STUDENT QUESTION: LADSIM Bottling Plant

Monty101

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Join Date
Nov 2019
Location
London
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Hi everyone,


I have started on a questIon involving a bottling plant using LADSIM.


However, so far, I can only fill one bottle.


I am completely new to PLC and any advice on how to overcome this would be much appreciated.

EXERCISE 6 – BOTTLING PLANT


FIGURE 6 shows a graphic of the Bottling Plant Simulation. It represents the area where the bottles are filled and then sent on to the packing area. The object of this assignment is to write a program that will control the bottling plant simulation. The program should be fully documented.




MpqJRwt





The Inputs and Outputs are listed below:


IP0 Bottle stop sensor OP0 Conveyor 1
IP1 level sensor OP1 Stop bottle piston
IP2 Sol 4 limit switch OP2 Cap plunger piston
IP3 Bottle clear OP3 Bottle filler piston
IP4 Bottle in winder sensor OP4 Conveyor 2
IP5 Counter sensor OP5 Cap winder piston

IP6 Stacker piston limit switch OP6 Stacker piston

OP7 Stacker to conveyor 3


A little thought must first be given to understanding the bottling process. With reference to FIGURE 6, conveyor 1 runs continuously and is fed one bottle at a time. Each bottle travels along the conveyor and is guided to the position where it is filled and capped. A sensor, IP0, detects when the bottle reaches the position and a piston controlled by OP1 is activated and stops the bottle. With the bottle in this position, the filler nozzle piston is activated by OP3 which pushes the nozzle into the neck of the bottle. As it goes into the bottle, a valve automatically opens allowing the liquid to be released into the bottle. This is simulated in the ‘Filling Station’ section.


When the liquid in the bottle activates the level sensor IP1, OP3 de-activates, lifting the nozzle out of the bottle. A few seconds after the nozzle has cleared the bottle, the cap plunger piston OP2 activates, pushing a cap on to the bottle. At the end of the piston travel is a limit switch IP2 which operates as the cap is placed on the bottle. This switch de-activates OP2 retracting the piston and leaving the cap on the bottle. It also de-activates OP1 releasing the bottle stop piston. IP3 will see the bottle as it leaves the filling area.


At this point the cap just rests on the filled bottle and must still be screwed tight. To achieve this, the bottle passes onto conveyor 2 where it is guided into the ‘cap winder’ area. As it enters this area, a sensor (IP4) detects its presence and this activates the cap winder piston via OP5. The operation of this piston closes the guide just enough to put pressure on one side of the cap and, as the bottle travels down the conveyor; this causes the cap to rotate and tighten on the bottle.


When the bottle reaches the end of conveyor 2 it activates the Counter Sensor IP5. This sensor has three functions:


1. It deactivates the cap winder piston OP5.


2. It counts the number of bottles onto the Stacker.


3. When three bottles have passed onto the stacker it operates the stacker piston via OP6 and this pushes the three bottles clear to allow the next three bottles onto the stacker.


When 9 bottles are on the stacker it will operate the piston OP7, which lowers the stacker platform to conveyor 3 as shown in the stacker section of the FIGURE 6. At this point, the 9 bottles are pushed onto conveyor 3 but the operation of this, and conveyor 2, is taken care of automatically so it is not the concern of your program.


When the stacker piston extends it operates a limit switch at the end of its travel de-activating the piston.
 
-------------------------------O( )0
-I[]0--------------------------F(l)0
-F[]0-------F[/]2-------------O( )1
-O[]1------F[/]1--------------O( )3
-I[]1--------------------------F( )1
 
Last edited:
The Inputs and Outputs are listed below:


IP0 Bottle stop sensor
IP1 level sensor
IP2 Sol 4 limit switch
IP3 Bottle clear
IP4 Bottle in winder sensor
IP5 Counter sensor
IP6 Stacker piston limit switch




OP0 Conveyor 1
OP1 Stop bottle piston
OP2 Cap plunger piston
OP3 Bottle filler piston
OP4 Conveyor 2
OP5 Cap winder piston
OP6 Stacker piston
OP7 Stacker to conveyor 3
 
This should get you started. A few of these can be branched instead of having separate rungs. I don't know how the LADSIM works, but in the real world you would probably have to add timers to allow the pistons to perform a full stroke:

Conveyor 1:

XIC IP0 ---- XIO IP2 ---- OTE OP1 //Enagage stop unless bottle fill level is okay
XIC OP1 ---- XIO IP1 ---- OTE OP3 //Deploy filling nozzle until fill level is reached
XIC IP1 ---- XIO Nozzle_Retract_Tmr.DN ----- TON Nozzle_Retract_Tmr (3 seconds) //Wait 3 seconds for nozzle to exit bottle
XIC Nozzle_Retract_Tmr.DN ---- XIO IP2 ---- OTE OP2 //After waiting, drop cap

Conveyor 2:

XIC IP4 ----XIO IP5---- OTE OP5 //Tighten cap only while bottle is in position.
XIC IP5 --------------- CTU Stacker_Bottles (3 bottles max)
Stacker_Bottles.DN --------------- OTE OP6 //push 3 bottles with stacker piston
Stacker_Bottles.DN --------------- CTU Total_Bottles (9 max) //Count up to 9 bottles
Stacker_Bottles.DN --------------- RES Stacker_Bottles //Reset counter
Total_Bottles.DN --------------- OTE OP7 //Push 9 bottles out
Total_Bottles.DN --------------- RES Total_Bottles //Reset counter
 
Last edited:
This should not be too hard to sort out, but it would help greatly if you could add comments or descriptions to your ladder logic so we don't have to scroll back and forth to see what bit is for what purpose. Hopefully the software you are using allows that. At first glance, it looks like the latch bit on Rung 1 might need a means of getting un-latched.

Bubba.
 
Thank you for the advice, Bubba.


I'll start writing comments on the program.
The sequence for the program is:
1) Stop bottle.
2) Fill bottle.
3) Release bottle.
4) Tighten cap.
5) Stack in groups of three bottles.


The full program does almost all these things.



However, my program ONLY fills the FIRST bottle.


All other bottles pass without the barrier OP1 rising to stop a bottle for filling.



Any suggestions for a line would be appreciated.
 

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