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Air Casters Recently, Waterloo Industries, a major manufacturer of tool storage, cabinets, chests, and workbenches for professional mechanics, shops, healthcare facilities, and consumers, decided to use Air Casters to reorganize the plant layout and thus increase productivity and overall capacity. Accomplishing this significant task required the relocation of multiple heavy metal stamping presses weighing up to 50,000 pounds with minimal disruption to existing operations. Large stamping presses are typically difficult to move due to the overall weight, physical size, high center of gravities and offset loadings. The solution to moving the presses safely and quickly included using a Model 4LD27HL Air Caster Rigging Kit. This system is comprised of (1) each control console with an inlet on/off ball valve, and four self relieving pressure regulators to individually adjust the pressure in each air caster, (4) each 27 inch diameter Air Casters with 112,000 pound total capacity, (4) each 1 inch by 20 foot long interconnecting hoses and (1) each 1 1/2 inch by 150 foot long main air supply hose with quick disconnects. Once the air casters were placed under the press and inflated using only 250 cubic feet per minute air consumption at 40 pounds per square inch pressure, a fork truck tied to the load via a steel chain using a crisscross pattern was able to push and precisely control the press in all directions. The total move included five each 90 degree turns with a total linear distance of 600 feet. The concrete floor was epoxy coated with sealed expansion joints. Air Caster operation is based upon compliant air film technology. The load actually floats on a thin film of air 3 to 5 thousands thick. Therefore, air casters offer the following advantages including omni or four directional motions for maneuvering around the 90 degree turns and in tight aisle ways, precise positioning for final press location, protection of the epoxy coated floor finish, and the safe movement and control of the heavy stamping presses throughout the plant. Air Casters require only 3 to 5 pounds of effort per 1000 pounds of weight on a standard smooth, sealed concrete floor surface. Therefore, to move the 50,000 pound press takes only 150 to 250 pounds of force, a job easily handled with a fork truck. Air Casters are manufactured in diameters ranging from 12 to 60 inches and can transport loads from 200 pounds up to thousands of tons. Aeris Corporation manufactures standard as well as custom designed machinery moving systems including individual Air Caster load modules, planks, pallets, paper roller-movers, multi-stationed turntables, and air or electric power driven steel transporters. Aeris Corporation Compliance Advantage
Solution The Coleman Company, manufacturer and distributor of products for outdoor leisure-time activities, has selected HighJump Software's Compliance Advantage Solution to meet time-sensitive RFID requirements. Coleman selected HighJump to help ensure high volume fulfillment and distribution operations so that the company can be well-prepared to generate RFID for pallets and cases by retail customers' deadlines. Additionally, Coleman choose Compliance Advantage Solution for its fast implementation, immediate benefit potential and system flexibility. Coleman utilizes Compliance advantage to generate accurate advance shipping notices in combination with application of RFID-compliant labels. As customers' RFID requirements change, Coleman will be empowered to configure Compliance Advantage easily and inexpensively to stay ahead. The solution will integrate with Coleman's existing business systems to exchange information quickly and accurately. HighJump Software, a 3M Company Automation Gets Lean
with PC Based Control Safety system suppliers to the automotive industry continually strive to utilize the latest technologies to stay ahead of the curve of evolving safety regulations. Knowing that its safety testing equipment can be responsible for saving lives, Sterner Automation believes that simply meeting expectations is just not good enough. Sterner Automation is a Toronto-based engineering firm, specializing in custom testing machinery and end-of-the-line test calibration equipment. They recently looked for an alternative to their PLC and motion-controller-based machine that calibrates and tests in-vehicle safety sensors for the automotive industry. Sterner Automation sought a solution that would allow remote monitoring of their machines' performance, while reducing training and maintenance costs within the plant. Sterner Automation also sought to decrease assembly time and to simplify the hard-wiring and connections required in the machines. PC based control goes head to head with the PLC Victor Hilario, Manager of the Electrical and Control Systems Group for Sterner Automation, found information presented at a "hands-on" Beckhoff technology seminar he attended to be both timely and directly applicable to this project. "At the time, we were applying a typical PLC architecture along with either an industrial PC running an operator interface package or a simple touch screen. Our systems used DeviceNet and SERCOS networks for I/O and motion control. We felt that a PC-based system would allow us to enhance the remote diagnostics and troubleshooting capabilities of the product, while staying within