With the rapid increase in food packaging applications as well as e-commerce, the demand for conveyor systems is increasing. We wouldn’t be wrong to say that speed control devices are the basis of an efficient production or an error-free logistics activity. In this article, we examine what advantages ac drives bring to conveyor lines.
Diversify Your App
A good speed controller offers different applications for conveyor lines. With open or closed loop application, you can choose which output to give the motor to run at the desired speed and torque. Moreover, modern drives can be matched with three-phase synchronous motors as well as asynchronous motors and reluctance motors. It has been observed that second motors increase efficiency and save energy.
More Digital and Manageable Systems
Communication is everything in today’s automation. Staying up-to-date in today’s increasingly connected industrial environments requires equipment that can integrate with a variety of network topologies. Modern AC drives have a variety of built-in standard protocols to adapt to transport applications such as Modbus TCP, Ethernet/IP, ProfiNet, EtherCAT and Powerlink to increase their productivity and efficiency. This allows your conveyor lines to be easily integrated into your automation system, while you have a more digital and manageable structure.
More Security
AC drives are designed with work and worker safety in mind. To comply with global machine safety standards (ie EN ISO 13849-1), you can find a full range of optional safety modules, such as safe torque off and safe stop category 1, safe stop category 2, safe start-stop, safe built-in as standard. Maximum speed control, safe limit speed, safe direction and safe brake control are among the measures offered by ac drivers.
Simpler and Scalable Systems
AC drives can make conveyor systems more modular and simple by reducing the number of components with built-in functions. For example, you can minimize the need for a PLC by using built-in programmable logic functions that help integrate an AC drive into a particular application. With rich interfaces, extended I/Os, pulse sequence input/output control and embedded encoder options, you can save space and cost by not using other devices.
