ESAB has unveiled its Suprarex PRO, an enhanced version of its heavy-duty, large gantry automated cutting and beveling machine for wind tower, ship, oil and gas, tank and pressure vessel, rail car and other large plate applications. Available later this year, Suprarex PRO enhancements include a larger and sturdier gantry beam and modernized side carriages with a massive design that delivers exceptional stability at travel speeds up to 40 m/minute (1,575 in./minute). Track width options are available up to 10.5 m (34.45 ft.) to accommodate cutting areas up to 9.5 m (31.17 ft.).
“With the enhanced Suprarex PRO, ESAB continues to improve the productivity and performance of our best-selling cutting machine for large work areas,” says Steve Zlotnicki, Global Product Manager, ESAB Cutting Systems. “The heavy-duty gantry can carry more tools so fabricators can get more work done at a single station before moving the plate.”
The Suprarex PRO gantry can be equipped with up to four standard plasma torches, two DMX bevel systems, 12 oxy-fuel torches, ESAB’s IR-VBA infinite rotation oxy-fuel bevel head, ESAB’s SmartJet Green hydrogen cutting technology and a Drill System 307 for drilling, threading and counter boring and marking systems including pinstamp, inkjet, plasma, punch or scribe marking.
“The Suprarex PRO also enables cutting with multiple DMX bevel heads for cutting multiple beveled parts at the same time to speed up the production process,” says Zlotnicki. “When cutting with oxy-fuel bevel heads, it includes the ability to cut two different radiuses, which is required for wind towers. Alternatively, our wider gantry allows for putting two plates side by side and using multiple torches to increase throughput.”
The DMX Beveller works in conjunction with ESAB’s SquareCut Technology, which can further improve the productivity of automated plasma cutting operations. SquareCut Technology tilts the torch to compensate for the edge angle inherent in high-precision plasma cutting to provide three distinct benefits: a High-Speed Mode cuts up to two times faster without increasing bevel angle; a Quality Mode creates a cut surface with a 0- to 1-degree bevel and improved Enhanced Hole Technology cuts smaller holes with better cylindricity.
The Suprarex PRO comes with ESAB’s next-generation Vision T6™ CNC controller and works with ESAB’s iSeries high-precision plasma power sources in configurations up to 800 amps. It also incorporates ESAB’s SmartCycle 2.0 technology to increase productivity, and it works with ESAB’s Columbus® CAD/CAM software and InduSuite CutCloud™ analytic applications.
The Suprarex PRO offers an innovative suite of safety features to reduce risk and provide full compliance with EC Machinery Directive. The safety package includes light curtains and safety bumpers that provide a complete envelope of protection even if an operator becomes incapacitated and falls on the plate. If the operator needs to work within the area of the machine and interrupt the light curtain while the machine is operating, a safe mode limits the speed to less than 2 m/minute (6.6 ft./minute). This feature is particularly helpful when oxy-fuel cutting if the operator needs to remove slag around the pierce point.
The Suprarex PRO is designed for decades of reliable performance in harsh environments. For easier service with less downtime, the new X-axis drive disengage mechanism uses a cam-lock mechanism instead of requiring the removal of bolts. Service personnel can easily back off the gantry for maintenance or in the event of hitting a hard stop.
