Herochu answers with a turnkey range that begins at USD 1 299 and pays for itself before the first maintenance interval is due. Whether you run a standalone 2 kW fibre laser or a fully automated lights-out cell, our CE-certified, ISO 9001–registered modules clamp, lift and place sheet after sheet without operator reach, scratch or shuffle. The result is an extra 45–70 minutes of net beam time per eight-hour shift and a measurable drop in secondary finishing costs.
Core principle, explained in plain motion
A rigid-beam or cable-servo frame travels on ground-mounted rails parallel to the shuttle table. Vacuum cups—arranged in rows of 75 mm, 100 mm or 150 mm pitch—drop to −0.8 bar within 0.4 s once the laser guard opens. The pump plenum is sized so that loss of two adjacent cups still leaves 150 % safety factor on the heaviest plate. When the sheet clears the table height, an electric traverse accelerates to 1.2 m/s, decelerates at 0.6 g, and positions repeatability within ±0.5 mm over a 6 m stroke. On arrival above the unload stack the cups vent through a fast-dump valve; the sheet releases flat, free of the skid marks common with fork or magnet handling.
Two architectures, same control language
Rigid-arm manipulators suit high-accuracy tasks: thin stainless for aerospace dials, copper heat-exchange fins, or any job where the skeleton must stay square while it is lifted clear of micro-tabs. The arm remains perpendicular to the table plane; absolute encoders on every axis report real-time position to your nesting software so the next sheet can begin loading before the previous skeleton is fully clear.
Cable-servo gantries trade micron rigidity for speed and reach. A Dyneema-core cable rides over carbon-fibre pylons, giving a 4 m vertical window without mast intrusion. Perfect for construction-grade mild steel where ±2 mm placement is acceptable and cycle time rules. Switching between arm and cable takes one hour; both share the same Herochu HMI, so retraining staff is unnecessary.
Payload that keeps pace with thick plate trends
Standard arrays lift 100 kg net—enough for 4 mm × 2 m × 1 m mild steel or 15 mm aluminium. Optional tandem beams push the limit to 250 kg for 20 mm plate still warm from the previous cut. Vacuum circuits are zoned; pick ¼ of a 4 m × 2 m sheet for partial nesting, then return the remnant to the rack without releasing the rest. That translates into direct material savings on high-value alloys where every millimetre carries a price tag.
Safety engineered for humans who stay on the floor
Light curtains with 14 mm resolution create a vertical safety wall; break the plane and traverse speed drops to 0.1 m/s while an amber beacon rotates. Category-3 PLd contact strips along the beam edges stop motion in 40 ms if met by a glove or sleeve. The control cabinet houses an emergency-stop palm button within arm’s reach of the loading bay and a keyed selector that locks out vacuum during manual nozzle changes. These measures satisfy both EU machinery directive 2006/42/EC and OSHA 1910.212 without extra guarding costs.
Integration that speaks your laser’s native tongue
Herochu supplies Ethernet-IP, Profinet and EtherCAT interface cards pre-loaded with macro libraries for Trumpf, Bystronic, Amada, Mazak and Han’s Laser. Install the provided EDS file, import the ladder snippet, and the loader receives start-of-cut, end-of-cut and sheet-fault bits directly from the laser PLC. No intermediate PC, no custom code. If you run an older serial CNC we provide a 24 V I/O breakout; either way the handshake is complete in under thirty minutes.
Custom footprints for real-world buildings
Low-line version: 600 mm pit depth so the beam travels flush with floor level—ideal for sites where ceiling height is restricted by ductwork.
High-line version: zero-pit frame with 200 mm raised rails; unload over existing stillages or a roller conveyor feeding a press brake.
Cross-line version: 90° transfer bridge that services two lasers from one rack line, cutting capital cost per machine by 38 %.
Every frame is hot-dip-galvanised after welding; bearings are sealed for −10 °C to +60 °C and rated for 50 000 km of travel—roughly ten years of three-shift operation.
