Controls & Machine Components

New drive family

The ACS 800 Family of drives from ABB are said to be 50% smaller than the company’s previous drives of equal HP. The units range from 6.5” wide for low-HP designs to freestanding 600-HP units that measure 13.78” wide to fit into deep, narrow spaces or wide, shallow spaces.

December 31, 2003

Controls & Machine Components: Page 252

Conveying & accumulation

Poore: Weigh scales for salty snacks

Cross-feeder conveyors deliver snacks to Ishida 14-head weigh scales from Heat and Control. Individual load cells measure the weight of product in the scales. Integrated controls are used to select the right combination of buckets to release an accurate amount of product into a bottom-sealed tube of film.

December 31, 2003

Conveying & accumulation

Siemens says integrated safety yields benefits for machine builders

For years,emergency stops (e-stops in shop-floor parlance) on packaging machines have had to be hardwired independently of any network to comply with government safety requirements.

December 31, 2003

Filling/capping, dry

OMAC releases PackTags 2.0 for comment

In late December, the OMAC Packaging Workgroup released the PackTags 2.0 specification for public comment at http://www.packml.org.

December 31, 2003

Cartoning

Machine builder case study: Gen3 vs Gen2 machinery

Norden Pac, a maker of tube-filling and cartoning equipment, recently delivered its first Gen3 servo-driven tube-filling machine to a customer.

December 31, 2003

Controls & Machine Components

Better diagnostics for pneumatics

Pneumatics can now be fully integrated into the overall control system of packaging equipment to provide better diagnostics, according to Bosch Rexroth’s Pneumatics Div.

December 31, 2003

Controls & Machine Components

Rockwell Automation: Food-grade servomotors

Rockwell Automation’s Allen-Bradley MPF servo motors are designed specifically for the harsh environments of food and beverage packaging applications. Available with 14 to 173 in-lb torque, the units have noncorrosive food-grade fasteners and coatings for extended performance.

December 31, 2003

Controls & Machine Components

Beckhoff Automation: Modular servo system

The AX2500 Servodrive Series from Beckhoff is said to be flexible, especially in compact areas where space savings is essential. In its maximum configuration, AX2500 comprises 8 axes (a master module) with 7 axis modules.

December 31, 2003

Controls & Machine Components

Ormec: Motion technology with standard IEC

Motion and logic controllerOrmec’s new ServoWire Motion and Logic Controller (SMLC) combines the company’s ServoWire Soft 61131-3 programming for motion and I/O control. SMLC uses off-the-shelf components to reduce hardware costs, a real-time operating system that makes it robust, and industry standard network interfaces for a variety of connectivity options.

December 31, 2003

Controls & Machine Components

Dillin Engineered Systems: FireWire for industrial automation

A group of industrial automation suppliers in Europe has formed an association called 1394automation. The association is defining a solution that allows different controllers to communicate using a single FireWire bus in a factory setting using the FireWire (IEEE 1394) protocol.

December 31, 2003

Converting equipment

Combining x-ray technology and machine vision

Inspection equipment manufacturer combines x-ray technology and machine vision into one system.

December 31, 2003

Bag/pouch fill/seal (pre-made bags)

Bagger's better control is set into motion

Kliklok-Woodman improves the reliability and speed of its Cyclone vertical form/fill/seal machine with new motion control.

December 31, 2003

Controls & Machine Components

PDC International Corp.: Productivity data tracker

Watchman™ Productivity Data Tracker helps maintain, optimize, and improve all manufacturing operations. Mounts on any type of equipment or machinery.

November 30, 2003