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Universal Laser Systems ULS-25PS, Operation Manual

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This publication and its contents are proprietary to Universal Laser Systems Inc.,  and 
are intended solely for the contractual use of Universal Laser Systems,  Inc. customers. 
 
This publication and its contents may not be reproduced or distributed for any other 
purpose without the written permission of Universal Laser Systems,  Inc. 
 
 

© Universal Laser Systems Inc.,  1996 

All Rights Reserved 

 
 
 
 

Notice 

 
Universal Laser Systems,  Inc. does not assume any liability arising out of the 
application or use of any products,  circuits or software described herein.  Neither does 
it convey a license under its patent rights nor the patent rights of others.  Universal 
Laser Systems Inc. further reserves the right to make any changes in any products 
described herein without notice.  This document is subject to change without notice. 
 
HP is a registered trademark of Hewlett-Packard Company. 
 
Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation. 
 

 

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Summary of Contents for ULS-25PS

Page 1: ...OPERATION MANUAL ULS 25PS ULS 25PSR ULS 50PS ULS 50PSR Universal Laser Systems Inc 16008 North 81st Street Scottsdale AZ 85260 Phone 602 483 1214 Fax 602 483 5620 Volume I Rev B1 July 1996 ...

Page 2: ...6 All Rights Reserved Notice Universal Laser Systems Inc does not assume any liability arising out of the application or use of any products circuits or software described herein Neither does it convey a license under its patent rights nor the patent rights of others Universal Laser Systems Inc further reserves the right to make any changes in any products described herein without notice This docu...

Page 3: ...Graphics Software 21 3 2 The ULS Printer Driver for Windows 26 3 3 Using DOS Based Programs 30 3 4 The ULS Printer Driver for Macintosh 31 Section 4 Laser System Operation 4 1 General System Overview 35 4 2 The Control Panel 36 4 3 Loading and Focusing the Laser System 50 4 4 Running a Sample 54 4 5 Using the Optional Rotary Fixture 54 4 6 The Optional Rubber Stamp Feature 59 4 7 Start Up Paramete...

Page 4: ...safety assembly use and maintenance of the laser system We cannot overemphasize the importance of reading the owner s manual completely Where to get HELP If it is necessary to call for technical assistance please call our TECHNICAL SUPPORT at 602 483 1214 Please be prepared to answer our questions by following the procedures below as this will allow us to provide assistance in a prompt and efficie...

Page 5: ...the safety of all people in the surrounding area 2 NEVER operate the laser system without constant supervision of the cutting and engraving process Exposure to the laser beam may cause ignition of combustible materials A properly maintained fire extinguisher should be kept on hand at all times 3 Operation and care of the laser system must be performed in accordance with this manual 4 Dangerous vol...

Page 6: ...rly affixed to the machine in the appropriate locations at the time of manufacture These labels are not to be removed If they become damaged or removed for any reason please request additional labels from Universal Laser Systems they will be provided free of charge Below is a list of all the labels and their locations on the system Manufacturer s Label Location On the back of the machine in the lo...

Page 7: ...cator light on the control panel of the system The switch allows the power to the laser to be manually turned on and off The red indicator light will light up when power is being supplied to the laser If at any time the red indicator light remains ON when the front or top door is open IMMEDIATELY unplug the system and call Universal Laser Systems Inc for service instructions The laser system comes...

Page 8: ...te radio frequency energy and if not installed and used in accordance with manufacturer s instructions may cause harmful interference to radio communications Operation of this equipment in a residential area is likely to cause harmful interference in which case the user will be required to correct the interference at his or her own expense Users should be aware that changes or modifications to thi...

Page 9: ...ystem may be exposed to high levels of vibration or electrical noise We recommend using a high quality surge protector to protect the laser engraving system s electronics Avoid small enclosed areas where ventilation is poor Choose a place where the ambient operating temperature will remain between 60 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit 15 to 25 degrees Celsius Choose a place which provides a short and direc...

