Accumulation Conveyor Control?

As a Controls Engineer for a large company that's adding almost a mile of accumulation conveyor I can save a lot of money using Humphrey Gen2 Zone 2 conveyor control modules. In a nut shell if we agree accumulation logic is not rocket science then maybe this is a viable cost saving option.

Anyone have any experence or opinions? Thanks
Bob

Don't use those pucks the way we do.

I have a SLC running all my "pucks" via the wrong kinda valves (internal pilot minimum 44psi.) We have hundreds of them managing boxes from packaging to palletizing. It is a cold washdown environment too, and the some of the sanitizers are chlorine based. We replace two dozen of those pucks a month. So, they found out our pucks are rated for 0-40psi, and installed fixed regulators, now half our valves failed due to low pilot pressure...

Our pucks lift cases of frozen meat weighing around 20 pound each up off of a continuously running belt. There are lightweight metal plates resting on top of the pucks, and just below the center drive plastic chain conveyor, until the pucks inflate and raise the sheetmetal product brakes up just above the conveyor surface.

If your application is different, then ignore all the above.

I have no experience with the zone controllers. I could see that being pretty useful for long straight runs without a lot of branching, but personally, I like having at least HMI viewable photocell states, so why not let the PLC control the valves too?

You gotta ask your self, do any of my existing PLC controls need to affect the flow of the product? Could any of them give me a better result than adding a separate control system?

If it costs less, though, it may very well be the fastest and simplest installation.

My installation has so many branches and merges and selector switches too + an HMI for the whole area. The code must frequently alter the way we run each zone, so I can't imagine trying to do it without a PLC.

Paul

Accumulation surely isn't rocket science. And, like OkiePC, I prefer to have it all in the PLC. And with DeviceNet, it's easier now to network all of your sensors without miles of wire. Most of what we do is just starting and stopping sections of conveyor, not lifting it, though.

I guess it depends on how much control you need.
We have around 20 miles of accumulation conveyor.
we use 2 different types to do basically the same thing.
1 type is a sensor bar, when a box rolls over the bar a spring pulls a valve which releases the air pucks upstream.
The other is a SICK Photoelectric reflex switch which gives you more control in that each sensor has timer settings in it and you can also set them up for either accumulation or slug mode.

I am a little confused about this proposed solution. As I understand it the Humphery Gen2 control module accepts an input from a SIC Photo sensor and also provides air to a cylinder that raises and lowers the chain on the conveyor. There can be 100 Gen2 devices every 3 feet along the conveyor. supposedly they comumicate to each other up to one unit away without using PLC. Every so often there is a Devicenet module connected that you can connect your lap top to. For what I dont know. Maybe diagognostics.

Hoping to get some feedback to see if I should pursue this.

FKI http://www.fkilogistex.com/ do Accuglide, we have a bit of it but not in the qunatities that you are talking. Nice and simple with low maintenance.

Cheers
Perer

I've done work on the accusort conveyer systems via pinnacle or bushman
whatever they are currently calling themselves I no longer know There is a valve method to control the brake zones without the PLC usage the PLC merely turns off and on the beginning of the brake zone (zone 1) the rest follow via the valves. I also agree with Okie those cups are a nuisance. Particularly in a high washdown. I wish I still had the Bushman manuals in it there was the valve arrangement options but essentially when one brake zone becomes active it releases the valve to supply air to the next zone. No electic control needed for that part, done in series you will only need to control the first valve in the chain.

Forgot to add the vlavles are a plunger style actuator Normally closed
until plunger is compressed this turns on the cups preceeding and the next preceeding actuator. when the brake engages for that zone the setup repeats. I would lso place a solid brake at the start of the accumulator this is a safety in case a several brake zones have bad actuators and do not engage.