o r n e r o f t h e t r a p .
The machine makes one movement after receiving one trap open
instruction trying to center the part into the tramp. This increment
of movement is configured here.
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Cup Groups
Each group can manage 12 cups. For this, in this window the groups button will be enabled depending
on the number of suction cups specified.
The cup parameters must be configured here:
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Cutting module
Lift details
Clicking on this button will show specific parameters for configuring the lift system properly:
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Uploading section
All the parameters of this section are related to the sheet upload with the lift:
The speed and the acceleration that the lift system will apply for
uploading the sheet.
Sometimes the lift gets two sheets instead of just one because of
suction. With this parameter enabled, the lift gets the sheet and
makes up and down movements trying to unstucks the sheets.
Once the lift gets the sheet, there is one sensor which measures
the width, if is not correct, the machine executes again the Cycle
of unstuck of sheets. Is one security level more than enabling just
the previous parameter.
X position where the lift is going to pick the sheet.
At the beginning, the lift goes to sheet pallet and gets one carrying
it to the machine. The second time, the sheet can't be located in
the same place because the previous one has not been machined
yet, and for this, not evacuated from the machine. In this case, the
lift places the sheet in a wait position whose objective is making
the upload faster just when the previous sheet has been evacuated.
X position where the sheet is going to be left.
Downloading parts
The next parameters configures how the lift is going to get the parts.
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The speed and the acceleration that the lift system will apply for
downloading the sheet.
If the head should be raised while removing the part for security
questions.
This option allows to leave the part on the table instead of the pallet.
The lift will leave the part from a certaing height specified in the
following parameter.
When the lift system goes to download parts on the pallet, if there
are few parts placed, the lift sometimes can't physically arrive to
the surface of the pallet. In this case, this parameter is the height
from which the lift will leave the part to left to the pallet.
This is the X distance of the lift zero point where the lift is going to
pick the part. The parameter X displacement of the suction cups
should be checked.
This is the X distance of the lift zero point where the lift is going to
leave the part.
The Y distance of the lift zero point. This parameter is for lift systems
with Y movement.
A l l t h e s e p a r a m e t e r s a r e s e t a u t o m a t i c a l l y i f t h e i n s t a l l a t i o n c o m e s w i t h Wo s P a l l e t .
This is the lift/grip configuration, but there are two places where the user must configure where to use it:
Work Center (see page 40) / Utilities (40) / Configure Machines (40) / Upload - Download Sheets (40)
Work Center (see page 108) / Utilities (108) / Configure Machines (108) /
Automatic machinning (108) / Component Removal (108)
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Cutting module
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Subprograms
The different options in this section refers to the generation of subprograms for the postprocessor. When
there is one part nested many times in the sheet, the CNC code generated for one of these parts can be
used for all the other nested equal part. Using subprograms will result in smaller CNC codes which is
very useful when the numeric control of the machine has limited memory.
This section also controls how the postprocessor generates the CNC code, and how subprograms are
organized. Some options may not be available in a specific postprocessor although it is still possible to
select the option here.
The system will try to generate subprograms.
Example:
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Cutting module
For recognizing if two parts are identical for applying subprograms, the system will look the values of
the linear and angular tolerances which delimits the possible done error:
Definition point
The definition point is the reference point taken by the subprogram. This reference will be used for
generating the rest of the equal parts from the first one.
The first point of the part that the machine is goint to cut is the
definition point.
Any of the 4 corners means that the definition point is one of the
minimum rectangle (see page 1) of the part, taking into account
only the geometry.
If Part is enabled, will take only the minimum rectangle corner, but if
disabled it will take the machinning corner (interesting for punching).
All the subprograms are related to the 0.0 point of the sheet.
Subprograms by contours
Normally the subprograms are made by parts, but sometimes there are parts with different holes and
the objective is to execute each subprogram for each hole.
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The system will generate subprograms for each different contour, and then will execute
them in the same order.
Part saving
There are some options that can be executed automatically when the user saves the part. This is a
powerfull feature for saving time. Part saving can happen when the user selects one of this options in
the drawing module:
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Every time the user saves one part, the system can verify it, order their contours, apply automatic
technology, loops or leads depending on the activation of the checkboxes.
This option will verify the part immediately after saving the part. Is
the same if we choose Utilities - Verify part from the menu in the
drawing module.
Common checkboxes for part saving and execution nesting module in cutting machines:
These checkboxes are common for both automatic executions. The user can choose when enabling
these options for improving the work:
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Margins
These are additional amounts of travel that is allowed to enable the cut centre to travel a small distance
outside of the nominal work zone. This is often known as an overtravel limit.
Position
This parameter is related to both the work zone and the sheet position.
It is possible to place the work zone respect to the left, right, centre
or the machine origin (0,0).
This configuration depends on how the coordinate system of the
machine is working and the placement of the clamps.
NOTE: The From Point should be configured accordingly, it will not
automatically change if the Work Limits are modified.
In the Center position, the X is the maximum distance allowed from
the work zone corner to the sheet. Sometimes, if the sheet is very
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small, may happen when centering in the work zone that the distance
between the work zone corner to the sheet is very big and the machine
can't get the sheet with clamps. For this reason, the X Maximum
parameter allows to fix the maximum distance allowed.
When a selected sheet is larger than the work limits, it will extend out of the working range to the
opposite side of the reference, and sheet repositioning will be required in order to process whole sheet.
The X coordinate of the hold down position is calculated based on the amount of repositioning required,
the Y position can be controlled in a number of different ways:
When doing a reposition, the pistons will be placed
the Y distance from the upper side of the sheet.
For example: if the work zone has a limit of 1250
mm, the pistons will be placed in Y=1250-100=1150.
If the center position has been selected, the system
will place the pistons at the same Y coordinate as the
cutting head position before the reposition movement.
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Retract value in Y
This is the back off distance in Y when opening the clamps. It is applied before the X carriage is moved
providing a clearance between the clamps and the edge of the sheet.
Advance value in Y
This is the value that the Y axis moves back after repositioning. Normally is the same as retract value,
but sometimes is smaller to prevent the sheet being "nudged" by the work clamps if the edge of the
sheet is uneven.
Speed in X
The feed rate in X of the machine when moving the sheet during repositioning.
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Speed in Y
The feed rate applied to the back off move.
The system will not allow reposition movements if there is not a minimum number of clamps catching
the sheet properly. This number is:
Once the reposition type and all the parameters are configured, the user can choose two reposition
strategies clicking on Strategy button:
Strategy
The system will perform machinning of all the work zone, and the
rest after the reposition.
The system will perform one small percent of the work zone, and
the rest after the reposition.
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If there is any part in both the first and the second zone, the system
will make the machinning of the part at most depending on the work
zone (violet color):
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In the figure, the reposition has just finish. The system will machine only the length of the zone 1, make
the reposition, and finish the sheet.
The offset parameter in both modes is the distance from the limit of the zone 1 that the system will take
as zone 1 for making the reposition. In other words: is the distance of the zone 2 which is going to be
machined before making the reposition:
Visualize
The system will simulate the grid if this parameter is enabled. With this, the user can check interactively
if the parts are going to fall down the machine's table being able to modify their positions.
The parameters to configure are:
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- X and Y: the first point coordinates related to the from-point of the machine.
- d1 and d2: the horizontal and vertical distances between points respectively.
- n1 and n2: the number of horizontal and vertical points respectively.
The following example will explain how to use this option. In the nesting, there are some parts with big
holes, and also, in violet color the grid lines are visualized:
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The hole of the upper-left part is bigger than the values given (X:150-450, Y:150-450), and the smaller
holes are not between the defined lenghts and widths.
So, if we execute the order for destroying the holes from the CAM module before doing the machining:
The system will ask for confirm previous entered data, and also the length and the width of the piece
of holes which will result:
The system will calculate and introduce the required machining orders which will destroy the
problematic holes:
The big hole of the part is too big and will stay over the grid without problems, and the other holes are
too small and will fall into the table without problems.
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Sheets margins
This dialogue allows you to specify margins around the sheet. This ensures the machine is not going
to cut or punch out of the sheet and leave enough material to support the parts. In the example shown,
the lower margin is larger to avoid the clamp zone.
The X and Y values are the coordinates that the system will take for the selected red point. Normally
this point is the 0,0 because is the point where the torch will be placed before cutting.
Remnant margin
When a remnant is generated from the current sheet, if there is any value here, the remnant will be
created with these margins.
Sheet state
Indicate the fold status of the sheet through one of the numbers in the list. (0 = completely flat, 9 = very
irregular). This parameter may be useful if the postprocessor uses it to calculate the distance that the
head must come down in order to cut/punch for trying to avoid collisions with sheet.
