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Automation Technologies 1/2016

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Automation Technologies 1/2016

Fountain of youth for

Fountain of youth for “old iron” CONTROL AND DRIVE TECHNOLOGY Machines are designed to be robust and are sometimes oversized to a degree more than necessary , since it increases their service life considerably. Many manufacturing operations continue to use machines that are regarded as “old iron”, but do still fulfil their functions. It often pays dividends in these cases to convert them to the latest generation of automation solution. This is what happened at the ‘Umdasch Group’ who subjected an eccentric press to a fundamental retrofit at the end of last year. The Umdasch Group is one of Austria’s largest, family-owned wood working companies. It has two divisions, the Doka Group and Umdasch Shop-fitting Group. The Doka Group manufactures components such as ceiling props, heavy duty supports, transverse load carriers or anchorage systems in-house. Retrofit guarantees availability As the press was otherwise in a good working condition, it made sense for the company to invest in a retrofit in this case. Although the press was still functional, it was starting to show some shortcomings after maintenance, i.e. it could no longer be guaranteed that the press would be ready for operation again within 10 days. The electrics in particular, used very outdated technologies, for which spare parts were no longer eaasily available. As a complete, safe automation supplier, Pilz was brought on-board to upgrade the press. In conjunction with Pilz, a risk analysis was conducted even before starting the project; this would determine the further course of action, such as which components needed renewing. Implementation guidelines from Doka formed the basis; these specified the manufacturers and components that were to be used. Pilz was responsible for completely planning the upgrade, acquiring all the relevant components, organising the control cabinet construction and performing the final, actual upgrade on-site. Doka could easily carry out the mechanical changes to the press in its own workshops. Pilz has many years experience in matters relating to press retrofits: numerous factors such as renewing the wiring or valves play an important role, in particular for press safety. Complete solution for greater press productivity Ultimately the press was given a completely new motor as the main drive motor, which can be exchanged quickly at any time in the event of a failure. The press safety valves and all of the pneumatics were also exchanged. However, the upgrade mainly concerned the renewal of the complete control cabinet along with the wiring. The control system ‘PSS universal’ PLC from the automation system PSS 4000 was installed as the higher level control system. The automation system contains various hardware device classes. All control and I/O systems have a modular structure. As a result they can be used in various solutions and are also expandable. The “old” mechanical rotary cam arrangement has been replaced by an electronic solution from Pilz: a combination of control system, special software blocks and the rotary encoder ‘PSENenco’. Installation is as easy as you can imagine: the safe rotary encoder ‘PSENenco’ is designed with complete redundancy and is fitted on the shaft and adjusted. It communicates the current encoder values to the control system ‘PSS universal’ PLC via an SSI interface (synchronous serial interface). The software program uses these to calculate the respective operating angle of the press. This way it is possible to safely establish the angle calculation, number of strokes or direction of rotation for each movement. There is no need for any complex mechanical re-adjustments on the safety system. As a result, press solutions can be implemented safely, flexibly and economically, from dynamisation of the overrun cam to internal broken shearpin monitoring. Following the retrofit the eccentric press now meets modern standards. The mechanical rotary cam arrangement on the eccentric press was replaced by the complete electronic solution from the automation company Pilz AUTOMATION TECHNOLOGIES 1/2016

About Pilz Pilz is a leading, innovative automation technology company. As experts in the safety of human, machine and the environment, Pilz provides innovative products and solutions in the area of sensor, control and drive technology. The company stationed in Ostfildern, Germany has the traditions of a family-run company. Renate Pilz, the Managing Partner along with her children Sussane and Thomas form the Management Board of the company that now operates worldwide. The company has a presence in all continents through its 31 subsidiaries and branches as well as sales partners. The electronic rotary cam arrangement in the automation system PSS 4000 consists of the control system PSSuniversal PLC, software blocks and the rotary encoder PSENenco Only three parameters are required to set the run-up cam and overrun cam. The over-run cam can be calculated safely and dynamically for presses with a variable number of strokes. Each time the press stops the overrun is automatically recalculated, to guarantee that the resulting stopping point of the press is constantly exact. If the set limit values are exceeded, this will be signalled via the screen and the press will be stopped. Before the retrofit, although the slide stroke adjustment was electrical, it still had to be read via a scale. The current solution uses a distance measuring system, so now the operator can see the position directly on the operator terminal, the PMI (Pilz Machine Interface) 509 from Pilz. The display now shows plain text error messages; the previous mechanical piece counter is now incorporated via the software. Simplified handling after upgrade Following the press upgrade the operator has access to more information and re-tooling is simpler. The final steps were to program the safety system and measuring system and implement the visualisation. Manually operated presses have to be examined by a notified body following an upgrade, in this case it was approved by ‘TÜV’. Induction for the press operator marked the end of the project. Photographs: Pilz GmbH & Co. KG www.pilz.com IN-SIGHT 2000 SERIES THE POWER OF IN-SIGHT WITH THE EASE-OF-USE AND AFFORDABILITY OF A VISION SENSOR CONTACT SALES: +44 121 2965163 COGNEX.COM/IS2000

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