Page 10: ...ATING AT 6 INCHES STATIC PRESSURE UP TO 10 FEET 235 6 INCHES STATIC PRESSURE 11 20 FEET 410 6 INCHES STATIC PRESSURE 21 30 FEET 535 6 INCHES STATIC PRESSURE 31 40 FEET 625 6 INCHES STATIC PRESSURE The blower must be mounted on the OUTSIDE of the building either on the roof or on a cement pad next to the building Rigid duct work should be used between the blower unit and the laser system The exhaus...

Page 11: ...Having the blower wired to a wall switch by a licensed electrician in the same room will make it easy to turn it off and on WARNING Do not attempt to operate the laser engraving system without a properly installed and operating exhaust system Some materials when cut or engraved can produce fumes that are hazardous in concentrated amounts Sample Exhaust System Layouts 11 ...

Page 12: ...en turned on 2 5 Computer Recommendations and Setup The following computer configuration is the minimum requirement necessary to operate in the Windows environment Using a computer with more speed memory and storage capacity will enable the graphic images to be produced faster A faster computer will perform calculations quicker and will shorten download time to the laser 486 33 Mhz or higher PC co...

Page 13: ...stem capable of running System 7 0 or higher 32 MB of RAM or higher 1 Gigabyte hard drive or bigger 17 inch color monitor 600 DPI Optical Resolution Scanner Adobe Photoshop Aldus Freehand 2 6 Laser System Installation CAUTION Please make the following connections in the exact order described otherwise static electricity can damage the computer and or the laser system s electronics 1 Connect the la...

Page 14: ...orks is essential to the operation of the laser system Please consult the Windows owner s manual on its installation use and operation before continuing 1 Start Windows double click on Main in Program Manager and double click on Control Panel 2 Double click on Printers from inside Control Panel The Printers dialog box will now appear Printers Dialog Box 3 Click on the Add button if other drivers a...

Page 15: ...ser system from the list or the R version if you purchased the Rubber Stamp Option and click on the OK button The driver will now install itself to your Windows System directory and the laser system will appear in the Installed Printers section of the Printers Dialog Box Printers Dialog Box 9 Select the laser system and click on Connect if connecting to a port other than LPT1 Now select the approp...

Page 16: ... Refer to the Windows manual on how to use Print Manager if desired We recommend that you do not use Print Manager because it serves no use to the laser system and it can become a nuisance 12 Now you MUST click on Setup to initiate the installation of the driver If you do not the driver will not store your power settings correctly The driver settings dialog box will now appear 16 ...

Page 17: ...licked and NOT the Cancel button 14 At this point exit the Printers dialog box and the Control Panel window Printer driver installation is now complete Store the driver disk in a safe place 2 8 Installing the ULS Printer Driver for Windows 95 Installation of the ULS Printer Driver will allow Windows 95 to interface with the laser system This driver is installed the same way as most other Windows 9...

Page 18: ...ystem then click on File and drag the mouse to Properties 18 Click on Details and then click on Setup 19 The driver settings screen will appear Click on OK and then OK once again This step is important because it will allow the driver to write the Laser ini file to your c windows subdirectory This file is essential for proper driver operation 20 Driver installation is now complete Store your drive...

Page 19: ...eferences file if present from the floppy disk onto your Macintosh computer by dragging this item from the floppy disk folder into the Preferences folder also located inside the System folder on your computers hard drive 4 Click on the Apple menu and drag the mouse pointer to Chooser Click on the appropriate laser system as your output device by clicking on it with the mouse 5 Click on the Modem P...

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Page 21: ...ct at a time This is accomplished by duplicating the image on screen as many times as necessary to fill up the entire page Ruler Setup Usually the graphics software will provide on screen rulers which can be configured to match the rulers in the laser system Using rulers in the software and matching them with the ones provided in the laser system gives the ability to correctly align the graphic on...

Page 22: ...ower be sure to use the right colors If using graphics with colors other than the eight listed above or to simplify the assignment of power settings try using the B W Raster feature in the driver This feature will cause the system to only use the power setting assigned to the color black and halftone all of the other colors Outlines and Fills The ULS Printer Driver distinguishes between raster mod...

Page 23: ...utline to the front will cause that outline to cut last A final way is to cut and paste each outline in the cutting order desired This effectively works the same way as the two previous suggestions Overlapping Fills If the artwork created has overlapping filled areas the driver will automatically filter these fills to prevent the overlapped area from being engraved twice This is similar to color s...

