Trident Numerical Plasma Cutting Machine

Wide Area, big batch high quality cutting system

Multi-carriage capability exploits advanced design.

The Trident is ideally suited to high volume cutting environments such as shipyards, steel service & distribution centers and shops where large parts or large batches of parts need to be processed on a regular basis. The ability to combine the characteristics of high speed profiling necessary for plasma cutting, and the heavy-duty robustness required for thick oxy fuel cutting, is the hallmark off this successful system.

The Trident can process plate up to 12m (40’) wide. This can be in the form of one plate or multiple plates side by side. The system can have up to 20 cutting & marking tools installed. Some Farley LaserLab customers have a number of Trident machines, with different torch configurations, operating over an integrated cutting zone to provide total processing flexibility.

Highly productive installations of those systems are operating in sectors as diverse as road transport equipment, railway rolling stock, shipbuilding, agricultural, earthmoving & mining equipment, civil construction equipment & general heavy fabrication.

In these heavy duty environments where long service life & high throughput with high quality are vital, the Trident has proved to be robust & reliable enough to process large volumes of plate, three shifts per day, year in year out.

2. Main Features

Combined speed and robustness
The fabricated one-piece structure has a very high stiffness to mass ratio five times that of the typical competitor. Developed on state-of-the-art CAD workstations and utilizing finite element, dynamic and kinematic analysis, the Farley LaserLab low rail & elevated beam arrangement ensures maximum stability & optimum alignment, together with easier manual or robotic loading.
Rapid acceleration delivers clean, dross free cutting
Full cutting speed is achieved usually within 2mm (1/16") of commencement of travel. This rapid acceleration rate is critical for clean, dross free cutting, especially on corners. The servo drives feature high gain to further enhance the positional accuracy of the system.
Future Proof Design

The Trident is designed in such a way that the main structure of the system will still be suitable for use with the inevitable advances in cutting & controller technology. Some systems, built over 15 years ago have recently been retrofitted with the latest PDF32 CNC hardware and plasma systems, with resulting performance that outstrips significantly the performance of brand new competitive machines.

The Trident can be quipped with a wide range of plasma and oxy-fuel cutting torches, on a multiple number of torch carriages. This flexibility enables each system to be configured to exactly match your needs, while also retaining the capacity for future extension of the tooling as your business grows.

The Trident incorporates functions for easier machine set up and faster operation. These include auto torch spacing, fast pierce, user set home tables, partial retract, two button retrace and laser spot alignment.

The individual machine components have all been designed or selected for superior performance, while also optimizing reliability and long-life. In some cases, the components would appear to be over-specified for the performance parameters but this ensures that the requirements of continuous operation for high volume production are not jeopardized by running components right up to their capacity.

The use of caterpillar type hose carriers prevents catching while minimizing the hose and cable length required. The drive systems do not utilize complicated compensation systems that can be subject to failure or which are difficult to tune and maintain. Precision height sensing devices deliver better cut quality, longer consumable life and reduced changeover time.

3. Trident Performance details

Profiling speed: Up to 25m/min (800ipm)
Traverse speed: Up to 30m/min (1200ipm)
Acceleration: Up to 0.6m/s²
Accuracy: +/- 0.25mm (0.010")
Repeatability: +/- 0.1mm (0.004")

Mechanical

Bearings: Linear bearings on precision round-ways
Rails: Rigid, low profile, fabricated and machined
Drive system: Rack & pinion, backlash free enclosed gearbox with 3kw AC servos in both axes

Electrical/Electronic

CNC Control: Farley PDF / P4 Mobile
Screen: 12" TFT / 17" Touch
Communication: Ethernet LAN

Configuration

Cutting widths: 3m to 10m (8’ to 30’)
Cutting lengths: 3m to 50m (10’ to 160’)
Material thickness: 1mm to 500mm (12g to 20")
Torch carriages: Up to 8
Tools per carriage: Up to 4
Slave carriages: Up to 7

Tool Options

Plasma: Standard up to 1000 amp, Hydefinition up to 260 amp
Oxy/fuel: LPG, Acetylene, Natural gas
Bevel cutting: +/- 45 degree
Marking: Plasma, indent, powder, inkjet, engraving, centre spot drill