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WORLD OF INDUSTRIES 02/2018

WORLD OF INDUSTRIES 02/2018

Practically smart IE4 AC

Practically smart IE4 AC drives for baggage handling systems 01 02 01 The designated installation space for safety and sorting systems for baggage logistics at Victoria Airport was very limited 02 Nord AC vector drives consisting of energy-efficient geared motor and a distributed frequency inverter 03The AC vector drives integrating an industrial Ethernet interface that enable remote monitoring and control of the application 03 04 04 All connections are made with coded connectors; the inverter directly connects motor encoders and other sensors, enabling remote monitoring German drive specialist, Nord offers unparalleled features that ensure fast installation, commissioning and versatile interfaces that enable efficient networking and remote monitoring of the field devices. OEMs are surely enjoying these and many more practically smart benefits of Nord’s IE4 AC drives. MOTION AND DRIVES The flow of passengers and luggage volumes at Canada’s Victoria airport in British Columbia, are not even close to that of large international hubs like Dubai or Singapore. But it was exactly for this reason that the baggage handling system (BHS) posed major challenges to the handling system OEM. This airport did not have a lot of room to accommodate all the usual modules – from check-in through security screening to sorting. The airport operating company commissioned Glidepath, a manufacturer specializing in baggage conveying, parcel sorting, and freight logistics technology. For its operations, Glidepath has deployed drives from Nord Drivesystems, which include features like encoder connectivity, positioning capability, and plug-in connectors that ensure fast installation and commissioning. In addition, versatile interfaces enable efficient networking and remote monitoring of the devices in the field as well as the use of drives as distributed I/O nodes. On top of that, they were able to benefit from a variant reduction that greatly simplified spare parts management. All in one drives for areas with space constraints The new handling system has a capacity of 750 pieces of luggage per hour. “The baggage handling system is made up of 85 conveyors with a total length of some 250 m,” says Jason Williams, project engineer at Glidepath. “It comprises two in-line screening CT machines. It has two decision points for sortation, and it has two separate in-feed lines. It has four-way sorters, spiral power curves, bag alignment devices, a luffing conveyor, and Glidepath’s proprietary ploughs and power curves.” All drive tasks are carried out by IE4 AC vector drives from Nord Drivesystems. Each drive unit consists of an IE4 permanent-magnet synchronous motor, a motor-mounted Nordac Flex frequency inverter, and a two-stage gearbox. The hollow shaft gearboxes are secured on the drive axis with a Gripmaxx bushing. This attachment ensures safe, easy-maintenance fitting without keys. The drive systems achieve excellent efficiencies even in the partial 36 WORLD OF INDUSTRIES 2/2018

load range and at low speeds. They therefore pay for their initial cost within a few years or even only months, and total expenses over the product lifespan are significantly reduced. The frequency inverters are configured exactly to Glidepath’s specifications – with plug-in connectors for power, communications, encoders, and sensors. They feature an internal EtherNet/IP interface and are designed for easy feed-through installation. Intelligent networking and integrated positioning features: a welcome bonus The pluggable drives saved Glidepath a lot of time during installation and commissioning. The coded connectors enable speedy, error-free networking. Williams appreciates the versatile interfaces, with Nord’s capability of field I/O, his team was able to connect the majority of their field devices directly to the frequency inverters. Featuring industrial Ethernet communications, the drives enable not only remote monitoring and control of all drive axes, but also seamless monitoring of connected sensors and actuators. For Williams and his team, this was a crucial factor: “The real advantage here is, the drives support high-speed Ethernet, which allows for reliable bag tracking on our system.” The drive systems take on various tasks at the conveyor modules. They move luggage at different speeds from one belt to the next. They ensure accurate height adjustment when conveying diagonally. Glidepath only came to realize the full potential of the integrated positioning function of Nordac Flex inverters once the drives were commissioned. As they gathered parameters for various applications, Nord engineers soon found that the positioning function was the optimal solution for the luggage sorters. “On our four-way sorters, we took advantage of this Nord positioning system. We are very happy with the result.” Great after-sales support makes new product deployments enjoyable Glidepath project engineer Williams is more than satisfied with the professional service. A Nord specialist for their industrial sector provided significant support to Glidepath through efficient standardization. “On this project, we have just five different gear ratios for a job that has 90-odd motors in total and three different motor sizes”, Williams says. “That is a huge advantage. As a consequence, we need only one spare drive per gear type and engine size.” Glidepath engineers express satisfaction as they did not face any issues with commissioning the new IE 4 drives. They did precommissioning on their own, but also had the benefit of getting a Nord commissioning engineer on-site over the four-day commissioning phase. The commissioning expert from Nord, also helped Glidepath engineers in the use of Nord Con software and also assisted with setting up the new position control. The valuable after sales service did not end with installation and commissioning. After several months, Glidepath expanded on the drive performance in regular operations. Expressing his joy over Nord’s expertise, Williams said “We are very happy with Nord products. There is nothing I can say that is negative about them. Everything is running. We have not had any problems with drives. We have not had to replace anything. It has been a very good project, showing proof of a great collaboration between Glidepath and Nord.” Photographs: Glidepath www.nord.com BONFIGLIOLI: THE RIGHT SOLUTION FOR YOUR WAREHOUSE PROCESSES 23-27 April 2018 Hannover, Germany Visit us Hall 26 - Stand H06 www.bonfiglioli.com

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