Glossary for technical terms
Among other things for laser, welding, additive manufacturing, 3D printing of metal and directed energy deposition
Our coaxworks glossary contains technical terms that are relevant to our products, services and applications in the field of laser wire deposition.
Do you have suggestions for additions or questions? Contact us!
Most of the definitions used here can also be found here or at the individual country-specific standardisation institutes:
Notice: Links to external websites with
different data protection regulations!
Similar terms: axis, positioning, robot, handling device
A handling unit means (along with measurement systems and control systems and laser assembly) the part of a laser unit that is responsible for positioning between the processing head and the workpiece. [ISO 11145]An interchangeable equipment ‘means a device which, after the putting into service of machinery or of a tractor, is assembled with that machinery or tractor by the operator himself in order to change its function or attribute a new function, in so far as this equipment is not a tool’.
[Directive 2006/42/EC on machinery, European Union]
This is defined in more detail in the ‘Guide to the application of the Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC’, edition 2.2, European Commission with examples.Our products laser welding heads fall under this definition the definition of interchangeable equipment. They are the interchangeable equipment processing heads for the basic machine laser processing machine.
Similar terms: laser unit [ISO 11145], machining center [ISO 10791], CNC machine, laser cell
A laser processing machine means a ‘machine in which (an) embedded laser(s) provide(s) sufficient energy or power to melt, evaporate, or cause a phase transition in at least a part of the workpiece, and which is ready to use in function and safety’.[ISO 11553-1:2020-04, Safety of machinery — Laser processing machines — Part 1: Laser safety requirements]
The laser processing machine is, for our laser welding head (processing head, as interchangeable equipment), the basic machinery [Guidance to application of the Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC, edition 2.2, European Commission]. The laser processing machine also includes safety requirements.The processing head is the ‘last technical assembly in the beam path from the laser to the processing location in laser material processing’. ‘In the processing head, necessary optical, electrical and mechanical construction elements (e.g. focusing optics, process gas nozzle and distance control) are combined, which can be moved as the last element to the material as a compact device.’
[translated after DIN 32532:2009-08, Schweißen – Laserstrahlverfahren zur Materialbearbeitung – Begriffe für Prozesse und Geräte]
The term processing head is also used in ISO 11553. Our laser welding heads are processing heads for a laser processing machine. A processing head is an interchangeable equipment.