DS-FEB23-PG08+09_Layout 1 16/02/2023 13:11 Page 1
ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE COVER STORY
THE NEW BENCHMARK IN
A servo solution including motion control technology from Lenze has enabled Picanol to develop a range of fully digital weaving machines
T
o start with, a bit of industrial history: The first mechanical loom programmed by punch card, an invention by Joseph-Marie
Jacquard, serves as a model for early computing machines. Almost visionary: the hardware and software separated for the loom as early as 1805 became the determining factor in mechanical engineering two centuries later. On its latest airjet machines, Picanol has
introduced the fully digital shedding motion, SmartShed. With SmartShed, Picanol goes conceptually a big step further and separates mechanically coupled motion sequences into individual axes. These have to be synchronised quickly and precisely with each other. The Belgian technology leader uses a servo solution including motion control from Lenze for this purpose. For Picanol project engineer Emmanuel Delboo, the change from mechanical to electronic interconnection has the advantage that the machines can be changed over much more easily when other products need to be produced. Different weaving patterns can also be set more quickly.
CUSTOMIZED LENZE DRIVES For Lenze’s developers, the SmartShed project was anything but an everyday job. The weaving machine brings with it virtually all the major challenges that naturally affect drive technology: Power density, energy efficiency, performance, thermal behaviour, cooling concept, integration capability, time-to-market – to name just a few. “We want the advantages of single axes, especially in terms of set-up capability – but not at the expense of speed,” noted Delboo. Likewise, the development project was based on the
8 DESIGN SOLUTIONS FEBRUARY 2023
premise of keeping the costs for the technical equipment under control in order to be able to stand up to international competition. To put it bluntly: The goal was to improve the price performance ratio.
“This could only be achieved by customising our portfolio,” commented Francis Denayer, sales manager BeLux and responsible for Picanol in Belgium. “Together with Lenze, we got to the first
On its latest airjet machines, Picanol has introduced the fully digital shedding motion SmartShed
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64