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Anti-scratch
This parameter's objetive is that the rapid movements are done at more higher distance for not scratching
the sheet. When the movement is from one hole to another with the head down, instead of the normal
height, with this enabled it will go a little higher.
Number of sheets
The user can choose the number of sheets which will be loaded into the machine instead of using the
previous parameter which loads the sheets on demand. The sheet loader will load the sheet, which is
machined and then unloaded so many times as the value of this parameter.
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The system will not use the loader. The process must be done manually.
Sometimes, when loading a sheet, the loader gets two sheets instead
of just one. With this active, the loader will execute a cycle of
movements to unstuck the sheets.
In some loader system there is one sensor for measuring the sheet
width. This can detect if there are more than one sheet. If this
happen, the sheet peeling cycle will be executed again.
If the machine is equipped with a lift system, the sheet upload can
be done with it:
The system will calculate which cups are the best for uploading the
sheet.
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With this enabled, the system will know if the loader system can
turn over the sheet.
The loader will perform a turn over when downloading the sheet
automatically if this parameter is enabled.
The sheet will be downloaded using the lift system of the machine.
The X and Y are the coordinates which specify the place for leaving
the sheet:
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Each option will generate different number of remnants (in blue) and different remnant shape (in green):
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In the remnant shape with "?" letter, is the system who decides what kind of remnant will create
depending on the area value
All the shapes and cutting lines depends on the values of the offset between the parts and the lines,
the minimum width of hollows and the minimum area of the remnant:
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Cutting module
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For example:
From the sheet of the right, the remnant of the left has been generated:
The from-point is on the upper-left side of the sheet, now if the remnant is placed in the same angle,
it is going to be very difficult to place the head of the machine just in this point. It would be easier if
the remnant is placed turned. If this is enabled, the system will look for the best position of the remnant:
This window can be updated in the nesting module for each sheet. From the Sheets menu, the Remnants
option will show the Remnants Toolbar:
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New button
Using this button, new associations between material-thickness will be created:
Modify button
The modify button allows to change the material or the thickness of one entry.
Delete button
The material-thickness association will be deleted together with all the values of each section for that association.
Copy button
The user can copy one material/thickness entry, and all the values for each section will be copied too.
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Import button
With this button, a previous configuration can be imported. The system will prompt for a .CTT file, this
file is one Technological Table (CT).
Criteria button
For making easier the search of one concrete entry, the system provides this button which allows to
show on the screen just the entries corresponding to the selected criteria.
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Cutter radius
For the specified material between the given thickness, the system will use the value given here as the
radius for the cutter.
Piercing radius
Here, the piercing radius can be configured properly. This value will be looked when the system checks the
machining overlapping: if there is one lead inside part, the overlapping will be calculated including the
piercing radius (if the lead-int is 8mm, and piercing radius is 2mm, any part nearer to 10mm will be detected).
The system provides one option for verifying the machining of the whole sheet automatically when saving,
this can be done on Utilities - Configure - Draw and Nest - Verify the machining of the sheets while saving:
Cut speed
This cut speed will be applied for any job done in the specified material between the thickness.
Chamfered speed
This speed will be applied for making chamfers for any job done in the specified material between the
thickness. This value will be used only for machines with bevel cutting possibilities.
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1.14.1.2.-
Materials-thickness
properties:
Sheets
data
With this option you can configure the unusable sheet margins as well as sheet status. (for complete
configuration see Machine configuration: General - Sheet parameters -page 39-).
Sheet state
Indicate the fold status of the sheet through one of the numbers in the list. (0 = completely flat, 9 = very
irregular). This parameter may be useful if the postprocessor uses it to calculate the distance that the
head must come down in order to cut/punch for trying to avoid collisions with sheet.
Remnant margin
When a remnant is generated from the current sheet, if there is any value here, the remnant will be
created with these margins.
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Sheets margins
This dialogue allows you to specify margins around the sheet. This ensures the machine is not going
to cut or punch out of the sheet and leave enough material to support the parts.
New button
This button will create a new entry on the cutting quality assignation table:
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Depending on the area (the radius of the circle with the same area), the system will assign a cutting
quality to the parts automatically.
This is only the definition of the associations, but we have to make them effective. There are three
automatic ways:
We can use automatic option in the drawing module. Once we have the desired part, choose Technology
- Cut technology and a new toolbar will appear. With this toolbar is possible to assign cutting qualities
manually, but if we click on the automatic button, the cutting quality settings will be applied automatically:
The second way has to be configured and will be applied when saving the part. In Utilities - Configure
- Machine - Save options (see page 27), enable Automatic Technology checkbox. When saving the
part, the system will calculate the areas and assign, if any association exists, the correct cutting quality
settings.
The third way is in the same window, but on Execution nesting module section, if the Automatic
Technology checkbox is enabled, when entering on the nesting module, the system will automatically
apply cutting qualities depending on the area.
Also, the user can assign a cutting quality to each contour manually using the second icon of the Cut
toolbar in the drawing module:
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Cutting module
Next step is clicking on the desired contours for applying the cutting quality. Expert will show them in
a different color for making easier the identification of each cutting quality. There are two related things
which are important now:
1- When the user clicks on this Cut button of the toolbar, there is the possibility of accessing to the
settings of the chosen cutting quality, the button Modify:
This is very useful for reviewing the cutting quality configuration before applying it.
2- The color which will be used for each cutting quality can be configured too. The user can know exactly
which cutting quality each contour has. The place of configuring this is on Utilities - Configure - Draw
and Nest - Color:
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The system will apply a powder mark of all the contours smaller
than the smallest minimum radius configured. But it will not apply
any dot cycle.
In the toolbar, there is one option rounded by red line, which will show the values for the parameters
of the leads if the user assigns them manually.
See how to assign lead-in / lead-out manually (annex C)
The following options will be applied to any lead inserted manually for all the jobs of the specified
material between the thickness. All the parameters are related to the length and shape of the leads:
The leads can be very different. For this, depending on the leads that will be used
for the part, each parameter have different meaning. For example, the D parameter
means the length of one upright lead (first diagram), but if the lead has some angle,
the D distance is the height from the vertex (second diagram).
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The user can configure different distances depending if is lead in or lead out:
Circles angle
If the user wants to place the lead manually, sometimes happen that this lead can't be placed in the
exact clicked point. The value of this parameter will help to system to decide where to put it. The
meaning is the angle step the system will use for placing the lead.
For example, with a 90 circles angle value, the lead will be placed in the nearest quadrant point to
clicked one: 0, 90, 180, 270. If the system can't place on nearest position, will try on next 90 degree
point.
For a value of 30, the system is going to try to put the lead on every 30 degrees from the clicked point:
0, 30, 60, 90, 120.
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There is also a way to modify the placed lead-in / lead-out (see annex C).
The position of the lead, the type of leads to use depending on the different contours, and all the
distances must be configured.
Management by qualities
If the cutting qualities are used for the job, the system allows to configure different values for the leadin/lead-out when using the automatic assignation. With this checkbox enabled, the window will show
twelve tabs which are related to each of the twelve available cutting qualities:
NOTE: From Material-thickness dependent data - Automatic Lead-in/Lead-out, the cutting qualities
checkbox is not enabled. If the user wants to configure them depending on material-thickness, first the
Management by qualities checkbox must be enabled on Configure Machine - Cutting machine - Automatic
Lead-in/Lead-out.
Zone
When using automatic leads, the user can choose the place where the system will
try first for placing the lead.
Is possible to select different position for exterior contours of parts and for holes.
If the selected zone is the one marked with "?", the system will decide which leads
position is the best for cutting the part in the best conditions.
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There are different kind of contours which system can distinguish. In the following table, there are two
examples for each contour type. All the geometries on red colour are those on which the selected leadin/out type will be applied:
The system will try to insert the lead type choosen on the first number, if this is not possible,
will try with second and last with third type. This is a way of configure different leads for
irregular exteriors and let system place the best one in each case.
Modify button
For each contour type, one lead-in/lead-out type can be assigned. The first type will not assign any
lead-in/lead-out to the contour:
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Minimum length
This is the minimum length in which one lead can be placed. For example, if the system has been
configured for placing lead-in on the upper-right corner and in that corner there is a chamfer of 1mm,
if the minimum length allowed is 5, the system tests the minimum length and doesn't place it, it will find
a better segment of the contour for getting bigger length for placing the lead.
Minimum Radius
The meaning is the same as the previous parameter, is for security on placing leads on big enough
segments. In this case, the system will look for the radius and if is not bigger than this value will look
for another segment.
