Abstract: A process is described which makes use of a folding press and a numerically controlled manipulator device provided with mechanical pincers; the sheet metal to be worked is gripped by the manipulator device and carried against an abutment shoulder disposed in front of the press; the alignment of the front edge of the sheet metal with the abutment shoulder is then tested by means of microswitches, and then the sheet metal is carried under the blade of the folding press utilizing, as reference co-ordinates for the movements of the manipulator, those of the abutment shoulder.

Abstract: A laser cutting machine consisting of a focusing head; an exit nozzle; a joint structure which supports the head; a control unit; a drive device, which is supported by a joint structure and controlled by a control unit to move the head along a specified path in space, whereby a theoretically determined, invariant distance is maintained between the exit nozzle and a plate material to be cut, the head having first and second portions which can move relative to each other in the axial direction; a servomechanism, one end of the portions being coupled to the nozzle and a focusing lens, whereby while the machine is in use, the servomechanism controls the relative motion of the two portions in the axial direction independently of the control unit to maintain a specified and invariant distance between the nozzle and the surface.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a focusing head 1 for a laser-beam cutting machine on which the head is designed to turn, in relation to the machine structure 4, around two axes combining to form an angle, the head consisting of two portions 15, 24 one of which 24 is provided with an output nozzle 43 and a focusing lens 42 and moves axially in relation to the other by means of a servomechanism 49 controlled by a position sensor 46 in sliding contact with the sheet material 3 being cut, the sensor 46 being tubular, being assembled in sliding manner on to the end of the nozzle 43 and constituting a guide for a cover gas.