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Performance and perforation Momany suggests that SDC system would be suitable for a variety of applications with simple cutting patterns requiring high volume throughput, such as automotive air bags. The RFL system is faster than a flatbed, and SDC is faster yet, able to handle 350 or more linear feet of material per minute. In addition to advantage of taking up much less floor space than flatbed systems, roll-feed SDC allows for faster throughput without increasing safety compliance issues or need for training. "We try to make every machine using a Class One laser beam—as safe as your laser printer," Momany notes. By definition, Class One beams are totally enclosed. If, for example, ULDB gores were to be cut with a laser moving over a flatbed, "to move 600 feet, it would have to be a Class Four beam—and everyone in room would have to be laser-trained and wearing goggles," he explains. Now, EdgeWISE is working on adapting laser cutting technology to perforation applications. "We can take 60-inch-wide material and perforate it with a quarter inch separating holes in a row, and a quarter inch separating rows, at 85 feet per minute—that’s a half-million holes a minute," Momany says, noting that one client, an aerospace company, uses resulting perforated material to filter resin evenly onto parts that must be glued together. "The limitation on most perforation operations is mechanical; it’s like they’re using a rotary pincushion, and needles break all time," Momany says. It’s not uncommon for needle breakage to occur several times a week, or even daily, resulting in four to eight hours of downtime each time. "The laser perforation could be used in manufacturing disposable diapers, band-aids, all kinds of geotextiles." While in Momany’s view it’s EdgeWISE’s small size and flexibility that enables it to take on these kinds of problem-solving challenges, he also admits that aerospace client was originally nervous about reliability of such a tiny supplier. The ULDB Project provided a needed dose of credibility. "When you say you’re working with NASA, that tends to get people’s attention," he concludes.

Reprinted with permission from Industrial Fabric Products Review April 2000. Copyright ® 2000 by Industrial Fabrics Association International. Industrial Fabric Products Review