Abstract: A laser assembly adapted to retrofit industrial mechanical engravers to convert the mechanical engraver to a laser engraver.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for marking coated wire with alphanumeric characters is disclosed. An electrically conductive wire is surrounded with a coating; a plurality of lasers are circumferentially disposed around the wire, each laser generates a beam of coherent energy of sufficient intensity to focus on and ablate a dot-shaped area of the coating thereby creating a corresponding dot of the contrasting color. As the wire is moved past the lasers, the laser beams are sequentially triggered in synchronization with the motion of the wire to produce a matrix of dots representing alphanumeric characters appropriate for identification of the wire.

Abstract: In order to remove a dielectric coating from a conducting material, a high energy radiation source, such as a laser source, is focused in a region having a predefined relationship with the coating of the conducting material. The focused radiation results in a plasma or ionized region being formed. The coating in the vicinity of the plasma region is removed. The region of the focusing of the radiation is varied spatially to remove the dielectric coating in a pre-selected region of the conducting material. According to one embodiment, the radiation is focused in a region spatially removed from the conducting material in order that the direct radiation does not directly impact the conducting material.