The German production equipment specialist Deprag has announced a new vibratory bowl feeder which, it claims, uses about 80% less energy then rival products and is “Industry 4.0-capable”.
The UK metrology specialist, Renishaw, has announced a family of compact, accurate digital incremental encoders with interpolation and digital signal processing built into their readheads, thus eliminating the need for external interfaces. The company says that the Vionic optical encoders deliver the highest performance that it has ever offered in an incremental encoder system.
Weidmüller has announced a new generation of terminal blocks that, it claims, will save space and cut engineering times by up to 75%. The Klippon Connect A-Series system, which includes both clamp and screw connection technologies, is also said to offer other attractions during the planning, installation and operating phases, such as error-free wiring and faster marking.
ABB has announced a VSD (variable-speed drive) dedicated to HVAC (heating, ventilating and air-conditioning) applications, which can operate with any type of HVAC motor rated from 0.75–250kW, including induction, permanent magnet and synchronous reluctance (SynRM) types. The ACH580 drive, which incorporates and BACnet and Modbus communications, can be integrated with automation systems.
The German chain-maker iwis has developed a non-contact system for measuring the elongation of chains while they are running. The CCM (chain condition monitor) shows the wear status on an LED display in 0.5% increments, and can also export its readings to device such as PCs via a USB cable.
Galil Motion Control has announced its first 32-axis motion controller. The DMC-52xx0 EtherCat master can control up to 32 drives and two I/O modules, and includes uncommitted I/O for easy integration with EtherCat applications.
Process values, alarms, warnings and QR codes from IO-Link installations can now be viewed on a dedicated display device developed by ifm electronic. The E30391 IO-Link display is connected to an IO-Link master like an actuator, and is controlled via PLC. No special software is needed to configure it.
One of five short-listed products for this year’s Hermes technology award at the Hannover Fair was a single-channel circuit-breaker system from the German coiled products specialist, Block, which claims that is first solid-state over-current protection system for 24V DC control circuits. The breaker addresses channels automatically during switch-on, avoiding the need for time-consuming manual assigning – a particular advantage if a system stops or if components need to be replaced quickly.
The Taiwanese automation manufacturer Delta Electronics launched a slew of new ranges at the Hannover Fair, including AC drives, Ethernet switches, machine vision systems, motion control platforms, industrial and panel PCs, HMIs, remote I/Os, smart sensors, linear stages, Scada software and robot controllers.
Lenze’s compact i500 drives, which the company launched at the SPS IPC Drives show in Germany in late 2015, can now be accessed from a smartphone to perform diagnostics and parameter setting. At the recent Hannover Fair, Lenze also announced an extension of the drive's top power ratings from 45 to 75kW (with 110kW in the pipeline), as well as communications modules for EtherCat, Ethernet/IP and Profinet.
Softing claims to have developed the world's smallest Profibus master interface for PCs. The matchbox-sized PBpro USB fits inside a Profibus connector housing. Its high-speed USB connection makes the interface suitable for tasks ranging from network configuration and device parameterisation, to plant maintenance and production data acquisition.
Turck claims to have achieved the world’s longest switching distances for proximity sensors – up to 50mm – with two devices that it launched at the recent Hannover Fair. The long switching distances mean that the sensors are less susceptible to damage.
Omron is introducing around 600 different control panel devices, in 18 different product categories, all built to a common design platform and incorporating a proprietary rapid wiring technology. It says that the components, which are all the same height, will reduce dead space in panels by up to 50% and cut panel sizes by up to 20%.
The Taiwanese automation manufacturer Nexcom has announced an open, modular robot control technology that allows users to mix-and-match components such as controllers, robots, and servodrives to suit their applications.
Japan’s Idec Corporation has released a micro-PLC which, it claims, offers the power of a PAC (programmable automation controller) and supports up to 520 I/O. The FC6A MicroSmart controller can execute basic instructions in 0.042µs, has a 640kB program memory, incorporates 1,024 timers and 512 counters (including six high-speed timers capable of up to 100kHz), has a built-in Web server, and can handle large programs with complex control requirements such as PID, flow totalisation and recipes.
