Bosch Power and Free Conveyor

I know this is pretty simple stuff (programming wise) but just curious if anyone has any 'solid' templates for traffic control of pallets with these systems.

Just curious to see what schemes people are using.

Anyone have any feedback about this?

Perhaps if you asked about PLC programs for the "power-and-free" type of conveyor, you will get some responses. It is the Bosch brand that is eliminating any responses. I think all brands would use very similar PLC programs.

abwiz,

you state power and free conveyor and yet you also use "Pallet".

please describe you app a little better and what you are looking for.

regards,
james

Perhaps the pallets are on platforms that hang from the power-and-free conveyor?

I realize that 'power and free' is a somewhat generic term. The application I am working on is a Bosch brand system. The pallets (pucks) ride on belts asynchronously and there are stops and locating devices around the conveyor where work gets done.

http://www.boschrexroth-us.com/coun..._dcl/Products/TS_Assembly_Conveyors/index.jsp

We used this Bosch pallet system on a large project several years ago. It was a huge undertaking. Our layout has two identical side-by-side straight tracks with 21 stations each. Elevators on the ends of each line transfer the cars (pallets) between the upper (working) and lower (return) conveyors. I can give you my ladder logic (RSLogix 500) if you really want it, but it might be more helpful for me to just tell you what I learned along the way. How will your system be laid out?

Our layout requires no transfer of pallets. It is just an oval loop configuration with about 10 station stops (and lift/locate units.)

I am just curious what approach people take for traffic control. I suppose your program may help.

Any info you can provide will be helpful I am sure.

abwiz,

not to slam you, but power and free refers to a specific type of conveyor. there is a power rail and a free rail for the pallets to travel on. they work great and can be very dangerous when the timing gets off and they hang. I was on a job site and they told us the conveyor was a monorail system when it was a p & f (power and free) system. before I could stop my co-worker, he unjammed the power rail and the system bucked back and nearly knocked his head off. that's when we decided to make a it clear what p & f conveyors were.


what you have is a palletized conveyor system with 10 work stations. each station has a stop and maybe a pre position stop for trafficking, a lift system so the pallets can be worked on. the lift may have an up/down sensor. the pallet position may have a pallet in place sensor.

so you have 10 stations that may / may not be equally spaced.

may I suggest the following:

1. start at the load station - what happens there? how do you know a pallet is in place? how is parts loaded? when do you release the pallet to the next station.

2 what happens at station 2? how does the system know its there? when do you release the pallet to station 3?

think your process thru.
start at station #1 - load station.
then station 2 and so on till station 10 is the unload station.
then ask yourself, if you were the plc, how would you know if a pallet is in place, when the parts are loaded, is there a safety curtain, and just keep writing the basics down. just keep repeating the process and keep expanding your document.

that's the best advice I can give, all of our examples and program will not work for your application and by the time you figure out our programming, the machine will need to be running.

regards,
james