Bottle filling made easy

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August 2010 PLCs, DCSs & Controllers

CBI-electric: low voltage has the solutions from Mitsubishi Electric.

At first glance, a filling application involving the transportation of a liquid product into a solid vessel may seem simple. However what few people realise is the high accuracy and feed rates required for such high-precision and high-speed applications. The complex requirements of transporting the vessels, usually in the form of bottles, inserting the filling nozzle and controlling the flow rate of the liquid product, requires a highly capable function controller to handle the speed of the process. Finding the right automation solution to meet these requirements is a challenge for most engineers that CBI solves by providing a Mitsubishi solution that is simple and cost effective.

Advanced control using electronic camming

Ensuring that the control of the filling nozzle is synchronised with the rotational conveyor and flow controller is the challenge for most bottle filling applications. The controller has to ensure that the liquid is fed accurately into the bottle opening. The flow rate and the nozzle height also have to be precisely controlled so as to eliminate the risk of frothing and overflow of the liquid. By using Mitsubishi Electric’s motion controller CPU (based on the Q series automation platform), cam profile can be controlled intelligently with a software camming system that replaces hardware-based methods. The system is very flexible; when the bottle type has to be changed, the cam profile software can be simply exchanged eliminating the need for a system overhaul.

Linking high-speed networks

In addition to the motion controller, the actual transfer and conveyor aspect of the application can be controlled using Mitsubishi Electric’s intelligent and energy saving inverters FR-A700 via the open device level network CC-Link, centralised on the Q series controller. The fast rate bottle feed into the machine can be controlled by the Q series together with CC-Link network offering high-speed transmission of 10 Mbps with program execution in milliseconds. The Q series also enable connectivity to higher level systems via its Ethernet option module allowing real-time production data to be fed into ERP and MES systems. This continuous monitoring allows factory managers to report on actual bottling performance in real time without having to rely on statistical data. The high-speed servo drives are controlled directly by the motion controller on the Q series platform via high-speed SSCNET III, fibre-optic network. The network achieves speeds of up to 50 Mbps ensuring high speed and high accuracy. The cam profiles can be easily switched using the GOT1000 human machine interface touch screen, providing a user friendly interface to the bottle filling machine.

For more information contact CBI-electric: low voltage, +27 (0)11 977 0770, mitsubishi@cbi-electric.com, www.cbi-electric.com

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Bottle filling made easy

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