PanelBuilder32 help

[mecolema]

Hi all!

Is there a way in PanelBuilder32 to disable a push button when certain conditions are true. The machine I am working on is a five station drilling machine. Each of the units are servo driven and controlled through a Trio motion controller. The spindles on the units are controlled by a SLC 5/03. The screen is a Panelview 600 touch screen. There is a button on the screen to turn off the spindle motors and I want to disable the button while the units are cycling so the operators don't crash and break the drills. They have already done it once! The operator decided to clean the screen while the machine was in auto cycle and ended up hitting that button. Broke three of the five sets of drills! Not a good thing! I have been reading the PanelBuilder manual but haven't been able to find anything on this yet. I will keep reading but any help that you can give me would be great. Thanks in advance.

 

[shanna]

Maybe you can code PLC program to forbid the PB enable when machine in cycle, only when work done, cycle finished, you can stop.

And use E_stop to control some emergency situation.

 

[Rube]

Shanna is right. The PLC is the best place for that control to take place. Maybe when the machine is in cycle and the button is pressed the PLC can send a signal to the screen to display a banner saying the routine will stop when the current cycle is complete.

 

[ndzied1]

For each pushbutton that will be conditionally active, I usually program an enable bit. You get code that looks something linke:

   Enable     Pushbutton         Action

-----] [--------] [----------------( )

One nice feature you can program for the operator is to use the enable but to drive the Indicator Tag associated with the pushbutton to change the look of the pushbutton when it is not enabled... I usually make it look dim or greyed out.

 

[JesperMP]

All machine interlocks should be handled by the PLC.
The Operator panel is not the right place to put such things.

Did the operator press the button because he was personally in danger ? If so, you have a problem with the design of the safety of that machine. Looks like it lacks at least a safety relay.

 

[rta53]

Did the operator press the button because he was personally in danger ?

He said it happened while the operator was cleaning the screen.

 

[JesperMP]

I dont know how the law is with these things over there. But I wouldnt be surprised if it is like "the last guy who modified the thing is also responsible for it".
mecolema should be careful that he doesnt enter an area he has no experience or knowledge about (*). He could end up being liable for someones elses injury.

*: That he is focusing on the operator screen, when there is a safety issue, could indicate that he isnt experienced in this area.

 

[ndzied1]

I haven't read anything that makes me believe this is a safety issue. It sounds like there is a broken drill issue and probaly broken tool holders and collets to go along with it but mecolema has made no indication about safety.

JesperMP is right in that any enabling / disabling must be done in the PLC but with a Panelview being a "dumb" terminal with no real control or data capabilities that is a given.

mecolema, I have done many drilling systems in the past and every single one has, as a minimum, Automatic and Manual modes. The Automatic mode is for the production drilling cycle and the Manual mode is for maintenance and setup where the operator has jogging and manual clamping controls available. For simple cases, you usually have an AUTO bit and then the MANUAL is defined as not auto (this insures that auto and manual are never on at the same time).

Every rung in the drilling sequence contains the AUTO bit and every manual control rung contains the MANUAL bit. This is one way to eliminate the problem you describe.

Many systems will also have separate screens for manual and automatic operation. For instance, my automatic screens usually contain only cycle start and stop controls along with diagnostic and process information. No manual controls are available on the screen for the operator to mess with (even though they wouldn't work because in the PLC they would not have the MANUAL bit on to enable them).

 

[mecolema]

Thanks to everyone who replied with some actual constructive help unlike those who just wanted to attack my level of experience. I modified the enable in my ladder program and that has taken care of the problem I was having. Thanks again!

btw I am a she not a he!!!

 

[ndzied1]

Well, Safety is never to be overlooked. Perhaps your use of the term "Crash" has thrown off people not in the machine tool industry. To the machine tool industry this term is usually used to mean interference between the machine/the workpiece and/or tooling components but not people. I think when you wrote about 'operators crashing and breaking drills' some may have thought the drills were crashing into the operators.

btw I am a she not a he!!!

Welcome aboard.

 

[Rube]

Jesper, nor anyone else, was in "attack mode". The advice is good for everyone male or female, no matter what level of experience you have. Even programmers with decades of experience run into new territory now and then. Welcome to the forum, but don't take offense where none was meant.

Glad you got your situation resolved. Sounds like you had the right idea, just needed the confirmation you got. You can do a lot with HMIs but it's usually best to get most of your controls from the PLShe.

 

[JesperMP]

Hi mecolema,

I think that it must be my post that could be interpreted as being a little sticklish. I apologise
The thing is that your post could be interpreted as you were talking about a safety issue:

The operator decided to clean the screen while the machine was in auto cycle and ended up hitting that button.

Why would you write that if it wasnt because he was in danger ? Or did mean to say that he was looking away from the drills (while cleaning), and therefore didnt notice soon enough that something was wrong ?
If my assumption that he was in danger was correct, then there was something truly wrong with the safety of the machine.
As it is better to be safe than sorry in such matters, I decided to warn you that MAYBE you were treading in new territory for you.

 

[Steve Crotty]

Another easy feature to program into that might prevent other headaches in the future is a cleaning screen. The operator goes to that screen without anything on it, and then can clean the screen without causing problems.

If you have a function key / touch version of the PV600 it is simple. Just use a function key to get you out the screen when you are done cleaning. If it is only touch then you have to be more clever. Perhaps two buttons on opposite ends of the screen to get you out of it, or based on time or something along those lines.