Flatbed laser
On the flatbed laser, the metal sheet to be cut is positioned on the cutting bed with a vacuum lifter. The cutting bed consists of a row of vertically arranged metal combs. After the sheet metal is pierced, the molten sheet material is blown through the combs at the underside of the sheet into the collection bin for the cutting waste. With the flatbed laser, the sheet to be cut stays still on the stationary cutting bed. During laser cutting, the cutting head moves over the sheet metal to cut the contours. We call this mechanism a “flying optic”, because the cutting head “flies” over the sheet that lies still.
When the sheet metal has been cut, the cutting bed is moved out of the machine. The cut sheet is then lifted off the cutting bed with grippers. These grippers are moved between the combs and lift the cut sheet off the cutting bed to place it on an output pallet.