Maximum angle
If the lead is for a corner, if the two segments constitute an angle bigger than this value, the system
will not place the lead and will try with different type of lead.
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Minimum angle
When the lead is for an interior contour, the system will test the angle between these segments and
if is smaller than the value given here, will not place it.
Maximum angle
The same as previous one, if the angle of the interior contour's segments is bigger that the value of
this parameter, the system will not place the lead.
Overlapping test
The lead-in/lead-out is placed out of the contours. Because of this, that new geometries can collide
with other geometries on the sheet: parts, other leads... the system provides three different ways for
testing if there is overlapping or not:
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First, the quality will be changed and if still there are overlappings,
the lead-in/lead-out geometries will be shorten.
Copy button
Because there are 12 possible cutting qualities, the same parameter must be configured many times.
For making the data entry easier, system provides this button which permit to copy the automatic leadin/lead-out configuration from existing cutting quality values.
With the red color rounded icon, the user can access to this micro-joints parameters configuration:
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R parameter: is the radius. Depending on the given value on lead-in and lead-out, the system will place
the micro-joint using these radiuses:
Circles angle
When the micro-joint is assigned manually, the system will try to put it in the exact clicked point, but
this is not always possible.
With this parameter, the system will decide where to put it. The value meaning is the angle step the
system will use for placing the micro-joint in relation to clicked point.
For example, with a 90 circles angle value, the micro-joint will be placed in the nearest quadrant point
to clicked one: 0, 90, 180, 270. If the system can't place on nearest position, will try on next 90 degree
point.
For a value of 30, the system is going to try to put the micro-joint on every 30 degrees from the clicked
point: 0, 30, 60, 90, 120.
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Management by qualities
If the cutting qualities are used for the job, the system allows to configure different values for the
micro-joint when using the automatic assignation. With this checkbox enabled, the window will show
twelve tabs which are related to each of the twelve available cutting qualities:
Micro-joint types
These are all the micro-joints the system supports automatically. For each one, there are some parameters
to configure as shown on the graphs:
Circles angle
This value is used for system to test positions for placing micro-joints. The meaning is the angle step the
system will use for placing the micro-joints near the clicked point. For example, if the value is 90, the system
will try first the clicked point for placing micro-joint, then 0,90,180,270 degrees position from the first point.
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Copy button
Because there are 12 possible cutting qualities, the same parameter must be configured many times.
For making the data entry easier, Expert provides this button which permit to copy the automatic microjoint configuration from existing cutting quality values.
1.14.1.8.-
Materials-thickness
properties:
Loop
values
This option allows the user to configure the parameters of the Loop values section in a machine.
The loops are used for improving the corner's quality of the parts.
The system will try to use loops for corners:
1- If the user configures it in the Save options section of the machine configuration (see page 27). In
these dialogues, the user can choose if the system will insert loops automatically when saving the part,
or when entering on the nesting module.
2- In the drawing module, the user can get the Loops toolbar, and execute automatic loops assignation
using the automatic button:
The R parameter has different meaning depending on the loop type as can be seen on the graph.
Automatic Loops
For automatic machining, the loops can be applied:
In automatic mode, the loops will be applied only to the chamfers of
the contours.
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Round angles
With this feature, the machine will use soft movement without hard trayectory changes on corners. The
result is better part machinning.
Depending on the degrees, the angle will be rounded using the R value as shown in the figure:
There are four different kinds of contours where to apply the angle round, if none of them are choosed
the settings will not have effect:
Maximum angle
For the angle round process the system will look for these segments whose angle is not bigger than
the value given here (for the two options on the right side).
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>>>>. This is for variable chamfers, the user can configure with what distance and angle the chamfer
will start and at what distance and angle will finish.
There are three different kinds of chamfers that can be done depending on the parameters.
- Higher chamfer: it will be done on the upper side of the sheet. For this chamfers, only the ds and as
parameter will be used, the rest value must be 0. If ds and as have the same values on the left and
on the right side, the chamfer is fixed, not variable.
Lower chamfer: for this kind of chamfer, the parameters to fill are di and ai. The left and right values
must be equal for fix chamfers, or differents for variable chamfers.
Double chamfer: the machine must have three heads: one for vertical cut, one for higher chamfer and
the third for lower chamfer. In this case all the values must be filled, and for variable chamfers the
values must be different from left to right side.
The chamfers must be assigned manually to each part using one of the four kind of chamfers on the
Chamfers toolbar:
Once one kind is selected, the system prompts to choose the contour to apply the chamfer:
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The system changes the color of the contours on which the chamfer has been applied. This color can
be configured from main module:
See how to apply bridge manually from the nesting module (annex F)
The bridges are used for join various contours cut with less piercings. For example:
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In this example, there are placed the two kind of bridges. The first one,
between the superior part and the middle one, the part is cut completely.
But in the second bridge, the parts remain joined by the bridge.
a distance
This is the length of the bridge between parts:
Maximum length
This value is the maximum distance allowed for creating one bridge between contours.
On corners
The bridges will be applied on part's corners. In
the example, there are bridges on corners that
allows to make all the machining without raising
the head.
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Cutter radius
This is the radius of the machines cutter in mm. This radius is equal to the kerf, is the radius of the
cutting line.
Piercing radius
The piercing radius have relationship with the area around the piercing point where the system will
keep as not usable for security reasons. Normally, this distance is not workable material because of
the piercing process, and the system will use the value given here as the radius of the circle around
the piercing point of non-usable sheet.
When testing the machining, the system will output a warning message if this area has been used by
any geometry. For example, with two parts nested like on the figure:
It seems that the piercings have distance between enough for not having problems. But, making the
machining and verifying it, the system looks for the piercing radius and test every piercing for collisions:
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1- Machining
The system detects the overlapping, the user should change the lead-in positions:
Type of cut
The cut technology of the machine can be selected here: Oxicut, Plasma, High definition plasma, Laser
and Water. For laser machines, some parameters must be configured clicking on the button:
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If the previous checkbox is disabled, now the system will ask for destination points of the cycle:
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They are the different ways of doing special cycles. If the numeric control allows it, the postprocessor
will read these values for making the CNC program.
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The machine must be multitorch to use this options, and the number of sheets that we want to use must
coincide with the number of torchs. The way to check this is going to Utilities Configure Machines
Multitorch data.
see the example of how to use different number of sheets with multitorch (annex H)
Now, with the checkbox enabled, if we do the machinning, and then choose Utilities View System
Status - Verify the machinning, the system will notice us about the collision with a warning like this:
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The meaning of this parameter is for nesting module. If is enabled, the nesting will be done without
using the non-cut contours getting only the rest of the geometries. But if is disabled and some non-cut
contours are included, the nesting will be done using these contours too although they are not going
to be machined. For example, if the non-cut contours are in blue color, the space of these two rectangles
will be respected on nesting if the parameter is disabled:
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Compensation mode
The user can use two ways for making the compensation: by system or by Numeric Control. In the
second, the parameters must be configured on the Numeric Control of the machine, but in the compensation
by system is the system who will manage it. The three drawings that appears below are a visual
representation of each compensation mode. Choosing one of them will determine how the system will
apply the compensation:
Contour attributes
The postprocessor gets from the system all the needed information and makes with it the CNC program.
For that, there are some parameters that only will be used by the postprocessor, and wont have any
changes on how the system does the nesting-machinning process. These parameters can be asociated
to elements of the parts, to piercings, or, like here, to contours. So, the object of all the variables of
this dialog is to asociate values to contours, then these values will be readed by the postprocessor for
doing the properly actions.
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The system will show in the screen what attributes are assigned to each contour with the given value:
In the part, there are corner, user01 and user02 attributes applied for all the contours, also the values
of each attribute are printed in the screen. The postprocessor will read these values if they are necessary
for build the CNC Program.
Theres other way for assign contour attributes with values, is the manually way. In the nesting module,
with the Technology Cut technology option, the system prompts for the base contour and then, the
Contour Attributes dialog will appear. The attributes selected here and the given values will be applied
depending on the options chosen in the next window:
The seven top options are used to filter the contours which will receive the contour attributes depending
on the part, technology, and quality.
The last three options allows to choose to what parts will be applied the contour attributes.
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The machine initialization process must be done always before making any machine instruction. With
this option enabled, the system will show the Cutting Parameters dialog always when the initialization
instruction is executed:
When this option is selected, a new button will appear for configuring
the lead in/out values for the common cut:
The common cut will be done between more than two parts, if possible.
