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The Laser Alternative to Resistance Spot Welding

Laser Seam Steppers (LSS-5M) have been optimized for overlap welding of different materials such as aluminum, stainless steel, coated or hot formed steel as well as mixed joints. For more than 10 years Laser Seam Steppers have been established as an alternative for resistance spot welding. One area of application is automotive manufacturing, where millions of cars have already been welded with IPG Laser Seam Steppers.

Overview

Overview Features Specifications Resources Options Software

Superior Precision Welding at a Lower Cost

Powered by IPG’s zero-maintenance lasers, Laser Seam Steppers provide consistent weld seam quality at reduced operating costs.

Consistent higher-strength welds provide high quality joints and potential for lightweighting
Less heat-induced distortion for superior product finish
Compared to RSW, no electrodes to replace and no tool downtime
Integrated clamping technology for simplified production line integration
Shorter cycle time reduces number of systems required and takes less production floor space

Download Datasheet

Ease of Integration and Ease of Operation

Laser Seam Stepper (LSS-5M) is a welding system complete with processing head, laser, and system controller. The choice of C-Gun and Picker process heads are compatible with either two-side or single-side access, with pressure piece control and monitoring of clamping forces.

Integrated welding head control monitors for process head contamination, and laser chiller controller monitors water flow and temperature.

This is a fully-automated system with standard interfaces to all typical industrial robots.

Contact Your Local Laser Seam Stepper Engineer

Superior Precision Welding

Consistent weld quality that does not degrade after a number of weld cycles
Welding of difficult to process materials for example brittle or high-strength steels
Inbuilt monitors ensure laser power, weld length and wobble parameters always maintained
Inbuilt clamping technology and active force monitoring ensure joint proximity for high-quality weld every time

Clamping Technology

Simplify your process by choosing the tool that accomplishes two tasks at once.

Welding and clamping combined in a single tool
Picker: Adjustable clamping force up to 1 kN
C-Gun: Adjustable clamping force up to 3 kN
Accurate and continual clamping process

Process & Parameter Control of LSS-5M

Pressure Piece Control monitors clamping force, contact pins & position
Welding Head Control monitors cover slide & lens module
Chiller Control monitors water flow & temperature
Laser Module Control monitors laser power & diode current
Drivetrain Control monitors wobble frequency & seam length

Integrated Fiber Laser Source

IPG’s efficient fiber laser technology reduces operating costs and eliminates laser maintenance downtime.

Maintenance-free fiber laser
Wall-plug efficiency >40%
Laser power up to 3.5 kW
Trifocal welding option available

Technical Specification: Controller
	Controller 1F	Controller 3F
Mode of Operation	CW/Modulated
Wavelength, nm	1070
Output Power Main Beam, kW	up to 3.5	up to 3.0
Output Power Side Beam, kW	-	2 × 0.25*
Spot Size (Depends on Fiber & Optics), mm	0.250–0.6 (0.01–0.023 in)
Power Consumption 3500 W Power, Laser Duty Cycle 30% (with chiller), kW	3.5
Dimensions, Controller L×W×H, mm in	608 × 808 × 1335
Cooling	Water-water with Integrated Chiller or Water-air without Integrated Chiller
Weight, kg	250

Technical Specifications: C-Gun & Picker
	C-Gun	Picker
Adjustable Clamping Force (z-hub), kN lbf	0.8–3.0 180–675	0.3–1.0 68–225
Max. Traversing (z-hub), mm in	140 5.5
Max. Welding Seam Length, mm in	40 1.6
Wobble Amplitude, mm in	±1 ±0.04
Wobble Frequency, Hz	0–30
Wobble Speed, mm/s in/min	up to 60 142
Focal Length, mm in	250 or 300 10 or 12
Compressed Air Consumption (Welding), 1/min. @ 6bar	250 8.8 cfm at 87 psi
Weight, kg lbs	63 138	47 104

The LSS-5M is available as a C-Gun, qualified class 1 laser device* or a Picker configuration**
*Integrator must provide an interlocking guard to create the necessary NOHD distance
**Class 1 can be realized with additional measuers

Download Laser Seam Stepper Datasheet

*The trifocal option allows for several combinations:

2.4 kW + 2 x 0.55 kW
2.8 kW + 2 x 0.35 kW
2.9 kW + 2 x 0.30 kW
3.0 kW + 2 x 0.25 kW

LSS-5M Software

The LSS-5M software gives you complete control and regulation of all hardware and software components integrated into your system. This means that you will have only a single external interface for the status and control of all system components. The software allows for simple parametrization and inline monitoring of all relevant process parameters, enabling your machine operators to work with high precision and efficiency.

User-friendly Software for Precise Parametrization and Monitoring

Graphic visualization of the weld path when entering the parameters
Teachable process control function with graphic output/analysis
Storage of welding history with date, product and program number time stamp
Creation of protected user levels via USB dongle
HTML access to help texts from the user manual
Access to network via external administrative unit
Info/status about scheduled maintenance
System update via USB interface

The Laser Alternative to Resistance Spot Welding

Superior Precision Welding at a Lower Cost

With Laser Seam Stepper we get higher strength welds at lower cost and shorter cycle time than traditional resistance spot welding. With no consumables to replace and easy line integration, this is our process of choice.