Page 24: ...grave one object at a time skipping over all blank space which in many cases will reduce engraving time Bitmaps There are three types of bitmaps available They are monochrome grayscale and color Bitmaps are patterns of dots blended to form pictures Most bitmaps are created by scanning artwork into a computer through a scanner Others are created by drawing them in a bitmap image processing program ...

Page 25: ...3 45 DEGREES ROUND 60 250 45 DEGREES ROUND 45 200 45 DEGREES ROUND 36 Bitmap images cannot be cut by the laser system only engraved The only way to have the laser system cut out a bitmap is to first convert it to a vector file format such as an EPS Raster to vector conversion programs are available that trace the bitmap this only works well with monochrome bitmaps and creates a separate EPS vector...

Page 26: ...the laser system especially if they are rotated 90 degrees If you are having trouble printing a particular ATM font we recommend that you use it s True Type equivalent Bitmap fonts only print well when used at the specific point size they were designed for This point size is usually indicated in the font name such as Times Roman 12 If a font is only available in bitmap form you must print it at th...

Page 27: ... will be Higher power settings and slower speeds will produce deeper engraving PPI PPI stands for laser pulses per inch This setting determines how many laser pulses per linear inch the laser system will fire Again since the laser system is proportionally pulsed all pulses will fire equally spaced from one to the next regardless of changes in Speed Power acceleration deceleration or the cutting of...

Page 28: ...ower resolutions produce a coarser and shallower image but are quicker to engrave Experiment with the different settings and note the results Corel Bitmaps This switch is for CorelDraw users ONLY Turn this switch ON only when there is an imported monochrome or grayscale bitmap in CorelDraw If printing any drawing that has a bitmap in it and forgetting to turn this switch ON everything else except ...

Page 29: ...ertical length of 18 inches 457 2 mm in the Landscape mode Select the Metric box if metric units are desired Rotary Fixture It is only necessary to use this selection if the optional Rotary Fixture has been purchased For full details on how to use this option please refer to Section 4 5 Do not skip over to that section until the rest of this manual up to that section has been read There is importa...

Page 30: ...7475 plotter as the printing device Set the maximum paper size to 24 inches 609 6 mm wide by 18 inches 457 2 mm tall refer to the DOS software manual for how to configure the printing device Once configured properly the laser system should interface with the program very nicely and act just like a plotter The following are a few points to remember when printing from DOS based programs 1 Some DOS p...

Page 31: ...Please refer to that section for more explicit details If having trouble with using DOS based programs please contact our technical support 3 4 The ULS Printer Driver for Macintosh The ULS Printer Driver for Macintosh consists of three parts the Printer Driver the Engrave Monitor and the Page Setup Many features of this driver function the same as they do for the Windows based Printer Driver The P...

Page 32: ... then resume printing at any time The Page Setup Page setup for the printer driver is specified in the Page Setup dialog box which can be accessed through the file menu of the graphic software you are using The page setup you specify in this dialog box only applies to the printed output and won t effect the graphic For proper printing you MUST match the settings of the graphic page on your compute...

Page 33: ...a comparable TrueType font Some ATM fonts will not print correctly to the laser system especially if they are rotated 90 degrees Bitmap fonts only print well when used at the specific point size they were designed for This point size is usually indicated in the font name such as Times Roman 12 If a font is only available in bitmap form you must print it at the size it was created for Font types ca...

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Page 35: ...tors 2 Top Door Window 10 Control Panel 3 Top Door Counterbalances 11 Motion System Protective Overhang 4 Exhaust 12 Engraving Table 5 Focus Lens Holder Assembly 13 Rotary Fixture Receptacle 6 Motion System X Axis Arm 14 Air Intake Filter 7 Front Door 15 On Off Switch 8 Interlock Defeat Tool Socket 35 ...

Page 36: ...s The Control Panel The four keys surrounding the liquid crystal display give complete access to the Menu Control System The up and down arrow keys are used to scroll up or down through the displayed menu Pressing the SELECT button allows access to other submenus Some items in the submenus can be adjusted and others are for display only The ESCAPE key allows backing up through the Menu Control Sys...