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For avoid this kind of situations, the system provides to enter a security value which is the distance of
the common cut joined part which is going to be cut:
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With a small factor value, the system will leave it without cut.
The nesting will be optimized for placing parts together two by two.
The system will try to use the common cut at most possible parts.
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Minimum length
The value given here is the minimum length that the contours must have to apply the common cut.
In the sheet of the left, the system tries to use the sheet at most placing the two right parts down on
the sheet. But on the sheet of the right, the system detects that the common cut is better and places
the part properly.
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System compensation
The compensation can be treated by the program or by the numeric control. When using common cut,
we can determine if the compensation is not going to be used, if it is going to be used only in the main
contour of the common cut parts, or in all the contours. When using any of the system compensation
mode, be sure that the machinning is configured to use system compensation: Utilities Configure
Machines Automatic Machinning Cut - System compensation.
Islets
Because of the use of common cut, some holes between parts may appear. The system provides two
different treatments for them.
The blue holes are examples of islets using common cut:
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If the island is big enough, it may contain another part nested inside,
with this enabled, the system will cut first these parts before cutting
the island.
The machining will start always for cutting all the islands, and then
the part's contours.
Number of torches
Shows and allows to configure the number of torches of the machine. The system supports to use up
to 20 torches at the same time.
Torch capabilities
Each torch may have different capabilities for cut, mark or for machine chamfers or notches. In this
dialogue, the use can choose the capabilities of each torch:
In the example, the first can be used for all kinds of machine, but the second or the third will only be
used for normal cut.
Torches on axis Y
Depending on each machine, the torches can be placed on X axis (by default), or in Y axis. It is important
to specify to system which kind of torches placement the machine uses.
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Control torch
Establishes which is the reference torch. The CNC program will be built for this torch, the rest will follow
his movements.
The axis configured on the previous parameter will display the options properly here:
Clicking on this button will show a torch placement dialogue with the following parameters:
The reference torch is the one with motor, the rest of them depends on this. This number sets the index
of this master torch.
The reference torch is placed fixed in the carriage, can't be moved along it. The system should know
the position of this reference torch with this value.
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The rest of the torches can be placed along the carriage but with limits. The nearest to the reference
torch must be placed at least at the distance given here. The distance is referred to the zero point of
the torch.
The maximal position along the carriage where the farther torch to the reference torch can be placed.
The distance is referred to the zero point of the torch.
The carriage can be placed in different positions always between a physical limits. This value is the
maximum length which the zero of the carriage can be moved to negative direction.
The distance the zero of the carriage can be moved to positive direction.
This value is the distance between the zero point of the seet and the zero point of the carriage. If the
reference torch is placed in the middle of the carriage, and the sheet is placed in the work zone, this
is the distance between the reference torch and the zero point of the sheet.
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Also, from here the number of actived torches to use should be configured. If the icon near the number is
with red color
, the system will use that torch. The user can inactive torches clicking on this icon knowing
that the reference torch can't be disabled, then the icon will change appearing on black color:
Automatic distances
If enabled, the system will calculate the optimal distances between torches for the related nesting, then,
in the report will output them.
Disabled, the user can manually enter the distances. For making it easier, and if the distance is fixed
between torches, the Equal distances button can be pressed after input one value, resulting on
automatically filled the rest of values:
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In the first case, the system finds the optimization of the multitorch feature, it works always with all the
actived torches, in this case with the three torches. The bigger part doesnt appear because the quantity
is only two, not three as the torches.
The second case explains the possibility of doing a nesting using the multitorch feature as far as
possible, and then the machine will stop for disabling any torch. It uses first the three torchs, then two
torchs, and if there were any other part, only one torch also will be used.
With other example the possibilities of this feature will be explained.
Now the quantity of the smaller part is very high, but we dont want only to use the sheet for that part,
we want to use the sheet to cut the two bigger parts.
The multitorch is configured with three torches, and working with the fixed number of torches. When
doing the automatic nesting, we obtain this:
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Now, we increase the quantity of the bigger part in two more, and disable one of the torches. With the
Delete tool, we clear the right middle of the sheet:
Disabling one of the torches, and clicking on "Do all" again, here is the result:
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Also, this dialogue can be shown from the Nesting module allowing the user change the configuration
and make tests faster:
Precision
The Precision bar fits the exactness of the nesting. Also if the Precision x 10 checkbox is enabled, the
precision will be very high but this is not recommended because it requires a lot of processor time. The
74% is a standard value that works right in most cases.
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Regularity
When doing the nesting, the system tries part combinations for taking good advantage of the space. If
the bar is placed with high values, the system will try more part combinations and will use those on
which the space profit is better.
Allow mirroring
With this parameter actived, the parts will be placed with symmetries if this is better for the nesting.
There are some cases that this should not be actived, for example when using plated sheets on which
one side of the part must be always the same.
For each part, the user can choose what rotations and simmetries are allowed or not. In the main
module, clicking with the right button over the part and choosing properties will show the part configuration,
clicking on more button, the rotations and simmetries possibilities will be shown:
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Although the symmetrics are allowed for each part, if the Allow mirroring option is disabled, no symmetrics
will be applied on nesting.
In the example, the green space will not be used for placing any geometry because the part will be
considered as totally rectangled.
Corner
The nesting process will start from this corner to the opposite direction.
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Exact nesting
Once the nesting has been done, if this parameter is enabled, the system will go part by part checking
the space between parts and making small movements until this space is exact. This makes the nesting
much slower and is not recommended.
Rotation posibilities
This is the angle step for system to try to place the part on the sheet. For example, with 15 degrees
value, the system gets the part and makes tests for placing the part on every 15 degrees position, in
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Finish parts
The machine will finish machining first the part's holes and then the exterior contour of the part before
moving to another part.
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The machine will cut first all the contours whose cutting quality coincides
with the chosen list.
The selected order on the dialogue will be followed for each part. When
one part has been finished, the machine will go to order the qualites of
another part.
In both by sheet and by part, clicking on the three points button will show one dialogue with two lists.
The left one contains the available cutting qualities, and moving them to the right list will build a list
which will be followed for the selected order type:
In the next example, there are two equal parts with two cut qualities assigned, dependig on the option,
the order will be as written at the right side:
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- Maximum length in X and Y: determines the maximum rectangle that will be generated as scrap.
- Offset in the parts: is the minimum distance between the cut and the parts
- Offset in the edge of the sheet: configures the distance between the cut and the edge of the sheet
- Cut in holes: this checkbox will determine if the holes are going to be cut or not
- Start in the middle: instead of cutting the framework lines from up to down, the segments will be cut
from the middle to one side, then it will go to the center again and to the other side.
- At the beginning or at the end of the machining: depending on each option, the operation will be done
at the beginning or at the end of the machine process.
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After the automatic machining is over, the system can keep the progress window for a while. This is
what the following parameters sets:
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CN compensation
Most numeric nontrols have automatically procedures of applying the compensation.
If the CN compensation checkbox is enabled, the system will leave all the related settings to the numeric
control. There are two index for the numeric control that can be configured from here: Holes and Parts
index.
System compensation
Enabled, is system who is going to manage all the compensation settings. There are some options of
the systems that have to be properly configured for obtaining a good compensation configuration. In
Configure Machines - Cutting parameters (see page 69) there are two values which determines how
the compensation will be done: Cutter radius (see page 69) and Compensation mode (see page 75).
If there is any material-thickness related configuration, the system will take the cutter radius from there.
The system gives the option of assign compensation manually too, in the nesting module, choosing
Technology CN compensation or System compensation. They have almost the same configure dialog.
CN compensation will prompt for the compensation index, and System compensation requires the cutter
radius:
Selecting the contours will assign to them the chosen compensation mode and settings.
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Type of cycle
Also, the type of the cycle is configured here:
If this option is selected, the system will use the configured type of cycle on Configure
machines - Postprocessor - Specifics of cut - Dot Cycle by default
All the cycles applied on automatic machining will be drill cycles.
See also the Configure machine - Cutting parameters - There are special cycles (see page 71) option
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This indicates that the system will have special care with machine head, if disabled, the automatic
machining process will not manage the head movement.
When saving the machining, the system will make several tests for avoid head collisions. This option
can be enabled although the first one is not. In this case, the treatment will be done only when saving,
not when doing the automatic machining.
The system will make the test even if the system has been configured for making all the rapid movements
with the head up.
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When moving over a hole, the head may result damaged. The distance have different values depending
on the chosen option:
- Maximum hollow: is the maximum distance inside the hole that the system will allow the head to pass over
- Offset: is the maximum distance between the hole and the head movement.
