Patent ID: 6872913

Claim:
A laser unit for providing markings on a surface of a continuous strip of metal, said laser unit comprising: a beam generator configured to generate a beam of laser radiation to provide said markings in a metal; a beam focuser, associated with the beam generator, that focuses the laser beam onto said surface of said strip; a beam deflector, associated with the beam focuser, that effects a controlled deflection of the laser beam, said beam deflector being arranged intermediate the beam generator and the beam focuser; and a control unit having a memory that receives and stores a pattern to be engraved on said surface and a processor programmed to operate said laser unit to produce said pattern on said surface of said strip, wherein: said control unit is set to control said laser unit to provide laser engraved markings at exact locations on said surface when said strip intermittently is in an immobilized condition before being fed into a processing apparatus structured to mechanically shape the thus-marked strip into marked articles to be included in cans, said beam generator is configured to produce laser pulses, and an average power per pulse is at least 25 KW.