Page 37: ...Menu Control System Flow Chart 37 ...

Page 38: ...T button which moves the cursor to the right side of the display The up and down arrow keys can then be used to move through the list of jobs in the buffer When the desired job is found simply press the SELECT key to make that job the current job This will move the cursor back to the left hand side of the display To run the currently selected job simply press the START JOB button Changing the curr...

Page 39: ... current power settings the laser system is using while it is running a job This is very similar to the OPERATIONS DISPLAY submenu except that the name of the job running is not shown Secondly it is possible to change these settings while the laser system is running which is very useful for testing purposes To adjust these settings press the up or down arrow key until the cursor is on the desired ...

Page 40: ... handling intelligence enabling each individual job in the buffer to be run in any order The jobs are stored sequentially based on the order in which they were transferred from the computer and each one is assigned a number to help for tracking A running total of the free space left in the buffer is provided at the bottom of the display A small amount of memory is used by the system so there will ...

Page 41: ...ND OF FILE option becomes important In order to delete that partial file the buffer must either be cleared entirely or an EOF must be manually inserted into the buffer by simply bringing the cursor down to the appropriate menu choice and pressing SELECT This provides an alternative to clearing out the entire buffer by inserting the EOF marker at the end of the unwanted file fragment Next press the...

Page 42: ...DELETE THE FILE option from the menu To do this use the up or down arrow keys until the cursor is pointing to that menu choice and then press the SELECT key The display will then ask if you are sure and will expect a CANCEL or a YES response The BUFFER SPACE submenu Then To completely clear out the entire buffer all at once without having to turn the laser system off bring the cursor down to the B...

Page 43: ...sed at all times when the laser system is powered ON as this keeps the laser warmed up If the door s are open the power to the laser tube itself is turned OFF and the tube will cool down The laser runs best after being warmed up for a couple of minutes Optimally we can adjust the Tickle to maintain the plasma excitation level at a threshold so that upon demand the laser will fire instantaneously u...

Page 44: ...s if the laser was supposed to turn off but stayed on slightly Rastered images will appear to have a shadow to the left and right of the raster stroke about 1 2 from the edge of the rastered area To set the Tickle go to the Preferences menu in the Control Panel of the laser system then select Tickle There are two numbers the Tickle Rate in khz or kilohertz and the other is Tickle Width in us or mi...

Page 45: ...on can be toggled either ON or OFF by placing the cursor on the appropriate menu choice and pressing SELECT The AUTO POWER feature allows the laser system to change power settings while it is cutting and engraving a job If this feature is ON the default setting the power settings will change in response to different colors used in the artwork or in the case of DOS applications different pen number...

Page 46: ...e and software manuals for details on setting up the computer s serial port If using the SERIAL port select the fastest possible BAUD RATE for communication since this effects how quickly the computer can send files to the laser system For BAUD RATES of 9600 and above set the number of STOP BITS on the computer to a higher value than the number of STOP BITS selected on the laser engraving machine ...

Page 47: ...STICS submenu allows the testing of certain features of the engraving system Selecting this option will lead to other submenus Then It may be necessary to use the diagnostic tests if instructed to do so by a member of the ULS technical support staff The first line on the menu display is a buffer memory test but in the process of testing memory all jobs in the buffer will be erased Once the memory ...

Page 48: ...GS and then YES any and all changes made to the display settings will be permanently stored even if power is turned off to the laser system Those settings will be retained in the laser system until they are changed and RETAIN SETTINGS is selected again The Process Controls START JOB Press the START JOB button to start cutting or engraving the current job in the system buffer De pressing the START ...

Page 49: ...r to be turned on and off manually for emergencies The red LASER indicator light will illuminate when power is being supplied to the laser The indicator light is also tied in with the safety interlock system so the light will go on and off as the doors to the system are opened and closed The green READY indicator light serves two purposes It will illuminate to indicate when a job is completed and ...

