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Product category: Stepper and Servo Drives, Motors, Controls
News Release from: GE Fanuc Intelligent Platforms UK | Subject: Beta Series servomotors
Edited by the Engineeringtalk Editorial Team on 21 August 2003

Packaging machinery gains an electronic
edge

With the help of technology from GE Fanuc, Italian packaging machinery company STS is developing ever more advanced and efficient machines for its customers.

As a developer and manufacturer of packaging machines, the Italian company STS is a small but dynamic company With the help of technology from GE Fanuc, its objectives are to develop ever more advanced and efficient machines for its customers

To meet these objectives, STS has been designing and is now producing machines which rely for their control on electrical axes, rather than relying on purely mechanical systems.

In order to sustain this development, the company has had to bring in a new breed of engineer, ones from an electronics background rather than from purely mechanical engineering.

This approach has proved successful and with its new team the company has started a complete overhaul of the product line that it sells.

To take one example, STS has carefully modified a machine for packaging paper mugs.

The development of the new machine took place in three stages.

In stage one, the drive system for the belt that created regular spacing between the line of cups, before they are covered in cellophane, was tackled.

This zone of the machine is critical but not too complex.

Here an electrically controlled axle was introduced, using a GE Fanuc Beta Series motor.

The first step in this approach involved resolving problems during starting up the machine, and improving the system setup procedures.

In fact, the new design has enabled the machine to be far more flexible.

The operator can now easily set it to package many different sizes, ranging from a content of 20 mugs up to 100 mugs.

Also the size of the mugs that can be packaged is very flexible, ranging from small espresso mugs up to large mugs for fizzy drinks.

The second stage of the project tackled modifications to the packaging welder, a vital and delicate part of the machine - right at its heart.

Here the heat welder seals the cellophane wrapping on one pack and cuts it from the wrapping of the next pack.

Using the skills developed in stage one, STS undertook this design again using a Beta Series motor.

The GE Fanuc Beta Series servomotor is controlled by a PLC using a GE Fanuc Motion Mate DSM300 digital motion controller.

The powerful functionalities of the DSM circuits provide the control parameters needed in this complex welding control stage.

Particularly difficult is the cutting of the cellophane material 'on the fly'.

The Motion Mate DSM300 is a high-performance, fully featured motion controller which combines with the reliability and performance of the GE Fanuc Beta Series motors and amplifiers.

Each two-axis unit provides point-to-point or follower motion control and is an excellent choice for applications such as packaging machinery, high-speed conveyor lines, textile machines, paint applications, inspection lines, and high-speed assembly machines.

The cost of integrating the DSM300 into an application is greatly reduced as a result of the digital interface to the servo amplifiers and the extensive machine logic control available.

The DSM300 units are easily and quickly configured in software and can store multiple motion programs for different machine cycles.

Encouraged by its success at greatly improving the capabilities and the efficiency of this packaging machine during the first two stages of development, STS was encouraged to go further.

A third stage of the project saw the introduction of brushless motors to manage part of the production process.

A stepper motor is used to count the cups.

This motor was replaced by a brushless one.

All these developments have simplified the setup of the machine by the operator.

The whole system can now be managed via a single control panel, without the need for additional devices.

Drawing on this experience, STS has continued to invest in redesign of its existing products.

It has extended the use of GE Fanuc DSM controlled Beta Series motors into all the packaging machinery it produces.

For STS, the size and number of the mechanical components have been reduced.

This has led to machines which are both simpler to construct and simpler to maintain.

For the operator, the concentration of all the control technology via one PLC onto a single control panel has simplified the setup operations.

The axle control systems, controlled by DSM circuitry, have produced optimal results for STS in terms of flexibility and speed.

For example, one machine is now able to package up to 240,000 mugs per hour, whereas another can encapsulate 220 individual magazines per minute. Request a free brochure from GE Fanuc Intelligent Platforms UK ...

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