For decades manufacturers of high-performance brake discs have been racing on the ideal racing line. These brake discs are used as original equipment in the PREMIUM sports car range.
With the new processing lines in the manufacturing of brake discs, a future-oriented laser marking has made its way into production.
The brake discs that are in modern sportcars are the main components of the brake system: they provide together with the brake pads for a corresponding deceleration of the vehicle by the kinetic energy of the car is converted by friction into heat energy.
The starting point is a cast iron melt refined with various additives. The approximately 1,300 ° C hot melt is poured in special systems to brake disc blanks. These blanks are sanded, deburred and then further processed: In fully automatic production steps, the brake disc is brought into the desired shape by turning, milling and grinding. Finally, the brake disc is balanced, coated and labeled by Nill + Ritz.
As part of these fully automatic production lines, we have developed a laser marking system at Nill + Ritz. In this labeling station brake discs are clearly marked after the coating process with a data matrix code and an alphanumeric plain text. This not only makes them traceable at all times, but also ensures that the right brake disc reaches the right axle in later assembly processes at sports car manufacturers.
Technically demanding process steps are implemented in this laser marking station: A brake disk is fed into the marking station via a roller conveyor. Due to the short cycle lengths, the brake disc remains in an undefined position within the laser station. A camera for workpiece position detection arranged on the 3-axis positioning system determines the position and the rotational position of the hole pattern and searches for the index hole. This allows the positioning system controlled by the servo drive to move the laser exactly to the marking position. The pneumatically controlled lifting doors in the infeed and outfeed seal the laser safety cabin light-tight and the disc is lasermarked with a data matrix code and plain text. After marking, another camera attached to the positioning system reads the code and determines the quality of the DataMatrixCode based on a standard. After IO reading, the brake disc is transported further to the packing station. After a final visual inspection, the brake disc starts its journey to the most diverse sports car manufacturers in the world.