Controller brings versatility to sanding machines

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Jul 11, 2007

Moeller Electric's MFD-Titan controller provides German woodworking machinery specialist, Butfering Schleiftechnik with a control system that offers performance, versatility and economy.

For its new SWO range of wide-belt sanders, which are exported to countries all over the world, German woodworking machinery specialist, Butfering Schleiftechnik, needed a control system which would offer performance, versatility and economy, and which would provide an intuitive interface for users of the machines, whatever their native language.

After carefully evaluating the available options, Butfering's engineers found Moeller Electric's MFD-Titan controller provided easily the best match for their demanding requirements.

This unit combines the functions of a sophisticated programmable relay with those of an electronic HMI panel in a single compact module which is designed for panel mounting in a standard 65mm square aperture.

Butfering SWO wide-belt sanders perform coarse, pre-sanding and final sanding operations with a high level of precision, and are designed to process solid wood workpieces in a single pass.

The machines feature a modular design which allows them to be used in stand-alone applications, or to be integrated with automated production lines.

The operation of the machines centres on an air sanding shoe, which must be accurately applied to and removed from workpieces travelling at speeds from 2m/s to 13m/s.

This involves making calculations to compensate for the small but significant delay in the response of the pneumatic system.

In addition, to meet the need for these versatile machines to be intuitive in use, while avoiding having to develop different versions of the user interface for different markets, Butfering's engineers decided that the interface would make extensive use of graphical symbols.

To satisfy these requirements, the normal approach would have been to use a programmable controller and a separate graphics-capable HMI panel.

However, in addition to standard control and interlocking functions, Moeller Electric's MFD-Titan offers facilities for carrying out fast calculations, and the unit's integral display screen offers a 132 x 64 pixel area which can be used for any combination of graphics and alphanumeric characters.

Further, the unit has eight user-programmable keys on its front panel which offer a convenient option for entering setpoints.

These features meant that the MFD-Titan could provide all of the control and user interface functions required for the SWO machines, while also offering very large cost and space savings compared with a traditional PLC-plus-HMI solution.

The Butfering engineers were also impressed by the expandability of the MFD-Titan system, as the units can readily be networked with one another, or with Moeller Electric's powerful easy800 programmable relays.

This meant that future enhancements to the machines and modifications to meet specific customer requirements would be easy to accommodate.

In addition, the open communications options offered by MFD-Titan, which include support for Profibus DP, DeviceNet, CANopen and other protocols, meant that integrating the SWO machines with almost any type of automated production plant would be easy to accomplish.

"In this price range and with this level of functionality, the MFD-Titan is the only controller on the market which meets our needs", said Martin Settele, Butfering's Project Manager for the SWO machine.

"The display system is particularly easy to program - the user just has to enter simple parameters".

"In fact, the price/performance ratio of both the hardware and the software is unbeatable".

As well as the MFD-Titan, Butfering's new SWO machines use many other products from Moeller Electric, including RMQ Titan pushbuttons, joysticks and indicator lamps, and xStart motor starters.

As the experience of Butfering Schleiftechnik has shown, MFD-Titan offers an attractive and very cost-effective alternative to traditional control systems in small and medium scale automation projects.

Inexpensive and easy to program, MFD-Titan controllers can readily be networked to cater for applications with up to 320 I/O.