Servo Filling Machine in Loctite Ireland

The JETTER DELTA is used in this application to control a high-precision filling machine in Loctite Ireland's Tallaght manufacturing facility. The machine incorporates an indexing table with loading and unloading stations and also cleaning and filling stations. Two 6.9Nm servomotors control the filling operation. One motor presents the empty syringe to the filling nozzle while the second drives a piston to expel product into this syringe. The filling process must be highly controlled and very accurate, in order to prevent air bubbles occuring in the filled syringe.

The Jetter Delta controls the linear interpolation used during the filling sequence. Approximately 50 digital I/O and an Man Machine Interface are also controlled by the same Process PLC. A seven-digit product code defines all parameters for a given syringe type. The operator enters this code and all relevant settings, such as volume, fill height, prefill etc. are automatically transferred from the library of products in memory. Password protection prevents unauthorised access to vital set-up parameters, while authorised users can enter new product data as such products come on stream. Access to submenues for adjustment of fill speed, fill volume, nozzle position, prefill etc. is also available. Product counts and similar data appear at the touch of a button, and users are notified of any machine faults that may occur. The interactive MMI allows electricians and set-up operators to progressively trouble-shoot any faults that require attention. This machine is a third generation version of the original filling machine (also JETTER controlled) used by Loctite. Output is approximately 400% greater than that of the second generation machine, while product wasteage and machine downtime have also been dramatically decreased.

DVT application, Tallaght facility.

A pair of DVT's 630M cameras is used in this application to ensure that the cap on a just-filled bottle of glue has been properly fitted. Occasionally the cap screws on to the wrong thread and a leak can occur. These bottles are stored in bags of several hundred and one or more 'leakers' can affect many more in the same bag. The distance between the neck of the bottle and the bottom of the cap is measured on both sides. If either is outside a pair of limits, or the difference between the pair of measurements exceeds a preset limit the machine stops and the offending bottle is removed before it can be packed away. Realtime data is recorded to an MS Excel file on-the-fly for processing at a later stage. This measure has reduced waste and customer complaints to a minimum.

Jetter application, Tallaght facility.

Jetter's newest offering, the Ethernet-readyJetControl has been used to interface three standalone machines to a downtime-monitoring database in a pilot application that will hopefully be rolled out to include a total of sixty machines. The PLCs are programmed to monitor the status of several relay contacts on each machine. Upon change of state of these contacts (indicating that the machine has gone from 'running' to 'stopped' or 'idle' or vice versa), the PLC logs the time and date of this incident and begins to log the number of seconds of downtime. A simple operator interface prompts the operator for a stoppage code. When a valid code has been entered a 'lockout' relay controlled by the Jetter program is disabled to allow machine startup. The duration of the stoppage and the stop code aswell as the start and stop times and dates are immediately passed to a database for logging and analysis.

DVT application, Tallaght facility.

Two pairs of DVT's SmartReader and SmartImage sensors have been fully integrated into a labelling machine, in the first of several such applications at Loctite's Tallaght facility. The cameras inspect label placement and perform OCR and barcode inspection while bottles pass at up to 150 parts/min. OCR and barcode match strings are automatically downloaded to the cameras from a line PC, and reject parts are tracked and rejected at a later stage.

DVT application, Tallaght facility.

A DVT 530M, standard red LED array and diffused red LED array are used in this application to inspect fine cylindrical tubes just after they have been crimp-sealed. The parts are raised from a indexing table to make contact with a crimping mechanism and when this operation is complete the crimp is inspected. The crimp diameter is measured using the backlight to provide a clear part-profile and at the same time the overhead LED array allows the part to be checked for damage resulting from the insertion of the stopper. If damage has been caused by this operation, the opaque bung can clearly be seen through the tear in the sidewall of the tube. A single trigger is taken from the PLC controlling the machine. From this trigger, a DVT script tool in the camera re-triggers the camera five times in one seconds while the tube is rotated, to allow the entire circumference be inspected. This has eliminated reject parts from being further processed.

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