The system will try the given number of tracts to avoid holes. For understanding what are the tracts,
the following figure of the right is a rapid movement with three tracts, and the left ones is the same with
five tracts:
Selecting one option from here will allow the system to change the situation of leads iin/outs to optimize
the head management of the machining process.
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Leads will be repositionated for avoiding cut parts in the rapids movement.
The objective with this configuration is not encounter any cut hole on the
rapid movements.
In this first example, there are two head up inserted for avoiding cut
In the second example, the leads have been modified and between parts there is not any movement
over cut holes:
In the last example, the best lead placement has been obtained: rapid movements are the shortest, and
all the cut holes are evaded:
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If this parameter is enabled and there are lead-in/lead-out already assigned to the part, the system will
no try to change them.
When the machining process of a part has been done, the system will send an order to the machine
for lifting the head.
The special case of common cut elements is what this option configures. When a common cut element
has been finalized, the head will go up.
More options for configuring the head movements are:
Configure machines - Startup - Execute every rapid with head up (see page 7)
Configure machines - Startup - Apply head up at the beginning of machining (see page 7)
Machining order
Once cutting parameters, remnants settings, compensation mode, type of cycles and management of
heads are configured, is the time to determine the automatic Machinning Order.
Just pushing the Machinning order button, all the options will be shown in a new dialog where the
machining order can be determined with different criteria, but it is important to understand some
parameters:
Depending on the selected starting corner, the machining will go
in the selected direction, going back if cut in zig-zag is enabled. In
the following table there are all the combinations between directions
and zig-zag for one corner:
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The system will divide the sheet in zones. If this option is enabled, the system needs the following
values:
X and Y are the number of zones on which the sheet is going to be
divided. The offset is the percent of the nearby zones area that would
enter into one zone. All the parts with geometry inside of the zone will
be included on it.
Also, the visualize option makes that on nesting module the sheet will
appear splitted on zones.
Enabled, the selected side of the sheet will be the last machined one.
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When machining, the right part will enter into the first zone because there is a geometry
This checkbox will be used only for by zones criteria. The system will distribute the cut zones with the
objective of not cut the same area consecutively. All the zones will be collated like in the figure below,
where the numbers are the machining order:
Using this option, the system will start the machining from the chosen point on corner and will follow
the selected direction. It works like the by zones criteria, but now the torch will cut all the parts found
in the specified direction instead of the parts that are included in each zone.
For example, this machining has been done with the upper right start point and vertical direction:
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In this case, bigger parts will be cut before smallers. Following with the example:
T h i s i s t h e o p p o s i t e o f t h e p r e v i o u s o p t i o n : f i r s t t h e s m a l l e r pa r ts , a n d t h e n b i g g e r s :
Note that in the size criteria, the selected direction and corner point won't have any action for the
system.
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Extract by lift
If the machine has a lift system, it should be used for evacuations. If this option is selected, the following
parameters must be configured clicking on the three points button of the right:
This is the minimum number of suction cups that the lift should use for extracting the part, if the number
of cups is smaller, then it will not be evacuated by lift.
Those are the minimum length and width that the part or hole should have for executing an evacuation
by the lift system.
The system calculates the part's centre of gravity and the cups will be placed as nearest as possible
from this point. The value given here is the maximum distance allowed from the centre of gravity to the
suction cups of the lift system.
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The system will enable the suction cups nearest to the centre of gravity of the part, and then the rest
if this parameter is actived. If not, the system will use the most number of suction cups possible.
There are some lift machines whose suction cups can move from the lifting carriage for getting some
parts or holes better.
The machine will use the traps for evacuations. This option will no appear if the tramps of the machine
has not been configured on Main Elements - Work Centers - Machine - Configure - Work Chutes (see
page 16).
The trap number which is going to be used can be selected:
The system will calculate which trap is better to use depending on the coordinates of the part.
The user can configure to use always the same tramp for evacuating the parts.
Clicking on the three point buttons of the right will show more parameters:
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The machine will move the sheet with the objective of centering the part on the tramp if this checkbox
is enabled.
Sometimes the part can't fall into the trap completely. With this parameter enabled, the machine will
m a k e s m a l l m o v e m e n ts f o r m a k i n g t h e pa r t f a l l i n t o t h e t r a p a ft e r i t h a s b e e n o p e n e d .
If the machine has vacumm or hammer system, the system will order to the machine to use them after
opening the trap for making the part evacuation effective. Here, the user should configure which
mechanism to use.
The trap will not be open if the part is not placed over it the percent given here. 100% means that all
the part must be over the trap before opening it.
Number of box
From each tramp, depending on the opening way, the parts can go to a different box. Here, the number
of box where the parts are going to be evacuated can be configured.
Put an stop
After every evacuation movement, the machine can be stopped if this option is enabled. Also, there are
some parameters to configure if this option has been selected:
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The system will try to move the lead in/out for improving the manual part removal, trying to leave the
head in the best position.
The user can choose the place for setting always the lead-in/out, or if
choosing "?", it will calculate the best position for each part the number
given on number of attempts.
If the part has lead-in/lead-out assigned previously and this option is enabled, the system will use them.
If this checkbox is disabled, the system will erase them and look for the best position for making easier
the manual part removal.
Enabled, the system will use always the lift system as evacuation method if possible.
If the part or hole to evacuate is smaller than this minimum radius, the system will not removal it
from the sheet.
Micro-joints
The system will apply automatically micro-joints as evacuation method depending on the value
given on the following parameters:
The previous parameter is the maximum distance allowed to part contours without micro-joints.
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If the width of the micro-joint is going to be fix, this parameter should be disabled and the value
which is going to use always is the specified on Width value of micro-joint.
But if the previous checkbox is enabled, then there are two values to configure:
In this case, the system will calculate the width of the microjoint multiplying the value given here and
the thickness of the sheet.
Removal speed
This parameter allows to configure the lift system's removal speed.
Dwell time
This is the delay time for closing the tramp. Sometimes the tramp closes early and the part can't
go into the box, this value adjusts the time the tramp remains open.
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Cycle type
Depending on the machine type, the system can manage different types of cycle, and clicking on more
button of each one will show all the parameters to configure
- %D (L=%D): This is the length of the cycle refer to the lead-in length. In the example, the 50% means
that if the lead-in length is 10 mm, the cycle will be of 5 mm.
- Displacements X and Y: These are the coordinates on which the cycle will be done moving from the
center of the lead-in.
- Dwell time: This is the time the machine will apply to the cycle before and after doing it.
NOTE: Depending on the machine and the postprocessor, the applied cycle may be different that the
configured here. This is because the postprocessor calls to a different cycle type of the machine.
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When the hole is going to be done deep, the drill should go up occasionally for taking out the shaving,
if this shaving is not taken out the drill could be damaged.
In the values given on the example, the cycles will be applied only for these sheets whose thickness
is higher than 8 mm.
Enabled, the machining will be done finishing each part before going to cut other. The machine will
apply the cycle on the part's lead-in, then will cut it and will go to apply the cycle on the next part.
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If disabled, the machine will execute first all the cycles on every lead-in, and then will follow with the
machining.
Depending on the configuration made on this parameter, the cut head will start cutting from the blue point:
In the first case, the head will be placed just in the center of the cycle. There is the possibility, in this
case, that the head will no encounter sheet (it has been holed by the cycle), and the height sensor may
have errors. It is normal in this case that the machine worker has to move the head to the sheet border
for making the heat to start cutting.
In the second case, the head will go just to the border of the cycle where there is sheet for making heat
and cut from the beginning.
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In the toolbar, there is one option rounded by red line, which will show the values for the parameters
of the leads if the user assigns them manually.
See how to assign lead-in / lead-out manually (see annex C)
The following options will be applied to any lead inserted manually for all the jobs of the specified
material between the thickness. All the parameters are related to the length and shape of the leads:
The leads can be very different. For this, depending on the leads that will be used for
the part, each parameter have different meaning. For example, the D parameter means
the length of one upright lead (first diagram), but if the lead has some angle, the D
distance is the height from the vertex (second diagram).
The user can configure different distances depending if is lead in or lead out:
Circles angle
If the user wants to place the lead manually, sometimes happen that this lead can't be placed in the
exact clicked point. The value of this parameter will help to system to decide where to put it. The
meaning is the angle step the system will use for placing the lead.
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For example, with a 90 circles angle value, the lead will be placed in the nearest quadrant point to clicked
one: 0, 90, 180, 270. If the system can't place on nearest position, will try on next 90 degree point.
For a value of 30, the system is going to try to put the lead on every 30 degrees from the clicked point:
0, 30, 60, 90, 120.