Page 50: ...arger than maximum engraving area can be processed provided they can be fit into the machine and allow all the doors to be closed properly If you have an application of this type load the material through the front door of the system However all the doors must be able to close before cutting and engraving WARNING Do not attempt to defeat the interlock system in order to process materials too large...

Page 51: ...ess the ESCAPE key until it does To use the focus tool method of adjustment first move the motion system using the arrow keys on the MOTION CONTROL panel until the focus lens holder assembly is positioned over the plaque Position the cursor next to the line that reads OBJ HEIGHT by using the up or down arrow keys located to the right of the LCD display Press the SELECT key to move the cursor over ...

Page 52: ...selection and press SELECT to toggle the choice among the three lenses available HIGH RES and LOW RES are optional lenses When the correct lens is displayed move the cursor back up to set the new OBJ HEIGHT adjustment Once all adjustments have been made pressing ESCAPE twice will bring back the main menu display There are other options in the Z axis control menu system To prevent the Z axis table ...

Page 53: ...y Fixture s centerline of rotation as the following diagram demonstrates The left and right position X position of the focus carriage is irrelevant in this setting It s position is determined by where the graphic is placed in the graphics program therefore it s position is ignored by the laser system and cannot be set in this procedure Now select the YES SAVE Y AXIS choice If you change your mind ...

Page 54: ...hickness in the control panel Step 4 Create a graphic using the graphics software program and position the graphic on screen so that it matches the placement of the object in the laser system Step 5 Before printing go to the ULS Printer Driver and assign the power settings If using DOS based programs go to the laser system and enter in the power settings on the control panel Step 6 Now send the jo...

Page 55: ...e table all the way down to the bottom Next turn the laser system OFF Open the top door of the laser engraving system and place the Rotary Fixture on the engraving table with the black box on the Rotary Fixture to the right 2 Attach the Rotary Fixture to the engraving table by aligning it with the screw holes on the table Before tightening the thumbscrews position the fixture so that it is squarel...

Page 56: ... wait for it to home Press one of the directional arrow keys on the Motion Control panel and notice that the motion system will align to the centerline of the Rotary Fixture automatically Now focus on the glass by using the focus tool and adjusting the table up or down If the glass slopes too much in the engraving area the Rotary Fixture can be tilted upwards to make the surface of the glass paral...

Page 57: ...object was typed in 3 This new vertical page size is now the actual circumference of the object that is going to be engraved From the top of the engraving area on screen to the bottom represents one complete revolution of the Rotary Fixture For example if engraving a glass that has a diameter of 3 075 inches 78 1mm the driver calculates that the circumference and vertical page size is 9 66 inches ...

Page 58: ... longer to engrave than Portrait mode If using Portrait mode make sure to engrave or cut at speeds lower than 50 otherwise the object might slip as the Rotary Fixture spins back and forth If the object slips it is either too heavy or the engraving speed is too fast To use the Portrait mode simply click on Portrait in the graphics software s page setup and then in the ULS Printer Driver 2 The graph...

Page 59: ...nding up The INVERT FILL selection is only used when engraving a full sheet of stamps because it creates the negative image for the entire sheet not just an individual stamp Selecting both features allows the user to create a full sheet of rubber stamps as a positive and unmirrored image on screen Since there are several different methods in creating and producing rubber stamps we will give just a...

Page 60: ...cus on the material using the correct focusing tool and go to the ULS Printer Driver to set the power settings There are some sample settings in section 4 7 of this manual for rubber stamps They might have to be adjusted for different types of rubber and thicknesses When selecting RUBBER STAMP in the driver notice that the INVERT FILL switch automatically becomes selected Deselect the INVERT FILL ...

Page 61: ...nd leave the INVERT FILL selection ON Set the power settings and print to the laser system Position the full sheet of rubber stamp material in the same upper left location on the engraving table and begin engraving The driver automatically mirrors the entire page profiles all of the characters and creates a negative image for engraving Printing Speed When printing a large number of rubber stamps o...

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Page 63: ...r to achieve greater engraving speeds remember that the resolution will be reduced which in turn will reduce quality and depth In order to compensate for lower resolution settings lower the speed and or increase the power to achieve the same depth The opposite applies for higher resolution settings Below is a list of the various materials that were tested The following pages will fully describe th...

