November 2008 Edition

CNC

Screen Saver

Incorporating the right CNC software, with displays that saved the customer and support team time and effort, proved to be a winning combination for a specialty machine builder

When designing a new tube-forming machine, MJC Engineering, Huntington Beach, CA, a machine tool builder of various metal-spinning machinery, had an open-ended approach. Working with its first customer, a compressed-gas cylinder manufacturer in India, MJC had to fill some challenging parameters.

One market driver for the machine’s development was a mandate by the Indian government for conversion to natural gas. With increasing oil prices, along with growing environmental concerns, the customer needed speed and flexibility in its new machine to give its production adaptability in meeting the changing requirements and material specifications.

Another stipulation was that the CNC would need to control two axes of motion as well as the spindles used for spinning and necking the cylinders. It also required monitoring and manipulating all the conveyorized materials-handling mechanisms as well as MJC’s customized HMI pages used to set the travel distances and speeds, with no additional PLC designed into the final machine plan.

Owing to the customer’s local service support availability status, the machine was specified with one brand for its hydraulic components and the SINUMERIK 840D computer numerical control, servomotors, and drive package from Siemens. This latter spec was an easy condition for MJC, a longtime customer of Siemens Energy & Automation, Elk Grove Village, IL.

From Ideas to Implementation

In the final design of the company’s Model OSC-16.200 tube-forming machine, several new technologies were used to enhance its speed and the flexibility. The servomotors’ encoders needed to provide heightened accuracy critical in the handling of small and large tubes. The Siemen’s SINAMICS chassis size AC vector drives, SIMODRIVE 611D digital drives, and HLA module worked in concert with the CNC for improved positioning and feedback, while regenerative braking was used to resolve the inertia of large tube structures.

The quick-braking on high inertia loads was a challenge for MJC, a company that builds machines for forming tubes up to 40' long. Such tubes are used on chemical and gas transport trucks and at storage facilities.

As with all machines of this size and heat emission, operation and troubleshooting must be done from a remote location. MJC developed its proprietary ZonePRO software to set and monitor the operational zones of its machines – including conditions and offsets – in custom HMI pages built into the CNC.

"This feature was an upside with the 840D control. Its ability to accept our pages as overlays onto the software with seamless consistency makes our programming much faster, safer, and easier for our design and build stages, as well as customer training," Dave Grupenhagen, vice-president of sales and marketing, said.

"The customized HMI screens save the customer over 50 percent in time because we eliminate the need to navigate through several different screens when setting up the machine and put all of the information that needs to be entered into the control on one screen. This gives the operator a "one glance" overview of all the important machine setup parameters," he said.

Low Cost of Ownership

Over the last few months, MJC has also added another machine diagnostics page which helps maintenance and service personnel with troubleshooting the equipment. It is also a one glance overview, which could save them hours of looking for the problem before coming up with a diagnosis and correct action.

"I had to use this on a recent field service call and this new screen probably saved me four to five hours of hunting around to find the problem," Grupenhagen said. "I pulled up the screen and in less than a minute, I knew exactly where to start looking. With typical service call rates running around $150 per hour, that represents a savings to the customer when talking about the cost of ownership."

Using another of the company’s proprietary developments, SpinCAD, MJC Engineer Don Hebert developed customized diagnostics pages, with a goal of one-touch status display to give the operator a visual presentation of the condition of the entire machine while in process. Working with the Siemens applications engineering team, custom compile cycles were devised to enhance the speed of operation, plus reduce the changeover time on the OSC-16.200. These custom compile cycles enable teach-in, playback, and joystick control of the machine and feature tool protection.

The one-of-a-kind nature of many MJC machines and the flexibility of the CNC open architecture to accommodate complex, unique programming was an added benefit of this vendor, Grupenhagen said. Siemens Energy & Automation

Visit www.rsleads.com/811mn-205 for more information

What do you think?
Will the information in this article increase efficiency or save time, money, or effort? Let us know by e-mail from our website at www.ModernApplicationsNews.com or e-mail the editor at pnofel@nelsonpub.com.