eVa, the Cutting Head that Changed the Game
Thanks to its unique construction with fewer optics and moving parts, the eVa is four times less prone to contamination than all other heads in the market.
A leading role
The cutting head is inarguably the most critical component in a fiber laser machine. Despite its relatively small size compared to other parts, its role is crucial, even more so when powers are high. The head is responsible for controlling a massive amount of energy and transforming it into a precisely focused beam that will perform the ultimate task: cutting.
Anyone in the industry can attest that contamination within the cutting head is the predominant issue in fiber laser cutting. With this in mind, Eagle engineers set out to build a unique cutting head, with every detail aiming to minimize contamination and reduce operational costs. The result of years of meticulous research and testing was the patented eVa.
Less is more
Optics tend to suffer the most wearing in a laser's cutting head. When lenses wear down, they affect the cut quality and reduce the predictability of the entire production process. Between lenses and protective glasses, most heads in the market have six optical elements within their structure. The more optics, the more wearing; This eventually leads to head degradation and decreased performance, resulting in soaring operating costs due to frequent replacements.
Under the motto "What isn't there can’t break," Eagle managed to reduce wearing parts to a minimum. As a result, the eVa only has three optical elements (collimating lens, focusing lens, and cover slide) and three wearing parts (cover slide, cover slide seal, and nozzle), which significantly reduce costs and downtime.
Aside from quantity, there's also the size factor. While most cutting heads have 36mm-diameter lenses, the eVa's lenses are 62mm. That's a 72% increase in surface area, translating into a five times lower energy density focused on the lens, hence a lower risk of damage and increased service life.
It's all in the details
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In most heads in the market, the distance between the cover slide and nozzle is only 130mm, allowing contaminants to enter the nozzle and reach the cover slide to which they adhere, affecting cutting precision. On the eVa, the cover slide is located 355mm above the nozzle. By almost tripling the distance, Eagle's cutting head requires ten times less frequent cover slide replacement. A smart shift with a huge impact.
During the eVa's conception, Eagle engineers found that one of the leading causes of contamination was dust entering the head when parts within its structure moved. To tackle this issue, they completely changed the game by eliminating all moving parts from the structure, keeping the inside sealed to prevent pollution.
Thanks to its unique construction with fewer optics and moving parts, larger lenses, greater distance from the nozzle to cover slide, and lack of moving parts within the head structure, the eVa is four times less prone to contamination than all other heads in the market.
Automation technology
We've mentioned the eVa's unique structural qualities, but it's also through its state-of-the-art automation technology that this one-of-a-kind head stands out.
Eagle's cutting head has a patented anti-collision system and automatic centering to prevent collision-related damage. The nozzle has a movable lower module equipped with sensors. When these detect a collision, the head immediately stops, goes to the nozzle centering station, and only then resumes cutting. Moreover, thanks to the AC module design, the head doesn't use ceramic rings, which need constant replacement.
The eVa also features autofocus to quickly adjust the focal length based on material type and thickness, a motorized zoom to adapt the beam diameter, the eBeam function, which automatically switches from gaussian to ring mode, and an optional automatic nozzle changer.
Thanks to these features, the eVa's smart decision-making increases its lifetime, protects its optics, and drastically reduces operating costs.
Minimal maintenance, maximum performance
To keep adding to the list of pros, the eVa is pretty much hassle-free. It requires minimal maintenance, and most servicing can be carried out by your personnel without needing an Eagle technician or even dismounting the head.
Eagle also emphasizes that its cutting head was designed for maximum reliability under the harshest conditions. As a result, the eVa delivers peak performance maintaining stability and precision even at 30kW and 6G acceleration, the manufacturer's current top-of-the-line parameters.
If all this wasn't enough, a single eVa head can handle the entire spectrum of thicknesses and materials a fiber laser can cut. But this is not the final stage. Eagle engineers continue to perfect and upgrade the company's signature head year by year, and we can only predict its popularity will keep growing.