Page 64: ... 1 010 COMMENTS This sample engraved deeper than the first sample Engrave through original masking Engraving too deep will lose detail TYPE MACHINE POWER SPEED PPI PASS DEPTH VECTOR 25 WATT 5 4 0 500 1 005 ENGRAVING 50 WATT 3 4 0 500 1 005 COMMENTS Engrave with or without masking TYPE MACHINE POWER SPEED PPI PASS DEPTH VECTOR 25 WATT 75 8 500 1 2 CUTTING 50 WATT 75 1 6 500 1 2 COMMENTS For the bes...

Page 65: ...thick acrylic re mask both sides with transfer tape and dampen the masking on both sides of the acrylic with water from a spray bottle Elevate the acrylic off the table at least 1 8 inch re focus then proceed to cut Elevating the acrylic will allow the beam to completely pass through the material which allows the smoke and heat to escape from underneath If cutting directly on the engraving table t...

Page 66: ...ause the acrylic is protected from smoke damage by the mirrored backing TYPE MACHINE POWER SPEED PPI PASS DEPTH VECTOR 25 WATT 5 4 0 500 1 005 ENGRAVING 50 WATT 3 4 0 500 1 005 COMMENTS Again masking is not necessary because the acrylic is protected from smoke damage by the mirrored backing TYPE MACHINE POWER SPEED PPI PASS DEPTH VECTOR 25 WATT 75 1 6 500 1 1 CUTTING 50 WATT 75 3 2 500 1 1 COMMENT...

Page 67: ...1 8 inch above the table The laser beam will not reflect off of the mirrored surface because it is absorbed by the acrylic first Sometimes cutting the acrylic from the back side will cause the mirrored backing to distort and crack from the intense heat required to cut If the combination of engraving and cutting is desired our suggestion is to engrave the backing unmasked remove the acrylic mask bo...

Page 68: ...ed ADDITIONAL COMMENTS There is a process called Laser Color Marking which enables the color filling of anodized aluminum First coat or spray the aluminum with a clear acrylic finish After the finish has thoroughly dried laser engrave the graphic onto the aluminum Then take a water based marker such as those found in an art supply store and swab on the ink into the engraved area You can actually s...

Page 69: ...ishing Brass that is produced for the laser engraving industry is polished then clear coated and finally coated with paint When laser engraving this type of material adjust the power so that the laser beam removes the painted coating but not the clear coating This will expose the polished clear coated brass without penetrating all the way down to the metal Since the brass is already clear coated a...

Page 70: ...terial produces spectacular results especially when the engraved area is paint filled If paint filling it is a good idea to mask first and then engrave through the masking In this way when ready to paint fill the material is already masked Spray painting seems to be the easiest Using a paint brush is acceptable but time consuming Use the paint sparingly Excess paint can accumulate on the edges of ...

Page 71: ...1 010 ENGRAVING 50 WATT 5 4 0 500 1 010 COMMENTS Engrave unmasked TYPE MACHINE POWER SPEED PPI PASS DEPTH VECTOR 25 WATT 50 1 6 100 1 060 CUTTING 50 WATT 50 3 2 100 1 060 COMMENTS Unmasked A low PPI setting is used to prevent flaming ADDITIONAL COMMENTS Cork is not very popular for engraving but it does engrave and cut nicely Cork is mainly used for making gaskets by vector cutting the gasket patt...

Page 72: ... than 8 minutes A male and female die must be made as the diagram below indicates Create the male with a white graphic and a black background Mirror the image and invert it by making the background white and the graphic black Add a 010 inch black outline to the graphic portion of the female side This will give the greater clearance to the female side to prevent the paper from piercing through when...

Page 73: ... types of engraving A CO2 laser cannot engrave into the glass nor can it cut glass Instead laser interaction with glass causes the surface of the glass to appear frosted Sometimes placing a piece of newspaper on the glass and dampening is with water will improve the appearance of the engraving If using the optional Rotary Fixture in the Portrait Mode use the following settings to minimize the chan...

