LASELEC specialises in high-performance wire processing equipment. Capitalizing on 25+ years experience in designing and manufacturing laser systems, the company's UV laser wire markers have been widely adopted by harness constructors because of the savings that can be realized by marking on wire directly, rather than by marking on sleeves that must be attached to the cable by hand. Workshops using Laselec laser wire markers can dramatically reduce the time of production (from 20% to 40%) compared to those using heat-shrink sleeving.

Recent Laselec releases include the ultra-compact Sylade 7 laser wire stripper and the EasyWiring interactive harness layout board, which increase accuracy and productivity in harness construction operations. Both of these machines, as well as an MRO 200 UV laser wire marker, were on display at Innotrans in Berlin last month (September 2014).

UV laser cable marking

A laser and electronics specialist, Laselec developed the world's first Nd-YAG UV laser wire marker for Eurocopter in 1989. Today, Laselec laser wire markers can be found on six continents:

• Increasing the productivity of workshops previously using labour-intensive heat-shrink sleeving (such as BCA MRO Centre, PGA Electronic, ZODIAC, etc)
• Reducing the weight of harnesses in order to optimize a vehicle's energy consumption (such as in harnesses produced by PTK for Alstom's trains) or speed (such as in the racecar harnesses produced by Amphenol)
• Ensuring the electrical integrity of wiring subject to the most extreme conditions (such as in the satellite harnesses produced by NAVAIR) thanks to a non-aggressive marking technique which does not damage the cable's insulation, and
• Leaving a permanent mark resistant to light exposure, solvents, etc., on wiring that will be in service for years (for example, harnesses in the aircraft of manufacturers including Airbus, Boeing, Bombardier, Embraer, etc., and harnesses produced for the railway industry).

Laselec offers two lines of laser wire markers, to meet the needs of all customers:

1. ULYS MODENA (medium to very high volume)
   The ULYS SL Modena line consists of upgradeable machines designed to meet the exacting productivity and quality requirements of high volume users, often in manufacturing. All of the machine of the line can be equipped with a multi-spool de-reeler capable of holding between 6 and 24 spools, as well as an automatic feeding system including a wire waste reduction feature.
   
   
2. MRO 200 (low to medium volume)
   The MRO 200 line meets cable marking and identification needs ranging from occasional small runs to significant volumes, offering an affordable price for a reliable, high-quality machine. Thanks to a wide variety of features on offer, MRO 200 machines can be upgraded to a higher model.

Sylade 7 laser wire stripping

Laselec's range of wire processing equipment also includes the Sylade line of laser wire stripping systems. Laser wire stripping has been making inroads in the rail, aerospace, automotive, medical, energy, electronics and other sectors, which demand high precision and high productivity stripping.

The Sylade 7 system uses laser to cleanly cut through the insulation of wires and cables without physically touching the insulation. This has two advantages. First, it preserves the integrity of the conductor. Second, the contact-free cut allows the system to adapt itself to the diameter and type of cable, without the need for nitpicky calibration. Therefore, the Sylade 7 can offer a fast and accurate strip even on wires with a non-circular cross section. Many workshops have found it highly useful for stripping the shielded twisted pair cables that other automatic stripping systems can't handle and that they were previously stripping by scalpel.

The Sylade 7 handles numerous types of electrical cables (including those jacketed in PTFE, FEB, and polyamide, among others). Customers can choose the configuration that fits their needs, including options for longer stripping ranges and for increased automation of the insertion and removal of cables.

EasyWiring interactive harness layout board

Laselec's last category of wire processing equipment is the EasyWiring line of interactive wire harness layout boards. The EasyWiring system displays the information needed to strip, crimp, and connect each wire on a screen behind the harness layout surface, right at the point where the technician is working. This avoids time-consuming stops while the technician searches for information. A user has the option of validating different steps with a bar-code scanner, increasing the traceability of operations.

Available in 47", 60'', 65'', 75'' et 80'', the system can include one or several display modules. The modules can be displaced and coupled together to create tables of various lengths. Accessories mounted on suction cups, fixed onto the protective surface covering the screen, hold the harness in place during production, making the system easy to reconfigure for all of the different harnesses produced by a workshop. This results in a system that not only increases productivity, but can save space in the workshop, allowing many bulky static buildboards to be replaced by a single dynamic EasyWiring system.

(Contact: Marie-Line Laval, Sales Director. Email: marie-line.laval@laselec.com)