Posted to News on 12th Jun 2017, 16:06
Eaton develops electro hydraulic precision control machine
Market shifts within industry 4.0, intelligent factories and smart energy are challenging companies to offer the seamless integration of multiple different technologies and disciplines. Within this field Eaton's complementary electric and hydraulic expertise can bring easier and faster solutions. This combined knowledge can make it simpler for customers to do business with Eaton, as it presents one face to the customer. Application experts have the required practical knowledge to recommend a product that addresses these stated markets shifts.
To highlight its strength in integrating industrial technologies, and in collaboration with Werthenbach GmbH - one of Eaton's "Electro Hydraulic Authorized Solution Partners" -Eaton has developed an electro hydraulic precision control machine that showcases Eaton's integrated Electrical and Hydraulic capabilities. It clearly demonstrates that with a holistic approach the design and build of machines can become more cost effective through decreased complexity and easier integration.
Demonstrating decentralised intelligence in an autonomous closed loop operation system, the machine can take care of the control itself thus reducing manpower requirements. This combined with lower energy consumption capabilities can reduce total cost of ownership. What's more, the machine is IoT ready; this ultimately means that it helps to reduce downtime through intelligent maintenance which covers predictive maintenance not only for problem identification but for pattern detection. The machine demonstrates an approach that can be used in applications like metal forming, connecting several synchronised industrial presses.
Marco Bison, Manager Mechatronic Technologies in the EMEA Industrial Control and Protection Division of Eaton states: "It's clear that industry is moving to smarter, more efficient machines. It's no longer just about components; it's about how those components connect to create intelligent sub-systems that dynamically adapt and respond. Electro hydraulics aren't a vision for the future - they're a requirement for today. And no other company is positioned to help you deliver on those demands and achieve an advantage like Eaton."
Eaton is showcasing this new electro hydraulic system for the first time at Hannover Messe 2017 in hall 21, stand B15.
The new machine shows how SmartWire-DT, the intelligent wiring and communication system from Eaton, can integrate smart and low level components into a common control architecture allowing digitalisation of data from simple push-buttons or motor-starters inside the control-cabinet to hydraulic valves on the machine. Compared with conventional point to point wiring, machine builders can reduce the costs for wiring, testing and commissioning by up to 85 per cent. For complete information read a white paper on www.eaton.eu/en/iw/mac.
Energy savings
An Eaton energy efficient Drive-Pump product based on the cost-effective Variable Speed Starter PowerXLTM DE1, with potential energy savings of up to 70 per cent, and a precision load handling experience of Axis Pro showcase the strength of hydraulic high power density in combination with integrated motion-control capabilities.
The machine demonstrates the ability to de-centralise control to the device level, reducing overall dataflow, whilst at the same time allowing collection of data from all integrated system components and delivering it to the cloud. Subsequent data analytics allow users/owners the possibility to create additional value for the machine application in regards to production capacity, quality, uptime, and maintenance.
Within the demo machine Eaton's AxisProTM programmable proportional valves with servo feature are the de-centralised intelligence and are utilised to distribute control. With built in sensors AxisPro is designed to support both centralised and distributed axis control architectures. These valves contain both programmable on-board electronics and integral spool linear voltage differential transformer sensors to provide precise, accurate and responsive control capabilities. The programmable function of AxisPro provides more scalability in the PLC and the user can decide which tasks he wants to achieve centralised and/or decentralised.
Furthermore, the new machine integrates an Eaton Variable Speed Drive and Pump System which is aimed at helping customer cut energy usage by up to 70 per cent, dependant on the machine duty cycle. The proven performance and power density of Eaton's pump families combined with the smart control of Eaton Variable Speed Drives enable these systems to achieve power-on-demand more efficiently than conventional constant-speed drive pump systems. For instance, instead of operating constantly at 1500 RPM, Eaton's Variable Speed Drive Pumps can be controlled to match the load requirements of the current duty cycle via intelligent control. As a result, you can reduce energy waste. This "Power on Demand' concept also can supply several parallel processes with similar volume flows and pressure requirements, controlling various actuators via direction control, proportional or servo valves. At the same time, users of this configuration may also benefit from longer machine life, due to lower levels of heat generation, increased operator safety, a compact design, and improved comfort by reducing the noise of the pump (full information on the white paper at www.eaton.eu/moem-ee).
An MNL series integrated pressure filter from Eaton was combined with the electronic clogging indicator VS5. This measures the differential pressure inside the filtration system continuously to evaluate the status of the filter elements. A M12 plug at the clogging indicator is the signal interface for the connection to the SmartWire-DT system and thus to the cloud services.
To learn more about Eaton's product range visit www.eaton.com/hydraulics and www.eaton.eu.