Page 74: ...E MACHINE POWER SPEED PPI PASS DEPTH VECTOR 25 WATT 50 2 0 200 1 1 CUTTING 50 WATT 25 2 0 200 1 1 COMMENTS Mask top surface and use a low PPI setting when cutting ADDITIONAL COMMENTS Leather is a very simple material to engrave and most types of leather engrave very well with the laser system Simulated leather engraves well also but the results are not as nice as with the real thing Engraving ligh...

Page 75: ...y will cause a highly detailed image to appear washed out The objective is to engrave deep enough to turn the marble white and provide a good contrast Too much power can also cause the material to discolor and turn brown as if it were burned Photographs look great when engraved on marble especially darker marbles where the whiteness of the engraving really stands out Avoid using marble that is ver...

Page 76: ...ing edge ADDITIONAL COMMENTS Mat board thick cardboard is an excellent material to use for architectural modeling and for picture framing It cuts and engraves very neatly and cleanly It comes in a variety of shades and colors Patterns can be engraved on the surface with a power setting for light engraving which just breaks through the very thin top layer and exposes the lighter colored underlying ...

Page 77: ...ing regular wood with the added benefit of a consistent surface finish and uniform base material composition Unlike regular wood which has grain patterns and density variations melamine when laser engraved produces a flat and even engraved area This characteristic gives this material superior engraving and paint filling qualities Masking can be used if desired but it is just as easy to spray the e...

Page 78: ...n up the image slightly The next step is to select a halftone pattern Usually imaging software gives the choice of using different halftone patterns including frequency of lines per inch and pattern angles Use a line frequency above 20 and below 100 The size of the dots decreases as the line frequency increases Experiment to see which pattern looks the best Big dots look good on some materials and...

Page 79: ...tting thicker plastics ADDITIONAL COMMENTS Engravers plastic comes in many different colors thicknesses coatings and surface textures About 75 of the available engravers plastic including ADA signage materials will engrave and cut well with the laser system Microsurfaced plastics seem to work the best because there is less surface material to remove to uncover the substrate Since most plastics hav...

Page 80: ...to engrave stamps without this option the letters will not have a profile be very thin and flimsy and will collapse while stamping them If you do not have this option and would like to add it to your system please contact one of our engineers in the sales department for current pricing All laser systems can be upgraded to have this extraordinary feature In the above example only one pass is necess...

Page 81: ...inyl apply transfer tape and use a squeegee to remove trapped air bubbles The transfer tape can then be lifted off and the vinyl lettering or objects that were vector cut will stick to the transfer tape and maintain their correct spacing with respect to each other Now apply the tape to the desired surface and squeegee peel off the transfer tape and the lettering will remain adhered to the surface ...

Page 82: ...esidue washes off with water and a sponge We recommend using a kitchen sponge with a nylon string mesh wrapped around it Dampen the sponge and wipe off the residue A damp chamois cloth works well also Do not use paper towels or a regular sponge because these materials will get lodged in the engraved area when wiping and are extremely difficult to remove A method to avoid cleanup is to mask the woo...

Page 83: ...wing with no outlines only filled areas Engrave the filled areas almost as deep as the thickness of the veneer usually about 003 inches or less With some water and a nylon brush remove all residue from the engraved area When cutting veneers make sure they are lying absolutely flat In the drawing give the objects an outline of 001 inches and remove the fill Adjust the power so that there is just en...

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Page 85: ...ine Below is our suggested maintenance schedule WARNING Always turn the laser engraving system off and unplug it before performing any cleaning procedures Suggested Cleaning and Maintenance Supplies Soap solution mixture of 1 tablespoon 2 cl liquid soap and 1 quart liter of water in a spray bottle Paper towels Cotton cloth Denatured alcohol NOT to be used on any painted surface plastic or the Top ...

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Page 87: ...e a clean swab or paper towel and alcohol to clean all of the bearings by holding the swab against each bearing and moving the motion system by hand to roll the bearings against the swab There are seven bearings in the system three 3 on the Focus Carriage two 2 on the left side of the X axis Arm and two 2 on the right side of the X axis Arm 7 Clean the Top Window with a cotton cloth and the soap s...

