Plasma Cutting Tables were first introduced by Lockformer in the mid 1980’s and would revolutionize the HVAC Fabrication industry by that addressing the most time consuming and labor intensive task in an HVAC sheet metal fab shop;  cutting out the fittings portion of the HVAC job. 

 

It wasn’t that long ago  that a related innovation was introduced: a decoiler that feeds the 5 x 10 sheet onto the Plasma Table.  This Plasma Feeder is similar to a front end of a coil line in some respects: coil spools sit in cradles and are powered with individual drive motors thru a  straightener and beader. But instead of a shearing station , the metal passes thru a feed guide to the torch start point, a position that takes up the entire 5 x 10 table. The Plasma Table’s software generates a cut list, figuring the total length as well as the number of fittings,  maximizing each 5 x 10 sheet for the least amount of drop.  After cutting out the fittings, it’s Auto Trim Cut Feature then acts as a shear to automatically plasma cut the length of the sheet not used thereby saving what would otherwise be a 5 ft wide likely unusable drop piece to utilize it on the next cut list.

It’s feeder has individual drive motors that operate when de-coiling and rewinding the coil spool.  The spools themselves have a solid inner core that reduces the possiblity of “telescoping”.

 

Vicon is the only manufacturer that programs its own operating software.  They can also program the table to receive data and operate off of other manufacturer’s software.