Masterfil turns to Moeller's Optidrive for optimum control of oil filling machine

Citation

(2002), "Masterfil turns to Moeller's Optidrive for optimum control of oil filling machine", Industrial Lubrication and Tribology, Vol. 54 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/ilt.2002.01854aad.001

Masterfil turns to Moeller's Optidrive for optimum control of oil filling machine

Keywords: Oils, Lubricants

One of the UK's leading manufacturers of liquid filling machines, Masterfil, has turned to Moeller Electric's new variable speed AC drive – Optidrive - to provide precision motor control for its latest oil filling machine. Destined for a major oil company's lubricant facility in Greece, Masterfil's innovative inline weigh filling machine is the first of many heading for the petrochemical industry, and features six Optidrives controlling conveyor and pump motors.

Uniquely, thanks to the Optidrive's Optistore program, the company has set up a central database to store the drive's motor control parameters for each machine produced. This enables quick and easy reprogramming of the drives, wherever they are located around the world, thus helping to ensure Masterfil's leading position in after sales service.

Based in Aylesbury, Masterfil produces a wide variety of liquid filling solutions capable of handling volumes from 2ml to 1,500 litres. This range comprises: semi-automatic, automatic inline pneumatic and electric drive volumetric fillers, weigh fillers and drum emptying systems. The company's products are widely applied in the pharmaceutical, petrochemical, food processing and toiletries- cosmetics industries.

Masterfil's lubricant oil filling machine is designed to fill 20 litre plastic buckets with the four head unit achieving a rate of 420 buckets per hour or 6.7 per minute. The four weigh filling heads are mounted on a frame suitable for up to six heads, enabling the later addition of two more heads, increasing output as demand grows. The plastic pails are fed into the machine along a roller conveyor powered by two 0.37kW motors which are each controlled by an Optidrive (Plates 1, 2 and 3).

Plate 1

In the filling area four weigh scale platforms rise up and place a bucket directly under the filling nozzle. Each weigh scale platform is linked to an Avery Berkel weigh controller. A PLC controls the raising of the platforms and signals the Avery weigh controller to tare or zero the readings for each pail prior to commencement of filling. When the pails are tared the Avery weigh controller then signals the PLC to open the nozzles and start the four 3kW pumps, with each feeding one of the four nozzles.

Plate 2

The pump flow rate is determined by programming the Avery weigh controller with different weight zones in the bucket corresponding to a particular pump rate. For example: the first kilogram of oil is filled slowly, during the second zone, filling is at the fastest rate, in the third zone nearing the 16.5kg weight limit, filling is slow, reaching this limit then triggers the pump to stop.

Plate 3

Pump control is achieved by the Avery weigh controller signalling the Optidrive through an I/O link and a series of relays. The Optidrive is programmed to enable the motor to run at a preset slow and fast speed, with speed selection dependant on the input received from the weigh scale controller.

Neil Schneider, Masterfil's electrical design engineer said: "We export about 70 per cent of our machines and after sales service is a crucial element in our success. Optidrive's Optistore facility offers us distinct service advantages as each drives' parameters can be stored enabling us to easily reprogram the drives in customer's machines should anything go wrong. This is done simply by downloading the customer's drive parameters in Optistore into the Optiwand. Then using Optiwand a replacement drive can be programmed and sent to the customer. Alternatively, we can send the drive's parameters over the net to reprogram the drive locally. Optidrive's user-friendliness has helped us to significantly reduce machine development and production time."

Spanning a 0.37kW to 90kW power range, Optidrive is available in both single and three- phase formats in five case sizes. Ready-to-run, the drives have three programmable digital inputs, an analogue input that is selectable for volts or amps, a programmable relay output, and a programmable analogue output. All that is needed for basic pump and fan operation is the setting of five basic parameters from the 14 standard that are available. Optidrive has four pre-set speeds and an auto start function. Other features include skip frequencies, spinning start, silent running in 32kHz mode and mains dip ride through.

AC drives are notoriously complicated to set-up, so user-friendliness was high on the list of priorities for the designers of Optidrive. A "quick" set-up menu using only 14 standard parameters, with plain English descriptions, allows the user to quickly configure the Optidrive. An extended menu with a further 26 parameters is available for more advanced set-ups.

Drive parameters can be modified via the unit's five-button front panel or using the unique and innovative Optiwand. This is a handheld remote control unit that uses infrared technology to communicate with the drive and/or a PC. The Optiwand has the same five-button layout as the drive and can store up to 63 complete Optidrive settings.

Everything that can be done via the drive front-panel can also be done via the Optiwand, then subsequently downloaded to the Optidrive. This greatly simplifies changing the drive settings once the drive is in-situ, given that drives can often be located in cramped not easily accessible places. For example, parameters can be downloaded from the drive to the Optiwand, modified, and reloaded to the drive. Using Optiwand, several drives with the same set-up can be very quickly configured, it taking less than 0.5s to transfer the parameters from the handheld unit to each drive. The Optiwand can also be used to quickly monitor individual parameters and, if necessary, instantly change them, e.g. the drive speed. Both the Optidrive and the Optiwand have a very high level of data integrity.

The facilities of Optidrive and Optiwand are backed by Optistore, which through the Optimouse infra red receiver and transmitter, enables all drive parameters to be stored on a PC or portable. By simply aiming the Optiwand at the Optimouse, all drive parameters in the Optiwand can be downloaded into Optistore, which if required supports subsequent modification. Conversely, if a set of stored drive parameters are required, via the Optimouse it can be uploaded into the Optiwand and then used to program one or more Optidrives.

For further information, please contact:

Steve Rickard, Moeller Electric Ltd. Tel: +44 1296 393322; Fax: +44 1296 421854; E-mail: steve.rickard@moeller.co.uk