Until 2007, the form cutting of airbags from up to three meter wide polyamide fabric webs was done almost exclusively with gas-assisted laser cutting. Although productivity could be increased through the use of multilayer systems, on which up to 30 layers of material can be cut at the same time, the separation of the layers remained very expensive. Also, the cut quality of the individual layers proved inconsistent. Therefore, for high quality standards, the number of layers had to be drastically reduced.
Based on many years of experience in remote processes, the Fraunhofer IWS together with HELD Systems has developed a workable industry concept. The contiLAS system realizes a processing “on the fly“ in two dimensions. The remote technology allows the implementation of a laser cutting process on any cutting contours and material widths. One or several scanners can work on the fabric webs. Thus, material handling speeds of up to 25 meters per minute are achieved.