MACHINE SAFETY INDUSTRY FOCUS
CONNECTION TECHNOLOGY BRINGS PRODUCTION PROCESS SAVINGS TO AUTOMOTIVE ASSEMBLY
I
n today’s automotive plant installations, it is becoming increasingly important that functional line control equipment can be installed and maintained as easily and quickly as possible to minimise downtime. Such operational features are critical for all sections of the full supply chain of OEM, systems integrators and automotive plant manufacturers. One example where valuable automotive plant installation time has been significantly reduced is with motorised safety roller shutter door guard systems, which are applied at the robotic assembly cells in an assembly line. These ensure the safety of workstation operators through integrated light curtains that detect and prevent personnel being present in a functioning robot work zone. One manufacturer of such machine guards has chosen a range of automotive production assembly approved connectors from Harting for its key input and output power and control circuits. The OEM’s key reasons for choosing Harting was that the termination features of the different connectors allow rapid assembly within the control panel and correspondingly simple line cabling installation for the integrator and installer. As a result, Harting’s recently released Han ES Press connector was chosen (shown above) for the critical connector input/output feed to the 415V brake motor that drives the roller door. The Han ES Press connector offers fast
tool-less termination based on an innovative high-reliability cage-clamp design. The Han ES Press’s cage clamp is supplied in an open state, so that a pre- stripped wire conductor can be inserted
A manufacturer of machine guards has chosen a range of automotive production assembly approved connectors from Harting for its key input and output power and control circuits
directly and without effort at the rear. A movable blue plastic plunger is integrated into the insert, just to the side of the cage clamp cavity. If this is pushed down, it provides the closure of the cage-clamp chamber for guaranteed electrical termination of the wire conductor. The plunger can also be very quickly released with a screwdriver lever if a wire has to be removed for maintenance purposes. An assembly time saving of as much as 50 per cent is claimed to be achievable by using this cable termination technique over alternative screw or crimp connections. There are other connector application areas within an automotive plant that could benefit from some unique design features of the Han ES Press. For example, it allows certain contacts within the connector to be ‘commoned’ or ‘bridged’ together through bridging/multiplier/jumper links that are hand plugged into the rear of the connector insert. These jumpers are available in a range of pin configurations and in different colours to suit different wiring configurations such as linking out 24V DC or neutral connections. Such functionality can be very useful in automotive production line situations
where certain key equipment is wired together in a ‘daisy chain’ configuration. In such cases, it can be important that the last unit sends a ‘closed/made’ circuit signal back to the control equipment to indicate that the circuit is complete. A two-way Han ES Press bridge link enables the two required pins to be connected with one another to give the necessary feedback signal. The Han ES Press rear contact bridging
link design feature can also be very useful for the commissioning of production line machinery and robot cells. For example, if line maintenance or installation engineers need to short out the E-stop circuit, the Han ES Press bridge link can be used to replicate the closed circuit. Similarly, if the coil circuit on a motor circuit needs to be completed to energise the contactors, two dedicated pins can be linked across to one another. In conclusion, Harting Han ES Press connectors combine fast tool-less termination and rear contact bridging functionality to provide significant production process improvements to modern automotive plant assembly lines.
Harting T: 01604 827500
www.harting.co.uk/ES-Press EMBEDDED ROBOT SAFETY ENHANCES MAN-MACHINE COLLABORATION A
BB is embedding extended safety I/Os within its series of robot controllers to improve the
flexibility, safety and reliability of collaboration between robots and people. The shift to low volume, high mix production in shorter cycles means that people need to work more frequently in closer proximity to robots – changing materials and programs, and inspecting new processes. This makes collaboration an important tool for maintaining productivity as well as safety. A light curtain, laser scanner, safety mat, E-stop and acknowledge button, for example, are connected to ABB’s safety module which is integral to the ABB robot controller. Should a human enter the robot’s cell to undertake maintenance, the safely-limited speed of the robot can be triggered, if permitted, as opposed to a safe stop. The robot moves very slowly and within the pre-defined safe work zone using SafeMove2; ABB’s latest generation safety certified robot monitoring software. Once the human leaves the cell, the robot can resume its faster operational speed with or without acknowledgement, depending on the used safety sensors and application safety requirements. Material handling applications, such as
palletising, are typical of the applications that are set to benefit from this approach. The solution increases machine uptime, while improving productivity. A single safety I/O channel can be
individually reintegrated, which provides higher machine productivity and availability. As the safety I/Os are controlled by the safety
module inside the robot controller, there is no need for third party stand-alone safety PLCs to be used. This saves costs as the combination of I/O and robot controller frees up space that would normally be needed for a separate cabinet. It also reduces the time associated with the set-up and operation of robotic production cells. This standardised solution leads to reduced spares, less wiring and lower operational costs as well as easy engineering through common diagnostics. Space saving is achieved due to more flexible use of SafeMove2 functions in combination with extended safety I/Os. Each safety I/O channel LED not only indicates the process state but also the fault state, which saves operational costs and simplifies maintenance work.
ABB
www.abb.com
/AUTOMATION
AUTOMATION | DECEMBER/JANUARY 2018
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