Leadscrews: Not just economical
Leadscrews consist of a screw and its riding nut, which is wedged forward as the screw turns. Originally, leadscrews were assembled using low-quality screws from other fastener or screw designs so that a simple, one-piece nut only provided basic power transmission and rotary-to-linear motion conversion...
The motion of sorting applications
Sorting is the act of merging, identifying, inducting, and separating products to be conveyed to specific destinations. This discussion focuses on the sorting of products packaged in containers, such as cartons, boxes, and plastic bags. The sorting of bulk materials is ignored because it's usually accomplished with little motion control. ...
Keeping pace with displacement sensors
Linear encoders by their very design overcome various mechanical machine limitations by providing a direct source of positional feedback. They can monitor most applications, including hostile, oily environments or those that require total submergence. Some IP67-rated encoders provide resolution to 0.1mm or even absolute positional feedback...
The multiple servo axes of converting
In virtually every industry, in the process of manufacturing products, there is some type of conversion required to transform raw or unfinished materials into end product. It may be converting bulk rolls of paper into flat sheets, for example, or cutting and stacking sheet stock into smaller 81/2 x 11-in. reams. ...
Interfacing linear feedback
Linear feedback devices are often mounted to critical axes, directly related to part production, so they must be robust. Magnetostrictive sensors fit the bill: They utilize sonic wave pulses to determine position, so they're immune to shock and vibration, temperature variation, and electromagnetic interference...
Tuning servomotors with PID loops
There are two types of motion control engineers: Those who are comfortable tuning a servo loop, and those who aren't. The latter basically, have two options. The first is to use a nonservo device such as a stepmotor; the alternative, a better idea, is to get comfortable. ...
Using bladders for short-stroke linear motion
In the broad arena of motion control, bladder-type inflatable actuators fill a limited niche: Short stroke, wide area, high or constant-force motion. That said, when bladders are appropriate, they provide motion more cost effectively than any other system. ...
Industrial communication powers up
Modern industrial automation equipment employing servomotion has become powerful, flexible, and easy to use, while providing an abundance of capabilities. Speedy communication networks are also becoming commonplace, making it easier to integrate servomotion into the automation process...
Human-machine interface
Perhaps more than any other machine component, the human-machine interface (HMI) brings full meaning to the concept of usability engineering. It's the plane where man and machine must interact, ultimately determining a machine's ease of use and, by extension, its productivity...
Good things come in motion packages
Simplifying packaging machinery was a critical need for Talon Manufacturing, Inc., Spring Park, Minn., which specializes in horizontal flexible pouch packaging as well as microwave popcorn packaging. In 2006 B&R’s distribution partner Elec-Trol Inc. presented Talon with a new control solution for one of its Intermittent Pouch Packaging machines...
Ease of use in motion systems
There are two kinds of systems that are easy to use: Inherently simple equipment, and more highly engineered "total solution" systems. Here, we'll discuss the latter — and how to make sense of the myriad of options and features available to machine builders...
DSP to GO
Over the past decade, digital signal processor (DSP) technology has significantly reduced the physical complexity of industrial drives by replacing hardware with real-time embedded software. Today, DSP technology is also being harnes...
Distributed intelligence gets smart
It's always the same. Packaging end users want higher product throughput out of smaller, lower cost machines, without sacrificing one iota of product quality. Next-gen machines must also be more flexible and scalable to meet changing market demands and simplify plant integration...
Using Ethernet with SERCOS
In 1973, researcher Bob Metcalfe, Xerox Corp., developed a way to link computers to printers, thus creating a physical method of cabling, known today as Ethernet. The SERCOS interface — also known as Serial Real-Time Communications System — is an open, digital interface for communication between a digital controller and peripherals, such as I/Os, digital servo drives, and actuators. Together, they provide a powerful new motion bus for numerically controlled machines and systems....
Designing for efficiency
Motion systems, in the most basic sense, convert energy from one mode or form to another. In the process, some energy is rendered unusable, typically lost as heat. In some cases, as in mobile or battery-powered systems, concern for this sort of inefficiency often drives the design process...
