Apart from known workplaces for precision welding e.g. in the dental and jewel-industry, the availability of powerful and compact solid-state and of diode-lasers together with the beam delivery by optical fibers has opened in the last years a new range of applications for hand-held laser processing devices in the industrial sector. They are used e.g. for cutting, welding, cladding, soldering, and for surface cleaning. Also in the sector of artworks restoration hand-held laser processing devices are a flexible tool to process art-objects with minimal damage.

Manual work with lasers is always advantageous when there is the task to locally and flexible process complex components without using expensive handling-technology and programming. Due to their design and their operation, in comparison to conventional laser processing machines, hand-held or hand-operated laser processing devices can cause particular hazards. To ensure a safe use, hazards have to be analyzed and to be met by protective measures.

To draw attention to the particular hazards related to the use of hand-held laser processing devices and to define minimum requirements for the design, a new type C standard, the ISO 11553-2, has been developed.

The present contribution summarizes the current status of the standard and provides information on typical applications of hand-held laser processing devices, hazard potentials, approaches for protective measures and the transfer of findings into the new standard.

1.
Belforte
,
D.
 (
2003
)
World markets for industrial lasers and applications
, in
Proceedings of the lasers and optoelectronics marketplace seminar
,
San Jose, CA, USA
2.
Knechtel
,
H.
 (
2000
)
Laserschweissen im Werkzeug- und Formenbau – Möglichkeiten und Grenzen
, in
Proceedings 2. Kolloquium Laserstrahl-Handbearbeitung
,
Halle, Germany
3.
Schmid
,
C.
 (
2001
)
Ungewohnte Freiheitsgrade, Laser
,
12
pp.
4.
Schmid
,
C.
,
Haferkamp
,
H.
;
Goede
,
M.
,
Drygalla
,
M.
,
Lotz
,
K.U.
 (
2000
)
Manually operated laser welding and cutting device
,
MM Industrial Magazine Western Europe
,
27
–
29
Google Scholar
 
5.
Haferkamp
,
H.
,
Drygalla
,
M.
,
Goede
,
M.
 et al. (
2000
)
Hand-guided Laser Material Processing, in Sheet Metal 2000
,
Proceedings of the 8th International Conference
,
Birmingham, England
,
291
–
300
6.
Haferkamp
,
H.
,
Goede
,
M.
,
Schmid
,
C.
,
Drygalla
,
M.
 (
2000
)
Manually operated laser welding and cutting device
,
MM Industrial Magazine Western Europe
, Vol.
16
, No.
3
,
27
–
29
Google Scholar
 
7.
Tönshoff
,
H.K.
,
Haferkamp
,
H.
,
Goede
,
M.
 et al. (
2000
)
Hand-guided Laser Material Processing Extends the Possibilities of Users, Annals of the German Academic Society for Production Engineering (WGP)
.
2000 Production Engineering
, Vol
VII
/
1
,
125
–
130
Google Scholar
 
8.
Haferkamp
,
H.
,
Drygalla
,
M.
,
Bunte
,
J.
,
von Busse
,
A.
 (
2004
)
Modularized laser beam cutting technology for dismantling applications
. (IE-377-04) CI-1150-04,
Welding in the World
Google Scholar
 
9.
Brüninghoff
,
H.
 (
2002
)
Schicht für Schicht – Laserstrahlreinigen von Hochspannungsmasten, EuroLaser
, No.
4
,
38
pp.
10.
Ostrowski
,
R.
,
Marczak
,
J.
,
Jach
,
K.
,
Sarzynski
,
A.
 (
2003
)
Selection of radiation parameters of lasers used for artworks conservation
, in
Proceedings of the SPIE – The International Society of Optical Engineering
, No.
5146
,
99
–
107
Google Scholar
 
11.
El. En. Group
(
1999
)
Laser energy – power of creativity, company brochure
12.
Puester
,
T.
,
Baur
,
R.
 (
2002
)
Normungsarbeit für Maschinen zur handgeführten und handpositionierten Laser-Materialbearbeitung
, in
Proceedings 3. Kolloquium Laserstrahl-Handbearbeitung
,
Halle, Germany
13.
ISO 13849-1 (
1997
)
Safety of machinery – Safety related parts of control systems, Part 1: General principles of design
14.
pr ISO 11553-1 (
2002
)
Safety of machinery - Laser processing machines - Safety requirements
15.
IEC 60825-1: A2 (
2001
)
Safety of laser products - Part 1: Equipment classification, requirements and user’s guide
16.
IEC 60825-4: A2 (
2003
)
Safety of laser products - Part 4: Laser guards
17.
IEC 60601-2-22 (
1995
)
Medical electrical equipment-Part 2: Particular requirements for the safety of diagnostic and therapeutic laser equipment
18.
IEC 62026-2 (
1999
)
Control circuit devices and switching elements for low-voltage switchgear and controlgear - Part 3: Actuator sensor interface (AS-i)
This content is only available via PDF.
© 2005 Laser Institute of America.
2005
Laser Institute of America
You do not currently have access to this content.