Established in 1999, Acorn Laser Ltd (
www.acornlaser.co.uk) has established a reputation for quality, cost-effective pricing and providing a reliable service. From humble beginnings (operating from a small unit with a single laser profiling machine), the company now has the North East’s largest laser cutting capacity.
Prompted by ever-increasing customer demand over the last 17 years, ISO 9001:2008-accredited Acorn Laser has continually increased its staffing levels and expanded its range of metal-working capabilities.
The company now has an extensive range of the latest sheet metal processing equipment in its 36,000sq ft Tyne and Wear facility. Sectors served include the automotive, offshore and marine, rail, earth-moving equipment and electronics industries.
A growing order book recently prompted the search for a machine that would help relieve the pressure on the company’s existing press brakes. Acorn Laser director Graeme Deanus said: “We provide a wide range of metal-working services and supply finished products to customers throughout the UK and beyond.
“Whether they require design, development, prototypes or low- to high-volume production, we can help at every stage, from the initial enquiry through to manufacture.
“As well as laser cutting, we provide a complete range of design, development, prototyping and metal-working processes; these include 3-D CAD, punching and CNC bending, as well as a range of welding techniques and assembly. We also offer a wide range of coating and finishing processes.
”We recently identified the need for a larger press brake that would increase our size capacity while giving us a greater throughput at a cost-effective price — and delivering our required standards of quality. Even though we have several laser cutting machines from Prima Power — including a Platino CP4000, a Platino CP3000, a Platino PRC, a Platino Rofin-Sinar and a Platino Fibre 4kW — we also looked at the press brake offerings from several leading manufacturers, including Prima Power.
“Although a couple of the machines we viewed had some of the features we were looking for, the eP1030 from Prima Power — with a length capacity of 3,060 mm and a rating of 105 tonnes — represented the ideal bending solution for our needs.”
Expectations met
Mr Deanus says the new press brake is now fully operational and delivering on all of the promises made by the staff of Coventry-based Prima Power UK Ltd (
www.primapower.com).
“The eP1030 is producing high-quality parts at excellent levels of production; it has also allowed us to accommodate larger components and further expand our bending capabilities.”
Prima Power says that on average, its servo-electric machines offer cycle times that are 30% shorter than those achieved by hydraulic machines — and they take less time to set up. There are four models in the range — the eP-0520, eP-1030, eP-1336 and eP-2040 — covering various press tonnages and bending lengths.
On average, machines in the eP series consume 50% less power than hydraulic press brakes; they also need less maintenance, while the absence of oil to purchase and dispose of brings many ecological advantages (Prima Power
calls this Green Means).
The pulley-belt system on eP-series machines distributes the applied bending force over the whole bending length, while a rigid and stable O-frame ensures optimum tool alignment under even the most demanding operations. Ram position accuracy and repeatability are assured by bed-referenced linear encoders that measure the relative positions of the upper and lower beams. Moreover, eP-series machines have no throat limitations for longer parts.
Block Laser safety equipment from Lazer Safe ensures operator safety, while Prima Power’s AQ-bending followers remove the need for a second operator to support big parts.
High-speed digital image-processing technology is also available; this allows the precise measurement of formed workpiece angles on every cycle and the automatic correction of bend programs.