Water Jet Sweden (www.waterjetsweden.com) has launched Alphajet, its next-generation of taper angle control and perpendicular waterjet cutting tool. Alphajet is mechatronics-based on a compact design with a fixed TCP point and achieves extremely accurate cutting results with carefully selected machine elements and small precise movements at an angular accuracy within ±0.05mm.

Tony Rydh, Water Jet Sweden founder and technical manager, said: “It is easy to do something complicated, but difficult to do something simple. ith our newly designed Alphajet, we take taper angle control (TAC) to a new level. TAC is a proven feature in the industry but we make it a notch better in almost every respect."

The new Alphajet has a compact design which means less weight and less limitations on the working area.

This is extra beneficial for those who want to arm their machine with more than one cutting tool as you can fit up to four Alphajets on the same machine, thereby quadrupling the cutting capacity, still keeping the high accuracy.

"The less movement the higher accuracy. This was one of the guidelines when we designed Alphajet," says Tony Rydh.

"The new Alphajet has a fixed TCP, which means that the machine's X and Y axes do not need to move to handle the taper angle control.

Alphajet has a unique gearbox design; the 45-30-30 angles requires very small movements in the A and B axes when cutting, and the choice to put the tool holder very low on the cutting head provides a low rotation point with small, more accurate movements.

It also has the ability to withstand a maximum angular compensation TAC up to ±14°, which is the best in the market.
The design requires just a few degrees of inclination to achieve perpendicular surfaces and edges.

The mechatronics is equipped with Fanuc absolute servo motors and as a result, no reference cycle is needed to be run. The Absolute motors are directly connected in ‘harmonic drive gear’ to eliminate mechanical sources of error such as backlash and play.

Changing the cutting head is a quick and easy operation and the cutting head is automatically centred thanks to the v-block tool holder and with no need for extra calibration after changing the focusing tube, saves both time and maintains the precision of the cutting head.

Moreover, no special CAD/CAM programs are required to use Alphajet because IGEMS basic CAM waterjet cutting modules already contain data for the most common materials.

In addition to TAC, there are functions for compensating the dynamic properties in the cutting process such as LAG (lag compensation) and VOC (variable offset control) included in the associated software.

All of Water Jet Sweden’s cutting head designs fit the new Alphajet with 3,800 bar to 6,200 bar technology available.

Additional practical and advanced features are offered as standard: spray protection minimises water spray when piercing and the collision sensor protects the nozzle from breaking in the event of a collision; and an Online Height Sensor is available to ensure the accurate cutting result.

Since Alphajet only requires four-axis system control, it can be applied on all Water Jet Sweden machine models, from entry level single head machines to the more advanced, multi-head machine solutions with choice determined by customer’s needs, not technical limitations.

Mr Rydh concluded: "A precision cutting head can realise its full potential on a quality machine. Water Jet Sweden's machines have market-leading accuracy, are made in Sweden and include a five-year performance warranty."

Water Jet Sweden machines are available in the UK from authorised partner Water Jet Sweden UK in Wetherby.