There is also a way to modify the placed lead-in / lead-out (see annex C).
The position of the lead, the type of leads to use depending on the different contours, and all the
distances must be configured.
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Management by qualities
If the cutting qualities are used for the job, the system allows to configure different values for the leadin/lead-out when using the automatic assignation. With this checkbox enabled, the window will show
twelve tabs which are related to each of the twelve available cutting qualities:
NOTE: From Material-thickness dependent data - Automatic Lead-in/Lead-out, the cutting qualities
checkbox is not enabled. If the user wants to configure them depending on material-thickness, first the
Management by qualities checkbox must be enabled on Configure Machine - Cutting machine - Automatic
Lead-in/Lead-out.
Zone
When using automatic leads, the user can choose the place where the system will try
first for placing the lead.
Is possible to select different position for exterior contours of parts and for holes.
If the selected zone is the one marked with "?", the system will decide which leads
position is the best for cutting the part in the best conditions.
There are different kind of contours which system can distinguish. In the following table, there are two
examples for each contour type. All the geometries on red colour are those on which the selected leadin/out type will be applied:
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The system will try to insert the lead type choosen on the first number, if this is not possible,
will try with second and last with third type. This is a way of configure different leads for
irregular exteriors and let system place the best one in each case.
Modify button
For each contour type, one lead-in/lead-out type can be assigned. The first type will not assign any
lead-in/lead-out to the contour:
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Minimum length
This is the minimum length in which one lead can be placed. For example, if the system has been
configured for placing lead-in on the upper-right corner and in that corner there is a chamfer of 1mm,
if the minimum length allowed is 5, the system tests the minimum length and doesn't place it, it will find
a better segment of the contour for getting bigger length for placing the lead.
Minimum Radius
The meaning is the same as the previous parameter, is for security on placing leads on big enough
segments. In this case, the system will look for the radius and if is not bigger than this value will look
for another segment.
Maximum angle
If the lead is for a corner, if the two segments constitute an angle bigger than this value, the system
will not place the lead and will try with different type of lead.
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Minimum angle
When the lead is for an interior contour, the system will test the angle between these segments and if
is smaller than the value given here, will not place it.
Maximum angle
The same as previous one, if the angle of the interior contour's segments is bigger that the value of
this parameter, the system will not place the lead.
Overlapping test
The lead-in/lead-out is placed out of the contours. Because of this, that new geometries can collide
with other geometries on the sheet: parts, other leads... the system provides three different ways for
testing if there is overlapping or not:
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First, the quality will be changed and if still there are overlappings,
the lead-in/lead-out geometries will be shorten.
Copy button
Because there are 12 possible cutting qualities, the same parameter must be configured many times.
For making the data entry easier, system provides this button which permit to copy the automatic leadin/lead-out configuration from existing cutting quality values.
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With the red color rounded icon, the user can access to this micro-joints parameters configuration:
R parameter: is the radius. Depending on the given value on lead-in and lead-out, the system will place
the micro-joint using these radiuses:
Circles angle
When the micro-joint is assigned manually, the system will try to put it in the exact clicked point, but
this is not always possible.
With this parameter, the system will decide where to put it. The value meaning is the angle step the
system will use for placing the micro-joint in relation to clicked point.
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For example, with a 90 circles angle value, the micro-joint will be placed in the nearest quadrant point
to clicked one: 0, 90, 180, 270. If the system can't place on nearest position, will try on next 90 degree
point.
For a value of 30, the system is going to try to put the micro-joint on every 30 degrees from the clicked
point: 0, 30, 60, 90, 120.
Management by qualities
If the cutting qualities are used for the job, the system allows to configure different values for the microjoint when using the automatic assignation. With this checkbox enabled, the window will show twelve
tabs which are related to each of the twelve available cutting qualities:
Micro-joint types
These are all the micro-joints the system supports automatically. For each one, there are some parameters
to configure as shown on the graphs:
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Circles angle
This value is used for system to test positions for placing micro-joints. The meaning is the angle step
the system will use for placing the micro-joints near the clicked point. For example, if the value is 90,
the system will try first the clicked point for placing micro-joint, then 0,90,180,270 degrees position from
the first point.
Copy button
Because there are 12 possible cutting qualities, the same parameter must be configured many times.
For making the data entry easier, Expert provides this button which permit to copy the automatic microjoint configuration from existing cutting quality values.
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The R parameter has different meaning depending on the loop type as can be seen on the graph.
Automatic Loops
For automatic machining, the loops can be applied:
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Round angles
With this feature, the machine will use soft movement without hard trayectory changes on corners. The
result is better part machinning.
Depending on the degrees, the angle will be rounded using the R value as shown in the figure:
There are four different kinds of contours where to apply the angle round, if none of them are choosed
the settings will not have effect:
Maximum angle
For the angle round process the system will look for these segments whose angle is not bigger than
the value given here (for the two options on the right side).
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- Lower chamfer: for this kind of chamfer, the parameters to fill are di and ai. The left and right values
must be equal for fix chamfers, or differents for variable chamfers.
- Double chamfer: the machine must have three heads: one for vertical cut, one for higher chamfer and
the third for lower chamfer. In this case all the values must be filled, and for variable chamfers the
values must be different from left to right side.
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The chamfers must be assigned manually to each part using one of the four kind of chamfers on the
Chamfers toolbar:
Once one kind is selected, the system prompts to choose the contour to apply the chamfer:
The system changes the color of the contours on which the chamfer has been applied. This color can
be configured from main module:
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see how to apply bridge manually from the nesting module (annex F)
The bridges are used for join various contours cut with less piercings. For example:
In this example, there are placed the two kind of bridges. The first
one, between the superior part and the middle one, the part is cut
completely.
But in the second bridge, the parts remain joined by the bridge.
A distance
This is the length of the bridge between parts:
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Maximum length
This value is the maximum distance allowed for creating one bridge between contours.
On corners
The bridges will be applied on part's corners. In the example, there are bridges on corners that allows
to make all the machining without raising the head.
General
Block numbering
Free tape
Specifics of cut
Reserved
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Machine tolerance
This is the precision of decimal numbers which the machine supports. It is important to configure this
parameter properly because if the system is sending coordinates with different precision, the machine
may not work correctly.
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Default technology
This is the technology which will be applied to the geometry since it has been generated. Normally the
default value is cut.
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Circular: as the previous one, the postprocessor will not look the configuration made on the system,
and it is going to place a circular lead-in on circles whose length will be taken from the previous
Length of leading in circles parameter.
Linear tolerance
This value is the linear tolerance for calculations of the system. It should be the same as the value
c o n f i g u r e d o n U t i l i t i e s - C o n f i g u r e m a c h i n e s - G e n e r a l - L i n e a r t o l e r a n c e ( s e e pa g e 1 ) .
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Angular tolerance
The system will use this angular tolerance value for calculations. It should be the same as the value
g i v e n o n U t i l i t i e s - C o n f i g u r e m a c h i n e s - G e n e r a l - A n g u l a r To l e r a n c e ( s e e pa g e 1 ) .
This option will prevent the situation where the lead-in and lead-out coordinates are the same. If this
option is not used, the system will introduce a circle instead of an arc.
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system will take the torch of the center. If the number of torches is par, it will take the most centered
one nearest to the position of the control torch (Up/Down or Left/Right).
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The filter parameters may be different depending on the postprocessor configuration, and the parameters
contained into the categories are different for each postprocessor.
The system will test if the contours have assigned any cutting quality, if so, it will go to this table and
depending on the material, thickness, lens, gas and power which is currently used in the machining
order, will apply the values configured in the different categories.
There are two different ways for assigning a cutting quality to a contour:
1- Using the automatic technology option of material/thickness dependent data configuration window
(see page 52).
2- Using the second icon of the Cut toolbar in the drawing module and clicking on the desired contours:
New button
Clicking on this button will create a new entry on the filter parameters:
For example, with the values written in the figure, all the parameters which will be configured in the different
categories will only be used if the material is RST37-2 with thickness between 5 and 6 mm, using any focal
distance of the lens, Nitrogen as reference gas and with the default nominal power of the machine.
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Leaving zero values or < > on he dialogs means that any of the existing values will be used.
When doing manual cutting qualities asignation, the system has information about the sheet material
and the thickness. From here, it is easy to determine the configuration for that sheet or, at least,
configure the cutting qualities for all the sheets between the thickness we are working with. If not, the
cutting cualities can't be set up.
A general filter to use can be:
Knowing the reference gas, the focal distance of the lens and the nominal power of the machine of the
current order is important for making the cutting qualities filters work properly. This can be check on
Utilities - Machines - Cutting parameters - Laser parameters (see annex G).
