Controls & machine components

Institute of Packaging Professionals (IoPP): Computer/line integration

Using Computer Technology to Achieve Packaging Line Integration and Automation is a comprehensive, 235-page textbook available from the Institute of Packaging Professionals (Herndon, VA).

January 31, 1998

Controls & machine components: Page 377

Controls & Machine Components

All-in-one HMI, PLC, I/O

Simatic C7-620 series of controllers from Siemens (Alpharetta, GA) combine a PLC, human-machine interface (HMI) and I/O components in a single, compact unit.

January 31, 1998

Controls & Machine Components

Compact motion controller

PowerMotion(TM) DSM300 motion control module from GE Fanuc (Charlottesville, VA) uses powerful dual processors for a three-fold increase in processing power over its predecessor at roughly half the price and with half the power consumption.

January 31, 1998

Controls & Machine Components

Palletizing robot

Rodico (Upper Saddle River, NJ) now offers PEWO-form Pallet, a compact 4-axis robotic palletizer. Its modular construction allows different functions to be combined.

January 31, 1998

Controls & Machine Components

Kollmorgen: Compact servo motor

Platinum XT Series three-phase brushless DC servo motor is now available from Kollmorgen Motion Technologies Group (Radford, VA) in a compact housing for tight space requirements.

January 31, 1998

Coding, Printing & Labeling

In-line wrap labeler

Designed for water bottles, the Model 4520 in-line wrap labeler from Labeling Systems (Oakland, NJ) applies labels at speeds to 250 products/min. The stepper-motor drive labeling head has a 16" O.D.

January 31, 1998

Controls & Machine Components

Vector controls

Baldor's (Fort Smith, AR) newest family of encoderless vector controls, the 24M series, is said to provide economical multi-axis control of AC motors.

January 31, 1998

Controls & Machine Components

PC-based remote I/O

H2-EBC Ethernet base controller module is said to provide a PC-based controller with a low-cost means of connecting to an Ethernet I/O network. Module inserts into the CPU slot of PLCDirect's (Cumming, GA) 205 family I/O rack, which is said to be one of the lowest-priced I/O systems available, enabling high-performance remote I/O by a PC.

January 31, 1998

Blisters/clamshells/skin packaging

Porous molding material

Metapor is a micro-porous aluminum for thermoformers from International Mold Steel (Florence, KY). The material is air-permeable and is said to eliminate venting problems in thermoforming, blister packaging and film processing.

January 31, 1998

Controls & Machine Components

Intellution Incorporated: PC-based control book

A new book, SoftLogic: Overcoming Funnel Vision, by Dennis E. Wisnosky, senior VP of Intellution (Norwood, MA), describes the promise of control software running on standard PCs, which it terms SoftLogic.

January 31, 1998

Controls & Machine Components

Galil Motion Control, Inc: Motion controller

Galil Motion Control's (Mountain View, CA) DMC-1412 single-axis stand-alone controller is for stepper and servo motor control. It uses a specialized 32-bit processor that accommo-dates encoder speeds to 8 million counts/sec for servos and 2 million/sec for steppers.

January 31, 1998

Controls & Machine Components

Newsletter

Kolmar (Port Jervis, NY) recently published the premier issue of its newsletter, Kolmar News. The six-page, color newsletter begins with a story on new developments in visually distinctive color cosmetics, such as marbleized lipsticks and body glitter.

January 31, 1998

Controls & Machine Components

Hoffman: High-voltage servo motors

High-performance, high-voltage MHD digital AC servo motors from Indramat (Hoffman Estates, IL) give packaging machines more power, with the space and cost savings of smaller motor-frame sizes and reduced-size power cables.

January 31, 1998