ESAB Cutting Systems has received a patent (#6,222,155) on its capability to combine thermal and non-thermal cutting processes on a single carriage for its gantry cutting systems.
The company offers this technology on its HydroCut waterjet cutting system, recently introducing a low-rail HydroCut model that combines a waterjet cutting head, PT-15 plasma cutting head, plasma marker, and laser pointer. The combination of waterjet and plasma allows the machine to make intricate cuts in a part's internal geometry with waterjet and high-speed perimeter cuts with plasma.