Industrial control for conveyors

What’s up everyone. Josh Kingsley here, your host for All Things Control by Eaton.

Start, run, stop and automate conveyors

In this installment of What’s in the Trailer, we will explore a full package of control devices that will start, run, stop and automate the functions of a conveyor. Come on in, let’s see what’s in the trailer.

The key products that we are highlighting in this demonstration are:

1. The Eaton XV300 HMI PLC that offers visualization and logic to control the movement of the boxes.
2. Our E65 photoelectric sensors that are perfectly suited for conveyor applications because of their reliability and high energy output.
3. The XT motor controllers and Power XL variable frequency drives that are used to run the compressor and main conveyor motor.
4. And, finally this SL7 signal tower which provides a visual indication to the operators of the status of the conveyor.

This package of industry leading products works together to ensure that your conveyor runs smoothly and efficiently. In addition, these devices are connected with Eaton’s revolutionary Smartwire-DT intelligent wiring system. This is a single green wire that can be applied either on your machine or in your panel that significantly reduces commissioning time AND harnesses the power of communication and diagnostics to ensure that your system is running how you want it, when you want it. 

Smartwire-DT intelligent wiring system

Let me tell you a little more about how Smartwire-DT works. Instead of hard wiring all your devices into PLC I/O blocks, the devices are intelligently connected and communicating with each other from the conveyor to the panel. 

The wiring system also provides control power, which speeds up your assembly time, by reducing the number of connections that need to be made. We are also showing the breath of our pilot device capabilities. Look at how the Smartwire-DT system has connected 125 indicating lights and pushbuttons which took only minutes to wire rather than hours. 

Further, devices on a network are automatically addressed with a simple press of a button which means that the network can tell you if something is wired incorrectly, significantly reducing commissioning time. 

Finally, the wiring system monitors the performance of the conveyor at all control points and sends data to the HMI-PLC real-time, ensuring that you are alerted when a fault occurs.

Diagnosing conveyor problems

Now let me show you how Smartwire-DT helps to diagnose a problem on the conveyor. We have created a short circuit within one of our sensors, which is a way of demonstrating a sensor that has been damaged. 

The Smartwire-DT’s I/O blocks monitor their inputs and outputs to protect the system from a shorted device. When the defective sensor is identified by the network, it turns off the affected I/O point, turns on the alarm light, and sends a message to the XV300. This enables the HMI to change the way the conveyor operates and sends a message to the maintenance person who knows exactly where the fault is located. They immediately address the issue and now everything is back up and running.

Thanks for watching

Thanks for watching this episode of All Things Control. And don’t forget to keep it in control.

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