Nozzle Cleaning and Calibration Station

The nozzle cleaning and calibration station is equipped on every MSF machine. It has three functions: cleaning of a laser cutting head nozzle, camera for checking status of the nozzle and calibration of a capacitive height sensor.

In order to clean the laser cutting head nozzle from possible spatter after piercing, the cutting head will automatically perform a nozzle cleaning cycle after a programmed number of piercings and also, if required, perform cleaning on the request of an operator. After automatic cleaning of the nozzle the machine will automatically continue its cutting program.

The calibration of the capacitive height sensor can be executed automatically after every cleaning cycle, or on the request of the operator. The cutting head positions itself above the small plate and moves down to touch it. Then it performs the measurement and linearization of the voltage / distance curve in the capacitive sensor electronics.

The nozzle camera is used for checking the status of the nozzle. After positioning above the camera, the magnified picture of the nozzle is shown on the LCD of the MMI console. Then it is up to the operator to decide if a nozzle change or another cleaning cycle is necessary.