Interbus makes the right connections
A
Phoenix Contact product story
Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team
Apr 2, 2003
An Interbus fieldbus installation has allowed one of Europe's largest manufacturers of engine components to make substantial savings on its new connecting rod manufacturing line.
An Interbus fieldbus installation, based on components supplied by Phoenix Contact, has allowed Albon Engineering, one of Europe's largest manufacturers of engine components, to make substantial savings on its new connecting rod manufacturing line, while also simplifying maintenance, and helping to minimise plant downtime.
In the new plant, which has a production capacity of more than 3000 connecting rods per day, the principal function of the Interbus installation is to control the transport of the connecting rods between manufacturing stations.
Interbus is used to link all of the sensors, actuators and motors used by the transport system, along with several Kuka robots, to a single central PLC which provides overall control.
"Had we used conventional field wiring, rather than Interbus, we would undoubtedly have needed several PLCs to control this system", said Paul Sear, Senior Electrical and Control Engineer at Albon Engineering.
"For this reason alone, adopting Interbus was a very worthwhile step.
However, the use of Phoenix Contact's new IP400 Interbus motor starters has provided us with even more valuable benefits".
Phoenix Contact's IP400 Interbus motor starters, which are available in single- and two-channel versions, comprise all of the power switching and motor protection components associated with conventional three-phase starters, together with an integral Interbus interface, all housed within a compact IP67 steel enclosure.
All connections to the bus, the power supply and the motor are made with standard plug-in connectors.
In the Albon plant, the IP400 starters are mounted directly below the conveyors.
This not only eliminated the need for separate control panels to house the starters, providing big savings in valuable production space, but it also greatly simplified the field wiring associated with the motors, reducing installation costs and making maintenance easier.
"A really useful extra benefit associated with using IP400 starters", continued Sear, "is that they are covered by the powerful Interbus diagnostic facilities, which would not be the case with conventional starters.
This means that, if we have any sort of problem on the plant, we can trace the cause accurately and quickly, greatly reducing costly downtime".
In Albon Engineering's new connecting rod manufacturing plant, Interbus products from Phoenix Contact have simplified the overall plant design, saved space, reduced costs and made maintenance easier.
The Interbus range is designed to offer efficient and cost-effective solutions in industrial and commercial applications of all types, and now offers support for a wide range of fieldbus technologies, including Ethernet.
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