Engraving Laser Sources

	150 YEARS OF INDUSTRIAL EXPERIENCE AT YOUR SERVICE CHEVAL FRERES S.A., located in Besancon, the capital of Micromechanics in France, is the leading French manufacturer of YAG industrial lasers. It was after developing its own laser sources for its traditional watch-making business that CHEVAL decided to offer its customers all of its 150 years at the service of industry.
Laser applications are numerous today: welding, cutting, drilling, surface and deep marking. CHEVAL marking laser have become essential tools for our customers, keys to their success in today's fierce industrial competition.

CHEVAL MARKING LASERS:
A CUSTOM-DESIGNED INDUSTRIAL SOLUTION
CHEVAL offers an industrial solution perfectly adapted to each application. We offer our customers an engineering department comprising 8 people, equipped with high-performance CAD computer systems. Backed by many years of experience in laser technology, a team of engineers and technicians study and design the laser equipment which best suits the required solution. The equipment meets CE standards in design and safety. Each machine is delivered with a Certificate of Conformity.

CHEVAL MARKING LASERS:
FOR HIGH TRACEABILITY SPEEDS
Thanks to their high level of flexibility, CHEVAL lasers integrate into and adapt to the very high speeds of automatic production lines. The displacement speeds of the laser beam allow 240 characters to be engraved per second. The traceability speeds can therefore reach 24,000 parts/hour for dating, in static or dynamic marking. The interfaces of CHEVAL lasers dialogue easily with production line computer stations, electronic labelling systems (Modas, Balogh etc.), traditional, binary and digital bar codes, Data Matrix. In addition, our computer specialists design, at our customers' request, "operator" interfaces which facilitate the Man/Machine dialogue and cut down on series changing times.

CHEVAL MARKING LASERS:
THE FLEXIBILITY OF A MEDIUM-SIZED COMPANY
The combination of the customer's knowledge of the products he wishes to have marked and our know-how in lasers and in the manufacturing of industrial environments enables us to draft the job specifications and a technical file together with our customers, thus guaranteeing the success of the laser marking investment project. The flexibility of being a medium-sized company enables us to have an open approach to the large diversity of problems posed. Our active participation in the design and development of our customers' new products is carried out with total discretion and in accordance with a contractual confidentiality protocol.

CHEVAL MARKING LASERS:
DAILY INNOVATION
In order to innovate in industrial applications, the laser department is equipped with 10 machines which are at the disposal of our customers. This allows us to carry out all the required feasibility studies so we can choose the most appropriate technical solutions.

DETERIORATION-PROOF MARKINGS:
The CHEVAL marking laser makes deterioration-proof, high-quality markings on all kinds of material. The marking can be surface or deep, depending on the laser employed. The coloration of the steel surface can be white or black according to the customer's choice.

FROM JEWLLERY TO CAR INDUSTRY:
The industrial applications are vast. From the identification of the Megane an Kangoo vehicles from the car-maker RENAULT to the signature of DUPONT pens or BOUCHERON jewels, our design engineers work in perfect harmony with our customers. CHEVAL laser equipment, designed for outstanding durability, not only affix our customer's signatures and guarantee deterioration-proof traceability markings according to the standards in force; they also cut down on the risks of imitations.

NO STRESS OR DEFORMATION OF THE PART:
CHEVAL marking equipment can be utilized on the most diverse shapes of parts, with no need for specific mounting tools. No stress or deformation is exerted on the part. As is often the case for surgical instruments or in aviation, a series of markings can be programmed on several axes of the laser equipment (axes X-Y-Z-C are programmable). Ceramics, like other materials used in the medical field, can be engraved. The markings resist to even the most severe sterilization methods.

STATIC OR DYNAMIC MARKING:
Thanks to the rapidity of the CHEVAL lasers, the marking can be effected in static mode, often used for sharp tools, due to the large variety of references in low volumes, or in dynamic mode, e.g. for cutlery. The marking of 1D bars codes (39- 2/5 -128) or 2D bar codes (Date Matrix - ECO) directly on the part eliminates the need for labels and ensures deterioration-proof traceability.

WE HAVE A SOLUTION FOR EVERY PRODUCTION LINE
From the most simple, manual operation machine to the multiaxis numerised or robotised machine, the CHEVAL engineering department can offer you customised solutions for your specific application. All our equipment is ergonomically designed to provide ideal comfort for the operator. The integration of the marking laser into the production line is effortless, thanks to the dialogue of our programs with the customer's automatic environment.

HIGH SPEEDS:
In order to eliminate idle loading and unloading time and to increase speed, CHEVAL FRERES offers transfer systems. According to the positioning precision required and to the volume of the parts to be marked, our engineering department offers you different solutions: linear transfers or rotary tables. CHEVAL rotary tables ensure a high level of repeatability of precision in the positioning of parts. The quality of the material meets the requirements of the most severe speeds in the car-making field for weekly work in five shifts. These rotary tables are not limited to two positions and numerous possibilities are offered for integrating other equipment in each position.

EQUIPMENT AUTONOMY:
CHEVAL equipment can be fitted with X/Y crossed table transfer systems which provide the equipment with a certain amount of autonomy. The part loaders are anchored on the crossed table and processed automatically. The focal distance may be managed by a numerised Z axis. The marking of a vernier can be carried out over 360° through the utilization of a rotating numerised axis. In order to increase the autonomy of this equipment, a vertical conveyor with built-in pallets can be added. In this case, each pallet is identified by a label for the choice of the marking program of the parts positioned on each pallet.

UNFALSIFIABLE MARKINGS:
UP TO 0.35 MM OF DEPTH ON STEEL The CHEVAL pulsed YAG laser, essential in the car-making field, engraves a 7 mm high character per second at a depth of 0.35 mm on steel; this ensures unfalsifiable marking. This equipment comprises a portable head connected to a laser source by an optic fibre. Little influence of the length of the optic fibre is observed on the quality of the beam. A suction system built into the portable head recycles the steel dust and smoke of sheets coated with paint or oil. The noise level of this equipment is lower than 75 dBA. Control of the text to be engraved is automatic, via reading of bar codes, of Balogh or Modas labels.