In an automated fixture, the controller and the cure point rarely occupy the same space — robotic arms, conveyor tooling, and clamping mechanisms claim the area immediately around the assembly, leaving the controller body nowhere to sit unless the lightguide can reach past all of it.
118 mm of Reach — 79% Further Than the Short Guide
The Incure L9000-LG Long Guide is the extended-reach lightguide in the Incure L9000™ family, built as a straight cylindrical fibre optic at 118 mm total length — 79% longer than the Short Guide’s 66 mm. That extra length addresses a specific problem the shorter guides can’t: fixture cavities, recessed board mounting positions, and multi-stage assembly frames where 66 mm of guide simply runs out before the tip reaches the bond face. The extended fibre optic maintains full UV transmission across the additional length — there’s no intensity penalty for the longer reach beyond what standard focal-point physics dictates at any given tip-to-surface distance.
Keeping the Controller Outside the Fixture Envelope
The Long Guide’s real value shows up in automation integration. In a robotic or conveyor-fed fixture, the controller body can’t occupy the work envelope alongside the tooling — there simply isn’t room. The Long Guide’s 118 mm length provides enough clearance to mount the controller on the fixture frame itself while the guide tip reaches to the cure point deep inside the fixture. That’s the configuration that makes full automation integration practical: controller on the frame, tip on the part, RS-232 trigger signal from the line controller — no manual repositioning of the lamp between cycles.
7,500 mW/cm² at 9 mm, Held Constant Through the Full 118 mm
Peak irradiance matches the Short Guide and Cool Guide at every measured focal point distance: 7,500 mW/cm² at 9 mm, 5,000 mW/cm² at 10 mm, 2,300 mW/cm² at 17 mm, and 450 mW/cm² at 25 mm, all measured at 365 nm and 100% output. Spot diameter is selectable from six options (3 to 12 mm). Wavelength is factory-configured at order (365, 375, 385, 395, or 405 nm), and intensity is adjustable from 10% to 100% via the Incure L9000-BASE controller. Up to four Long Guides run simultaneously from a single controller — useful for curing four deep-reach positions inside the same automated fixture in one trigger cycle.
Focal Point Behavior Doesn’t Change With Length
A reasonable assumption when specifying an extended-reach lightguide is that the additional fibre length introduces some intensity penalty beyond normal propagation loss — the Long Guide’s specifications confirm that isn’t the case here. Irradiance at every measured focal point distance, from 9 mm through 30 mm, matches the Short Guide exactly. That means process parameters validated on a Short Guide-equipped station — exposure time, working distance, cure completeness — transfer directly to a Long Guide-equipped station without re-qualification, provided the same tip diameter and wavelength configuration are used. The only variable that changes between the two guides is how far the cure point can sit from the controller.
Planning the Fixture Around the Guide’s Reach
Because the Long Guide’s advantage is entirely about physical reach rather than intensity or cooling, fixture design should determine the choice: measure the actual distance from where the controller can realistically mount to where the cure point sits, and confirm 118 mm covers that span with margin for cable routing. A guide that’s too short for the fixture geometry forces either a redesign or an awkward controller placement that interferes with the automation; oversizing reach unnecessarily just adds unused cable length to manage. Email Us with the fixture layout for a reach-fit review before finalizing the design.
Spot Diameter Selection Independent of Guide Length
The Long Guide’s extended reach doesn’t constrain spot diameter selection — the same six options (3 to 12 mm) available on the Short Guide are available here, since spot size is set by the tip optics rather than the fibre’s overall length. That means a deep-reach fixture position doesn’t force a compromise on the cure spot’s coverage area; the guide length and the spot diameter are independent variables to size separately against the fixture’s reach requirement and the bond line’s actual width.
Integrating Into Conveyor and Automated Lines
The Long Guide’s controller-outside-the-envelope advantage pairs naturally with conveyor-based production. For lines running continuous-flow curing rather than static-station cycles, the Incure CDM™ UV conveyor integrates lamp heads directly into the line, and reviewing how a Long Guide-equipped L9000™ station fits alongside conveyor tooling is worth doing early in the layout process. For a focused-beam alternative in a similarly automated context, the Incure M-Series™ covers a different beam geometry worth comparing for bond-line-width-critical applications.
For a reach and clearance review specific to an automated fixture design, Contact Our Team with the fixture dimensions.
Visit www.incurelab.com for more information.