Packaging
Beckhoff at Interpack
Friday 06. May 2011 - Beckhoff is presenting its automation solutions for the packaging industry in Hall 15, Booth D25/E26 at Interpack 2011, which takes place from 12 to 18 May 2011 in Düsseldorf, Germany.
Beckhoff integrates PLC, Motion Control and Robotics on its PC- and EtherCAT-based control platform and thus offers the flexibility and speed required to meet the changing trends and widely varying requirements in the packaging industry. More and more functions for which expensive special hardware was previously required are being mapped in software or assumed by standard components. For the machine manufacturer, this means cost savings in the engineering – while at the same time process optimisation – and a significantly smaller machine footprint.
Open automation solutions for the packaging industry
The entire process chain of a packaging line can be automated with PC Control from Beckhoff: all processes, from filling, forming, sealing, labelling, collecting and re-packing to palletising, can be realised throughout with Industrial PCs and TwinCAT automation software.
The highlight of the live presentations at the Interpack is a highly dynamic handling solution for products and packaging from the foodstuffs industry. The H 130 handling module combines high-tech mechanical engineering from MULTIVAC with state-of-the-art control technology from Beckhoff. The pick-and-place robot is based on TwinCAT automation software and EtherCAT as the fast communication system.
Servo drive in the EtherCAT Terminal
Beckhoff offers a wide range of EtherCAT I/O products for connecting sensors and actuators. A complete range for all important types of signals is available in the EtherCAT Terminals in protection class
IP 20. The innovative Beckhoff EL7201 servo terminal integrates a complete servo drive in a standard terminal housing.
Highly dynamic servo technology
The AX5000 EtherCAT Servo Drives for highly dynamic positioning tasks are designed for rated currents of up to 170 A and are supplemented by a wide range of servo motors. The AM3000 servo motors with an FDA-compliant white surface coating are particularly suitable for the food industry. They are food safe and resistant to aggressive cleaning agents.
High-performance IPCs for PC-based control
The Beckhoff Industrial PC and
Embedded PC series are equipped with the latest processor technology, from the powerful Intel Celeron, 2 cores, up to the energy-saving Intel Atom and offer scalable performance for all machine functions. The highlights at the Beckhoff booth will be stainless steel Control Panels and IP 65 Panel PCs.
Modular Embedded PCs
Beckhoff brings PC technology and modular I/Os as a single unit into the control cabinet with the CX Embedded PCs for central and local control tasks. The CX8000 Embedded PC with 32 bit ARM processor is a compact, high performance controller with a slave fieldbus connection.
Robotics: Highly dynamic tracking
The TwinCAT Kinematic Transformation software extends the Beckhoff PC controller by the possibility to implement robots in software directly on the control computer. The kinematics for Cartesian portal, shear, roller (H-Bot), 2-D parallel and 3-D delta are extended by the first 6-axis kinematics on the basis of cables. With the integrated tracking algorithms, parts on moving conveyor belts can be simply followed and picked up by the robot at a suitable point in time.
TwinCAT 3
TwinCAT 3 is the PC-based control software, with which the standard automation world is extended considerably. In addition to the object-oriented IEC 61131-3 extensions, the languages of the IT world are available with C and C++. TwinSAFE, the open safety technology from Beckhoff, offers a safety solution that is scalable in terms of both software and hardware. A safety runtime on the PC, i.e. a 100 % software solution, is also available with the introduction of TwinCAT 3. With a safety PLC running on the Industrial PC, the same performance that is available for the standard controller can also be used for the safety technology