Customer’s Objectives

A cable manufacture wanted to build a wire winding machine for less than the cost of off-the-shelf general purpose winders.

Most general-purpose machines use complex and expensive master-slave position following controls. Since this customer’s products were established and their winding requirements were predictable and consistent, a less sophisticated control solution would be sufficient.

The wire would be fed at a constant speed from an extruder, and the wire would be guided onto the spool by a linear positioning device. To get a uniform wind, the traverse speed of the guide needs to decrease as the circumference of the wire wrapped on the spool increases, and as the rotational speed of the spool slows down.


IDC Solution

Control	H3301B
Actuator	R3H105B-18-SC-MF3-Q
Accessories	RPS-1 Limit switches (for end positions)

The customer found a simple, cost effective solution in our H3301B Limit Switch Control and a small PLC with analog input/output capability. The H3301B drives an R3H Series Rodless actuator between limit switches for the traverse motion.

The PLC calculates the diameter of the roll based on a speed signal from a tachometer attached to the spool, and adjusts the traverse velocity (through the H3301B’s remote speed input) as the spool speed changes.

H3301B Inputs

1. Analog speed, from PLC
2. Extend, from PLC and switch
3. Retract, from switch
4. Stop Extend, from switch
5. Stop Retract, from switch

H3301B Outputs

1. In Motion, to PLC
2. Fault/Current Limit, to PLC

Why IDC?

The unique features of the H3301B control make it an ideal solution for this application. Other controls and actuators were considered, however the unnecessary complexity and cost made the H3301B an excellent choice.

Winding Control Requirements

Load	50 lbs
Speed	15 in/sec max
Duty Cycle	100%
Repeatability	±0.1 inches
Programmability	Automatic extend/retract sequencing
Interface	Discrete I/O to PLC