December 2012System Integration & Control Systems Design
Tellap is a company that supplies recyclable plastic sleeves to replace the wooden pallets generally used to stack 1 ton bags of product with. The alternative is necessary as wooden pallets cannot be exported, in addition to adding to the weight of goods when transported.
As its chosen partner in automation, Tellap called on leading automation solutions provider, Festo, to assist it to obtain higher production output from its MK 1 sleeve assembly machine, culminating in the re-design and fabricating of the new MK 2 model. The company was using Festo PLC equipment and the type DGC pneumatic linear drive technologies together with hot air blowers on the MK 1 assembly machine and thus had faith in Festo to assist in the new automation project.
Complex requirements
“The customer’s requirements were multi-faceted,” explains Johan Bester, sales engineer at Festo. “Firstly, the newly incorporated chain drive system needed to be positioned accurately, which would require some recipe handling by the PLC for the different sizes of sleeves. Secondly, the new machine needed to be much more compact in order to fit into a 20-foot container for ease of transport and deployment. Lastly, the machine needed to be fully flexible during setup, allowing the operator easy access to the different recipes, speeds and other parameters.”
The specifications for the MK 2 listed Festo pneumatic cylinders for clamping, bending and alignment, as well as the compact and modular MPA-FB-VI and the FED-501 operator interface. The modular design of the MPA-FB intelligent valve terminal facilitates maximum flexibility right from the planning stage and offers maximum ease of servicing during operation.
The system consists of manifold blocks and valves. The manifold blocks are screwed together and thus form the support system for the valves. They contain the connection ducts for supplying compressed air to and venting from the valve terminal, as well as the working lines for the pneumatic drives for each valve. Each manifold block is connected to the next using three screws. Individual terminal sections can be isolated and further manifold blocks inserted by loosening these screws. This ensures that the valve terminal can be rapidly and reliably extended.
The MPA-FB intelligent valve terminal offers a flow rate of up to 700 l/min and reliable operation with a manual override to reduce downtimes. The CPX diagnostic interface for handheld devices allows channel-orientated diagnostics down to the individual valve. This unit is quick mounting with lower selection, ordering, installation and commissioning costs. Furthermore, the MPA-FB is easy to service through replaceable valves and electronics modules.
One stop shop solution
The design engineer did not specify Festo motors for the chain drives originally, however, during one of the final project meetings the benefits of using one supplier was pointed out to the customer. Having been given the opportunity to quote on the chain drive motors, Festo recommended the EMMS-AS-70 servo motors with precision low backlash planetary gearboxes.
Festo provides a one stop shop for service, spares and back-up. In addition, remote assistance via Internet is available on a dedicated laptop computer that travels with the machine. Tellap is already planning the MK 3 model of its sleeve assembly machine, which will incorporate a Festo CoDeSys CPX PLC communicating CAN bus with all the servo motor controllers, a number of Festo EGC toothed belt electromechanical axis replacing the chain drive systems, CDPX operator interface and their MPA valve terminal.
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