Page 88: ...is dirty clean it the same way If the Focus Lens does not clean easily or needs to be replaced it will need to be removed from the Lens Holder so proceed to the next step If the Focus Lens is clean proceed to Step 8 4 Place a soft cloth on a table to prevent the Focus Lens from breaking in the event that you drop it Place a piece of Lens Tissue on top of a soft cloth Sit down in front of a table a...

Page 89: ...eaning as necessary NOTE The following procedure refers to both the 2 and 3 Mirror Remember the laser system MUST be turned OFF and unplugged before performing this procedure Inspect the Mirrors by looking at their reflective surfaces through the hole in the Mirror Holder for signs of debris We recommend this method of inspection because it will reduce the likelihood of accidental damage from cons...

Page 90: ... a soft cloth and let it sit for one minute 2 and 3 Mirror Cleaning 4 Using a fresh piece of Lens Tissue gently pull the Tissue across the Mirror in one direction to absorb the fluid If fluid remains use the other side of the tissue and repeat NEVER use a Lens Tissue or area of a Lens Tissue twice as dust build up on the tissue may scratch the Mirror s surface and reduce it s life Also remember to...

Page 91: ...w as it will not get dirty 1 To clean the Beam Window soak a cotton swab with Lens Cleaner 2 Roll the cotton swab across the Beam Window in one direction 3 Dry off any remaining solution by rolling a fresh and dry cotton swab across the Beam Window CAUTION DO NOT press the cotton swab down with force only roll it across the Window DO NOT wipe it across as this can scratch the outer coating 5 4 Bea...

Page 92: ...ened about to turn counterclockwise Now re tighten the Lockdown Screws Do not tighten them too tight just snug enough to hold the X axis Bearing Tensioning Bracket in place If you tighten the Lockdown Screws too tight the Tensioning Bracket might twist and cause an incorrect adjustment The objective is to remove the clearance between the outer bearing surface and the bearing tracks NOT to make the...

Page 93: ... to lock them into place if you tighten them too much the bearing plate can twist and give you an incorrect adjustment To check your adjustment slide the arm to the top of the engraving area and then to the bottom while holding a finger with very slight finger pressure up against one of the outer bearing surfaces The bearing should roll in your finger while moving the arm towards you or away from ...

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Page 95: ...customer s facility ULS will provide a field service technician free of charge during the applicable limited warranty period ULS provides no warranties whatsoever on any software used in connection with a ULS Laser Engraving System express or implied Limitation of remedies and liabilities ULS s entire liability and customer s exclusive and sole remedy for damages from any cause whatsoever includin...

Page 96: ...ide x 36 deep x 42 tall System Weight 25 Watt 205 lbs 93 kg 50 Watt 255 lbs 116 kg Safety Classification Class I Focal Plane Z axis Adjustment 9 inches 228 6 mm Facility Requirements Electrical Power 25 Watt Single phase 110 VAC 50 60 Hz 15 Amp US Version 25 Watt Single Phase 220 VAC 50 60 Hz 7 5 Amp International Version 50 Watt Single phase 110 VAC 50 60 Hz 20 Amp US Version 50 Watt Single Phase...

Page 97: ...Appendix C Serial Port Cable Requirements C ...

Page 98: ...eing used has 8 or more megabytes of RAM open up the LASER INI file in the Windows directory using a text editor Scroll down to the bottom of the file and type in the following line exactly how it reads BandKBytes 2000 This line will allow the computer to use more of its memory for printing Save this file and restart Windows for the change to take effect D ...

Page 99: ...file usually located in the c windows coreldrw draw subdirectory Open this file up in a text editor such as NOTEPAD which comes with Windows Scroll down about 55 lines to find the line that reads FontRasterizer 1 and change it to read FontRasterizer 0 Save this file and restart CorelDraw for the changes to take effect COREL 4 0 Find the CORELAPP INI file usually located in the c windows corel40 co...

Page 100: ...Printing photographs through CorelDraw Version release 3 0B and version 5 0 do not currently support our drivers halftone pattern generator What this means is that if trying to print a grayscale photograph through these versions it will come out as a solid black and white engraving with no halftone generation There is no current solution available for this problem Our suggestion is to use version ...

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