Rubber is an indispensable material used by a variety of industries, such as mechanical engineering, automobiles, packaging, electrical engineering, construction, agriculture, healthcare, furniture and household appliances, manufacturing, and more. Over the years the rubber industry has continued to flourish as market requirements grow.
The trend of smart manufacturing on global industries has also caused a serious impact on rubber industry. Facing a new industrial revolution, rubber manufacturers need automation technology to enhance machine efficiency, productivity and quality, as well as smart functions and remote monitoring.
Rubber processing mainly includes mixing, vulcanizing, shaping and semi-finished products verifying and fixing. All processes vary according to material quality, machine temperature and other factors, and require precise and careful control of temperature, process time, and pressure during processing. Delta recently provided a famous rubber manufacturer in Taiwan with a total integrated machine automation and smart factory solution for the rubber “mixing” and “shaping” processes. The mixing process mixes base rubber thoroughly with additives to achieve a high quality dispersion of ingredients. The mixed rubber material is then shaped into a slim film during the shaping process.
Delta's solution adopts its advanced automation products to enhance machine efficiency and productivity. It also uses the cloud, IIoT technology and the supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system to provide real-time monitoring, and remote control and management of these two processes.
For the mixing process, Delta uses its latest Compact Mid-range PLC AS300 Series matched with the Human Machine Interface (HMI) DOP-B Series as a core control system, and the Heavy Duty Vector Control Drive CH2000 Series to provide variable frequency control of mixing equipment via EtherNet/IP communication. With the CH2000 Series, the equipment saves energy during operation. Delta also implemented the Temperature Controller DT3 Series to assure equipment operation safety and quality, and the Power Meter DPM Series to monitor the power consumption of the machine.
In the shaping process, Delta adopts the AS300 Series PLC and the DOP-B Series HMI as core control, the CH2000 Series motor drives and the DT3 Series temperature controller for equipment operation control, and the DPM Series power meter for power consumption measurement. In addition, Delta's AC Servo Motion System ASDA-A2 Series are matched with the AS300 PLC to conduct precise and stable production of rubber film with high quality and consistency.
Both mixing and shaping processes and equipment operation are analyzed and monitored with Delta's DIAView SCADA System through data transmission by the Industrial Ethernet Switch DVS Series. The equipment operation data and analysis are also uploaded to Delta's cloud service platform, DIACloud, via the Industrial Ethernet Cloud Router DX-2300 Series. Users and managers are able to remotely monitor production processes and equipment operation and efficiency in real-time. They can also connect other facilities in the factory to the DIAView system to build up an overall smart machine + smart factory solution.
Delta's integrated machine automation and smart factory solution combines cloud & IIoT technology, production visulization and management, and machine automation. With all products, software, and technology by Delta, the customer was very satisfied with the equipment efficiency enhancement, as well as Delta's professional on-site diagnosis, technical support and service.
Delta's automation products for the solution:
• DIAView Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) System
The DIAView collects real-time operating data such as manufacturing and plant facility status and provides information visualization. It helps managers acquire the overall plant production and machine operation status for management, including monitoring, troubleshooting, trend analysis and key problem identification to prevent and solve problems such as sudden downtime, unmanaged manufacturing processes, or delayed response to abnormal incidents. The DIAView provides a flexible and stable system structure, robust and efficient alarm management, and third-party software database compatibility. It supports the latest graphic technology and graphical symbol library, and a variety of data visualization tools with flexible and safe user authorization and network settings.
• Industrial Ethernet Cloud Router DX-2300 Series
The DX-2300 Series supports the DIACloud platform and DIACloud App with built-in MODBUS RTU, MODBUS ASCII and MODBUS TCP to collect data and provide transparent transmission for remote access. It provides reliable, safe industrial communication via Ethernet connections to protect all traffic enroute, and provide SDK for integration with users' existing programs.
• Compact Mid-range PLC AS300 Series
The AS300 Series is Delta's new advanced modular-design controller for automation machinery. With new 32 bit SoC (System on Chip) CPUs, the AS Series offers excellent performance with a program capacity of 40k steps/ms and it supports up to 32 extension modules or a max. 1,024 I/O points. It is able to control max. 8 axes via CANopen motion network/max. 6 axes via pulse control (200kHz). With built-in CANOpen and EtherNet/IP communication functions, the AS300 Series can easily communicate with other devices to build a high speed, high efficiency machine automation solution.
• Heavy Duty Vector Control Drive CH2000 Series
With its large starting torque (above 200% at 0.5Hz / 200% at 0Hz in FOC+PG mode) and high overload capacity (150% of rated current for 60sec. and 200% for 3sec), the CH2000 Series provides high performance and stable operation to fulfill the needs of heavy load and impact loading applications, such as cranes, machine tools, rubber and plastic machines, printing machines and more.