the industry accepted standards for programming." Hilario was attracted to Beckhoff's open IEC1131 TwinCAT programming package, which defines five different languages for programming logic control systems. "We didn't want to offer a PC based solution that was going to be heavily proprietary and would limit our ability to program effectively. For example, people may be comfortable with LADDER logic, but LADDER doesn't suit itself to some of the functions we have on our machine," Hilario said. "Beckhoff's TwinCAT allowed us to apply the appropriate language to the algorithms we were writing, resulting in code that was cleaner and easier to maintain." Sterner Automation's engineers designed a system that uses a Beckhoff C6140 industrial PC with Profibus and SERCOS network cards, TwinCAT NC point-to-point software, SERCOS servo drives and Profibus I/O. For sensor connection, they chose Bus Terminal I/O and rugged IP67 Fieldbus box I/O. "Fortunately, the engineers on my team had previous experience working with IEC1131. This gave us a running start on the project," Hilario said. Streamlined, integrated, high-speed system Beckhoff's industrial PC and Fieldbus technology centralized all controls, eliminated the PLC and tied into customers' plant networks, reducing the need for machine wiring and interconnections. "The new system has one PC operating on TwinCAT that runs all the controls and communicates with Beckhoff servo drives using SERCOS. There are three servo drives in our system to manage the x, y and z axes. We communicated with the factory information system to determine the identity of the device under test (DUT)," Hilario explained. "Based on that, we use the appropriate recipe for the x, y, and z positions of our testing equipment." As the DUT is conveyed into the Sterner Automation machine, they scan its barcode and transmit the barcode information into their control system using RS232 communications. Using their custom Visual Basic front end, they send the bar code information to the custom FIS system. The FIS system sends all the information about the DUT to the control system via Ethernet communication. The Visual Basic application uses shared variables to communicate this information to the TwinCAT control system, which determines the appropriate x, y, z positions. Once the positions have been set, the operator attaches a test connector to the item and presses a button. Every operation that follows is automatic. According to Hilario, Sterner Automation selected Profibus because of its integration capabilities. "We were able to use an SMC Profibus valve bank and an HMB load cell amplifier, as well as Beckhoff's bus terminal I/O and Fieldbus boxes to create one integrated, high-speed I/O network." The system utilized an oscilloscope card (KL3362 bus terminal) to capture a time-varying signal from the test process. This card made it possible to obtain data at a capture rate as fast as 100 microseconds. This data was then analyzed to ensure that the test parameters were within specified limits. The data was then transferred from the oscilloscope card to the main PC using Profibus communications and a dedicated 1 millisecond PLC task. This made it possible to retrieve over 4000 data values from the card within a limited period of time. A smooth ride ahead Hilario was impressed with the support he received during the development period. "We worked closely with Beckhoff engineers in the U.S. and Germany, as well as with the local technical sales representative, Joe Ottenhof, to get set up with TwinCAT. Their assistance contributed significantly to the rapid success of the project." Having saved 80-100 terminations in total, Hilario said, "We achieved a 30 percent reduction in I/O wiring due to terminating signals directly to field I/O stations (distributed I/O). This also made our electrical drawings less complex because sensors and actuators were terminated directly to the cards, requiring fewer cables and terminal strips." This newly designed control system also offers Sterner Automation's customers a testing machine with expanded diagnostic capabilities. "With TwinCAT, we're able to get detailed information about each individual I/O node. With VB applications running, we now have improved visualization with greater graphing capabilities. With Beckhoff's event logger hooked into our Visual Basic application, we're able to offer data logging and create a pop-up alarm handler," Hilario said. And because everything resides on the PC, Hilario's team has remote dial up capabilities to communicate electronically with machines half-way around the world. They can pull out historical performance data and provide a greater wealth of information to their customers. Beckhoff's Fieldbus network technology lends itself to making the machine more modular," Hilario said. "We also reduced the overall component count and were able to maximize our hardware panel space rather than wasting that space on additional terminal blocks for intermediate connections." As a result, Sterner Automation is looking forward to leveraging their newly designed controls architecture on future projects. "All these new features give Sterner Automation greater freedom of design and add up to a huge value for our customers," Hilario said. Beckhoff Automation LLC
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Canadian Industrial Equipment News May 2005 |
May 16, 2008