NOTE: If there are filter parameters which works with different focal distance of the lens, reference gas
or nominal power of the machine, the user must take care with the configuration made on Utilities Configure - Machines - Cutting parameters - Laser parameters, because if the configuration made there
is fix, it will only works if there is a related entry on the technological tables.
Once the filter parameters has been set, the user should configure the parameter of each category:
There are many parameters on each option that can be changed. All these
parameters and their values composes the Tables of Technology. Internally,
the tables of technology are pairs of parameters-values that are stored in
the Technological Tables File (.tt file), and will be read by the postprocessor
to make the proper CNC program.
Depending on the category, there are distinctions between cutting qualities. For knowing exactly which
values will be used for each contour, the user must know:
1- The material and thickness on which the part is going to be cut.
2- Depending on the postprocessor configuration, the focal distance of the lens, the reference gas and
the nominal power of the machine.
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With these values, the system goes to the correct row on the table:
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There are some categories which are not divided into cutting qualities, in this case, the values will be
applied to all the contours which coincides with the material/thickness, gas, lens and power.
The system has a very powerful feature for working automatically with cutting qualities. After all the
values has been configured for the parameters of the technological tables, then it is recommended to
use the automatic technology option of the material / thickness dependent data (see page 52) configuring
the automatic assignation to the contours depending on the size. The result is that system will assign
the cutting qualities to each contour automatically depending on the material/thickness and size of the
contour, and then it will use the correct parameters configured on the technological tables which
corresponds to that material, thickness and cuttinq quality.
Modify button
This button allows to change the filter parameters of the current technological table row.
Delete button
If this button is pressed, the current row and all the given values for the parameters will be deleted.
Copy button
The current row will be duplicated allowing to make the configuration faster.
Import button
With this button, the system provides the possibility of importing a previous backup of the technological
tables configuration.
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Criteria button
Clicking on this button will make the system to show a window where the user can choose which rows
will be shown on the screen for making the finding process faster and easier.
NOTE: The rows which not appear after using this option are not deleted, just hidden.. For showing
them again, the find criteria should be changed properly taking into account that <> means "any".
Cutting parameters
Reposition / Extracts
Accelerations
Postprocessor words
Upload / Download sheets
The user can see the results of time and cost estimation after making the machining process in the
nesting module using the Utilities - Time and cost... option of the menu:
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Piercing time
This is the time the machine takes to perform a piercing. There are three possibilities:
The system will add 0,5 seconds for each mm of the thickness.
For example: with a 12mm sheet, each piercing will take 6
seconds.
The value will be get from the Tables of Technology
Active means that Expert will make the time estimation with the current
active speed. This speed will be taken from Material / thickness
dependent data - cutting parameters (see page 50) or if there is not
any match configuration, from Startup - Feed rates (see page 8), both
options can be shown from the machine configuration.
The speed will be taken from the Tables of technology (see page 140).
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Cancellation time
This is the time the machine takes to stop everything after the machining process.
In the example table, from the stop position to start cutting it takes 0,3 seconds, or from marking to
cutting 0,7 seconds.
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Reposition
In this section, the time the machine takes for performing a reposition can be specified. It has been
divided into three sections: head, pistons and auxiliar time:
Those are the times to lower and raise the head when doing a reposition
The time the pistons takes for making down and up movements.
The auxiliar time will be add to reposition estimation time, it depends on the way each machine perform
the repositions.
Component Removal
This second section refers to the time the evacuation system will take for getting a component from the sheet.
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When using a lift system, this is the time the suction cups takes to get the component from the sheet.
The time the evacuation by trap will take can be set up depending on the trap and the movement it
makes. For example:
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When a Head-Up or Head-Down word is found in the CNC code, Expert will use those times.
The time the clamps take to block, go up and make down movement.
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The time for clamp testing, and an auxiliar time which should be filled if there is other movement which
has not been specified here.
The time depending if the sheet is downloaded manually or with an automatic system.
This time will be add everytime there is a download sheet operation. It can be configured for any
movement which has not been specified here.
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New
First of all, the user should fill in the table with the different materials and thickness:
Then, using the Configuration button the different parameters for making the cost calculation will appear.
Modify
When a configuration has been made for a material between the specified thicknesses it remains stored
in the database for future uses. With this option, the user can change the material, the thickness or
both of them but the configuration of the assigned parameters will be kept.
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Copy
This option is very useful when the configuration of different materials and/or thickness are similar.
Using it, the user can copy all the cost configuration parameters into new material/thickness assignation.
Configuration
With this option the user can access to the table where the cost parameters for all the machining
operations can be set up. There are four parameters which will determine how the calculation will be
made. The way of doing it is using the new button:
The operation selected here will be included into the cost calculation each time the machining executes
it. The different operations will be different depending on the machine type.
The way the system will use for making this calculations depends on the next three parameters:
The mode determines how the cost given in the value parameter will be added into the calculation:
Depending on the operation, the system will show the different modes:
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The value will be added each time the operation is executed in the machining process.
The value x mm of current sheet's thickness will be added. This option is for piercing operation.
The calculation consists in the value x second that the operation continues.
For each milimeter of perforation the machine will spend the value volume of the chosen consumable.
The price of the volume unit of consumable should be defined in the main menu
The consumables can be defined together with the price of volume unit in the Main elements - Raw
Materials option of the system.
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This parameter will increase the total expense of the machining process depending on the calculation
mode.
For example, with this configuration:
With each millimeter of piercing, the machine will spend 0,03 l of nitrogen. The price of the litre of
nitrogen should be defined in Main elements - Raw Materials. The total cost of piercings will be:
0,03 x Price of litre x numbers of piercing in the machining x milimeters perforated
With this other example:
For each second of cut the system will add a 0,02 waste of oxigen. The price of the litre of oxigen
should be defined in Main elements - Raw Materials. The total cost of the cutting operation will be
calculated in this way:
0,02 x Price of litre of oxygen x seconds cutting
Criteria
The list of material and thickness can be filtered using this button. The system will show only the range
configured in this window. The "< >" character means any material.
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Annex
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2- Edit the part and draw one more hole. Then, mechanize it:
3-When going back to the Nesting Module, depending on the value of the parameter Show on the sheet
the machining modifications made on parts two things may happen:
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a) Enabled:
b) Disabled:
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Annex B: Ink-Jet
T h i s w i n d o w w i l l c o n f i g u r e h o w t h e i d e n t i f i e r o f t h e pa r ts w i l l b e m a r k e d i n t o t h e pa r t .
Automatic
The system will introduce the Ink-jet text introduced here on every part of the sheet.
Punch
This is the tool which is going to be used for delimit the texts. These limits are not going to be punched,
it is just for delimit them in the nesting.
Text
The text given here will be marked into the part. Using the "#" symbol followed by a number will make
the system to insert the identifier. Depending on the number: #0: Part reference, #1: Customer, #2:
Order number, #3:Plan number. And the "\" character will finish the line and insert a new one.
All of them are prompted when the part has been introduced into the system in the part properties, for
example, from the CAM module:
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In the example the user writes: P #1 #2, if #1 is Lantek (Cusomter) and #2 is 195/70 (Order number),
the line which is going to be marked is:
P Lantek 195/70
Making the nesting and a zoom to one part:
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Correct position
The values of the offset will determinet the distance between the external contour of the part and the
marked text:
But if there is any hole where the marked text should be, the user can configure the distance from
the initial to try each time.
In the example, Expert will test every 5 mm if the position for the text is good or not.
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2- The system will wait for the user to choose the base contour where the lead will be placed:
3- Once the contour has been chosen, the system needs the position from this base contour for placing
the lead-in/lead-out. It is important to check the position is the correct, because it may be inside the
part.
The system will insert the lead-in and the lead-out depending on the chosen type and the values
configured for the parameters:
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If the result is no good, the user can change it using the last four options of the toolbar. They provide
four different methods for adjusting the lead-in/lead.out. For explaining how to use them, let's use
one example part with the leads already inserted:
Manually, the user can move the point of the lead-in or lead-out.
The way of moving the lead position is just clicking on the button, and then selecting the lead-in/leadout point to modify and move it to the new position, the lead-in/lead-out is the hole ones:
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Also, the system provides the possibility of changing the lead-out for placing
it in the same direction as the lead-in.
Using the option of the toolbar, and then selecting the lead-out will make this:
When the lead-in/lead-out has been placed on corner, this option allows to
modify them placing on the intersection at 45 degrees:
If the lead-in is an arc, the system allows to transform it into two segments.
