HPC: New Innovations in Packaging Machinery from Control Systems

A rich and advanced automation product system was used by Hensen Packaging Technology Equipment to produce the most modern beverage packaging machinery.

Hensen Packaging Technology and Equipment (HPC) in Bremen, Germany, has 25 years of experience in manufacturing advanced packaging machinery. Its advanced and easy-to-operate control system built with the Rockwell Automation Integration System enables continuous innovation in packaging machine design.

Packaging Machinery Calls for Automatic Control

HPC is renowned throughout the world for its machinery for filling and sealing. Its products include a range of standard and special machinery to meet different market needs and applications. HPC is a professional manufacturer of vertical box and soft bag filling and sealing machines, and its products are changing from refillable bags to ever-changing fast moving consumer goods. HPC also carries out carton processing and mechanical assembly, and has the manufacturing capabilities of the entire packaging system production line. Hensen's machine features flexible adjustments, and this type of device is easy to maintain, maintains stable performance at high speeds, and can quickly change the type and model of the product.

Most of HPC's customers are manufacturers of fast-moving consumer products such as beverages. They face fierce market competition and therefore need to constantly develop new products to attract consumers' attention. In Germany, vertical cartons and pouches are used as the main refillable packaging, but in North America and the Far East, resealable upright pouches are currently available such as energy, sports drinks, laundry detergents and personal care solutions. The main form of liquid packaging. Such vertical soft bags used for sports drinks packaging have a soft curve and a hand-friendly pattern to make them stand out on the shelves. People who are thirsty after exercise can also move more easily and smoothly. Drink beverages. Today's high-speed and fully automated packaging machines require the most modern hardware and software control systems. These control systems include precision motion control systems, user-friendly human-machine interfaces, and powerful logic control systems.

Select integration supplier

As a global customer supplier, HPC needs a well-run automation equipment manufacturer to provide first-rate, worldwide technical support and spare parts supply. HPC also hopes to collaborate with experts who have made achievements in the field of high-end automation and use their expertise and experience to develop advanced control systems for the new generation of packaging machinery.

After careful investigation of some automation equipment suppliers, HPC eventually selected Rockwell Automation as its supplier and used the Allen-Bradley Logix automation platform as a standard accessory for its latest packaging machinery. The Logix is ​​a brand of programmable logic controller (PLC) family, ranging from the powerful ControlLogix to the compact FlexLogix. Because the Logix series offers a variety of specific controller PLC models to choose from, the HPC can always select the right controller for use in different applications from small machinery to large production systems. Because all Allen-Bradley PLCs use the same Logix control core, they all use the same easy-to-use RSLogix 5000 software language for programming. HPC engineers need only be familiar with this type of development tool to be competent. A set of codes can be used interchangeably between different types of PLCs in this series.

Convenient and flexible

ControlLogix integrates logic and motion control into one control system and can use the same set of development tools for both controls, the RSLogix 5000 language for easy programming. In addition to this versatile development environment, the Logix family of PLCs also uses NetLinx's unique Allen-Bradley network protocol with an open software interface to ensure efficient data flow. With the NetLinx protocol, data can be transmitted as easily as using protocols such as DeviceNet, ControlNet, EtherNet/IP, etc. And since these networks use open CIP Internet protocols, they can directly interact with manufacturers' ERP (enterprise resource management) and other businesses. IT systems are connected.

Because of the use of a completely open transport protocol, NetLinx ensures that the machine can be set up from any of the machine's input ports. Through the network, engineers can program the device without having to physically connect with the controller. As a result, equipment commissioning and commissioning times are greatly reduced.

Similarly, maintenance engineers can diagnose, debug, and modify programs in the control room without having to go to the machine. Through the adoption of Internet technology, this concept has been further developed. By installing an Allen-Bradley 9300-Rades modem, users can dial-up and control the entire NetLinx-based control network from anywhere in the world where they can dial-up.

The NetLinx protocol is the key to Rockwell's automatic control and integration system. It ensures that the hardware and software in this system can be perfectly combined and cooperate with each other and work together. The integrated system offers many benefits to machine manufacturers such as HPC. For example, it drastically reduces the time required to design and build a control system, and it improves the overall machine's operating performance, making the machine easier to maintain and more reliable. At the same time, the manufacturer's production efficiency and profitability are improved.

Another benefit of using the Allen-Bradley Platform DeviceNet is the ability to implement fully automated device replacement (ADR). The ADR function allows devices such as Allen-Bradley PowerFlex drives to be replaced without shutting down the network. In the event of a system crash, downtime can be minimized.

ControlLogix uses a SERCOS digital interface and a high-speed fiber optic network for data transfer between controllers and servo drives. Fiber optic networks replace large bundles of wires, and it can also send and receive status information for drives. The benefits of using SERCOS also include making the machine easier to debug, higher accuracy of operation, and more stable system performance.

HPC also uses Rockwell Automation's Allen-Bradley Guardmaster machine safety system as a standard accessory. This safety system provides a complete set of safety products, from simple interlocking devices to shielding systems using laser scanners and light curtains. The Guardmaster system meets all of HPC's security requirements while also ensuring compatibility with Allen-Bradley's control system.

The advantages of Rockwell Automation's integrated system are reflected in HPC's latest packaging machine, HO-Auto. This wrapper uses an integrated motion and logic control system that implements the following functions: Insert a spout into a carton and seal the seams.

Machines using ControlLogix controllers can handle cartons of different sizes or sizes quickly and easily. When it is necessary to change the size of the nozzle inserted into the carton, the key parts of the machine need to be changed. When relocating the key parts of the machine, the PLC of the new machine adopts the DeviceNet protocol to compare with the traditional machine. The driver issues instructions that significantly reduce the time required to complete this process.

The operator can use the Allen-Bradley PanelView HMI to select the desired machine settings and then use ControlLogix to complete the rest of the work. The Allen-Bradley Flex I/O module is distributed in different parts of the machine. Through this module, the hydraulic valve can be controlled and the sensor signal can be fed back. It uses DeviceNet to exchange data with the PLC. The transfer console requires a considerable amount of wire, and the number of wires required is now greatly reduced. After this process is completed, the carton can be conveyed to the next production step by conveyor or track.

HPC also applied Rockwell Automation's motion control system to its CMF-type filling and sealing machines. This continuously operating machine can handle up to 250 cartons per minute. These cartons can be supplied by the rail system or directly from the HO-Auto carton forming machine. The carton is fed into the CMF by a registered patented indexing system and guided to the loader.

Here the carton is guided onto a rotating conveyor belt with 12 loading and sealing stations. This process can also achieve a reinforced seal.

An Allen-Bradley MP Series Low Inertial Servomotor is mounted on each CMF Rotary Belt Fill Point and is controlled by an Allen-Bradley Ultra3000 Digital Servo Drive. Since the MP series motor has a high torque/size ratio, it occupies only a very small space on the conveyor belt and is easy to install. Ultra3000 drives are also mounted on the conveyor belt and connected to the ControlLogix PLC via the SERCOS interface. The conveyor belt is connected to the rest of the machine via slip rings so that DeviceNet and SERCOS networks can run seamlessly through the rotating nodes.

Via the conveyor belt controlled by the PowerFlex adjustable speed drive, the filled and sealed carton is sent to the final packaging process.

"The perfect integration between network and servo technology through Logix has significantly shortened engineering time." HPC programmer Jorg von Mallotkie said: "This is because a program can be used to set up the machine from a single point of the machine. In the commissioning and commissioning stage, fault diagnosis can also be carried out through a single point of interface, so that the installation and commissioning time of the machine is much shorter than before.

Source: China Beverage Machinery Network