This is necessary for some machines:
For deleting the lead-in/lead-out, use the delete option of the cut toolbar:
And then selecting the contour where the lead-in/lead-out has been placed.
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2- The system will wait for the user to choose the base contour where the micro-joint will be placed:
3- Once the contour has been chosen, the system needs the position from this base contour for placing
the lead-in/lead-out. It is important to check the position is the correct, because it may be inside the part.
The system will insert the micro-joint depending on the chosen type and the values configured for the
parameters:
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The same micro-joint type will be applied on each clicked contour of the part, for example adding three
micro-joints more:
For deleting the micro-joint, use the delete option of the toolbar:
And then selecting the contour where the micro-joint has been placed.
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2- The system will wait for the user to choose the contour near a corner for applying the selected loop
type:
The system will look for the nearest corner to the clicked point of the contour, and will apply the loop
on it:
The system changes the color of the loops for showing to which contours are applied. This color can
be configured from main module:
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For deleting the loops, use the delete option of the loops toolbar:
And then selecting the corner where the loops has been placed.
Also, the user can round corners from here, using the round angles option of the toolbar. Doing this,
the system will round the angles of the part:
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The system will wait for the user to choose the contour of the first part, and then the second one:
The system will insert a bridge between those parts, so that the part will be machined together without
raising the head. With a zoom we can see the assigned bridge:
The contours where the bridge has been applied will be shown on the screen with a different color that
the normal geometries. This color can be configured on:
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Only one bridge can be placed between the same two parts, so if the user wants to place a different
bridge, first of all he must delete it using the delete option of the toolbar:
And then selecting the bridge geometry from the part's contours.
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Reference gas:
The gas that is going to be used in the laser machine can be selected here. Possible gases are Nitrogen,
Compressed air or Oxygen. Like in the rest of the system, the < > symbol indicates any of the elements.
For using Tables of Technology, see the note below (see page 172).
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Corner refrigeration
Some machines can use an special treatment for refrigeration on corners making an stop and executing
a refrigeration cycle. When this checkbox is enabled, the postprocessor will determine how these
refrigerations are going to be handled. Also, the system allows to determine a filter of what corners will
receive the treatment depending on the corner's angle (between minimum and maximum).
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Film Burning
Sometimes the sheets are covered by a protection film. The machine will burn this film before burning
the sheet.
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Select the point and the machining will be inserted. The option will remain active until you choose a new
option or push the ESC key. There will be rapid movements (see annex O) between inserted machining:
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The machine is going to be configured with three torches for working with the three sheets at once.
This will be done on Configure machines - Multitorch data:
The Control Torch option gives the control to one torch, the CNC program will be done for this torch,
the rest will follow his movements. The Chamfering, Cut, Mark and Notches specifies the abilities of
each torch.
Torches on axis Y confirms the placement on Y axis of the torches, also there is a minimal distance
between torches. chekbox.
If available, the nesting module will show three sheets in the same screen. Its important to check the
number of sheets, if we want to use multitorch with three torchs and three sheets and we only have
two sheets, logically, the system allows to use these two only:
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For making the vertical parts machining, there is no problem because the torches can move physically
to the correct position and the parts can be machined with three torches arriving each one to each part
without problems.
But when going to perform the machining of the horizontal placed part, the system is going to cut it with
the first torch, in this case the one placed on the lower side of the carriage. Maybe it can arrive to the
interior contour, but not to exterior ones. What will Expert do?, depending on the chose option:
The system will use the torch number one for the interior, and other for the exterior (the number two,
for example).
The system will perform a test for knowing if the torch number one can cut all the part (interior and exterior
contours). Because this is not possible, it will make a test with the torch number two. If is possible, then
Expert will order to the machine to cut the whole part with the same torch, the number two.
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window
makes
the
configuration
of
the
automatic
fixed
cycles
execution.
First of all, for using this option, the system should know which kind of tools the machine have. This
should be configured on
Main elements - Work Centers - Cutting machine - Tools (see annex M)
Once the machine has assigned the tools, then in this window the user can define the different parameters
of each cycle type on the right side:
And in the left side of the window, the user can configure when the different cycles are going to be
assigned automatically to the different contours:
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For understanding how it works, let's assume that the machine has four kind of tools already configured:
CSINK-24, DRILL-25, REAM-18, TAP-25.
If there is any 25mm hole with cutting quality 9, the system will apply a drill cycle with the DRILL-25
tool. If there is a 25mm hole with cutting quality 10, it will execute a tap cycle with the TAP-25 tool. In
this case, it is important to order the machining by qualities because the drill cycle (quality 9) should
be executed before the tap ones (quality 10).
18 mm holes with cutting quality 11 will be done with the REAM-18 tool and 24mm holes with cutting
quality 12 with the CSINK-24 tool.
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In the example, there are only four steps, and at the end the position on which the three cups can be
actived because they are over the part is the last one. The system will always use the position on which
there is the possibility of enable the most number of cups.
N O T E : I f t h e l i ft s y s t e m h a s o n l y m o v e m e n t o n Y a x i s , t h e s e t w o v a l u e s s h o u l d b e 0 .
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NOTE: If the system has only movement on X axis, these values should be 0.
But if the carriage can move on X and Y axis, the system will test every X possible on each Y position.
In the next example there are three steps to try in X axis, and three steps in Y:
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In this case, the last is the best position because the lift can use four cups.
Collision: head 1
These parameters will determine the minimum and maximum X and Y values on which the lift can move.
The system will never allow to pass these coordinates for avoiding collision with the head.
Collision: head 2
In combination machines there are two heads and the lift system must take care of not collision with
none of them. These coordinates configures the distances where the lift can't go on for security with
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This change can be done in more than just the clicked part depending on the option chosen in Make on.
For example, with the following group of parts, if clicking in the signed one:
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Depending on the chosen option, the change will be applied to the pointed parts:
This option enables the user to delete the defined micro-joint, with the assistance of element
selection buttons bar.
In order to define the geometry of the micro-joint, select this button so that the clamping
values. are established.
From here the automatic micro-joint configuration dialogue can be shown.
Using this option, the user can change the lead in/out point of the microjoint. For example,
the next figure is a part with microjoints:
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The micro-joint have special treatment which can cause problems in some machining operations
like the repositions. This option will include the assigned micro-joint into the part contours for
being treated in the future as a geometry allowing to solve the possible problems:
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If the cutting machine has any kind of tools which will execute cycles, here should be configured.
In the tools window there are two possibilities:
Tool definition
In the new window the defined tools are listed depending on the options given on Criteria:
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In the Criteria window which tools will be shown on the list can be changed. This is only for showing
tools, it doesn't delete any defined tool.
NOTE: Sometimes it seems that a defined tool is not in the list, it is important to check the Criteria
configuration to know exactly which tools are on the list. In the example there are all the tools of the
Lantek Cut Iso machine.
Create tool
This button will create a new tool of any of the four available types: drill cycle, tap cycle, ream cycle,
C. sink cycle. Each type have specific parameters:
Dryll cycle:
Tap cycle:
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Ream cycle:
C. sink cycle:
Depending on the type of the cycle, different speeds can be associated to different materials. This is
with the Material Data button placed on each type parameter configuration window:
Then, using the new button will make new speed assignment depending on material and/or thickness.
For drill cycles:
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For the material RST37-2, the simple drill will be used with a rotation and feed speed of 10 (UPM speed)
for thickness lowers than 5.
The user can make all the desired associations like this.
For tap cycle:
The speed will be 10 if using the material ST-42. For each material, different speed can be set up.
For ream cycle:
With UPM speed for rotation and feed with a value of 10 the ream cycle will be done for RST37-2
material.
For C. sink cycle:
The C. sink cycles in ST-42 material will be done at speed of 10 (UPM speed).
Making different associations will result in a better relationship between material and thickness and the
cycle.
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A Rapid movement is a displacement of the head without cutting. Using this option, the user can insert
a rapid movement from the current machining coordinates to the desired point (clicking with the mouse
or using the keyboard for giving the coordinates):
The system will go inserting rapid movements to the prompted points until the ESC key is pressed.
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Selection of elements by clicking the mouse on them (or deselection if they are already selected).
Selection of elements with a rectangular window. The same effect as clicking the left mouse
button in an area in which there are no elements.
Selection of elements by means of an area generated in the polyline style. All the elements
trapped inside this area will be selected.
The elements whose ends coincide with the last element selected are selected. The same effect
can be produced by clicking the middle mouse button.
Validates the selection. The same effect can be achieved by clicking the right mouse button or
pressing the <INTRO> key.
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