Project Background
A glue applicator, also known as a dispensing machine, glue dripping machine, glue applicator, or glue dispensing machine, is an automated machine that controls fluids and applies them to the surface or interior of a product.
The working principle of the air filter coating machine: The three material tanks on the left have independent automatic heating, automatic feeding, and automatic pressurization functions, which, together with three discharge metering servos, accurately discharge the material to the machine head on the right. The machine head on the right is controlled by three servos on the X, Y, and Z axes to perform interpolation actions for coating. Inside the machine head, a stirring servo mixes the A and B materials evenly.
On-site equipment diagram
Customer needs
At a certain technology company in Zhejiang Province, due to the large number of product models of its automotive air filter sealing rings, the complex path planning, and the large variety of formulas that need to be stored.
The specific requirements are as follows:
l Optimized the interaction method and launched a fully Chinese operation interaction method;
The mixing and dispensing method for AB glue requires precise dispensing ratios, uniform color after mixing and solidification, and a weight accuracy of ±0.2g.
The dispensing pressure pump and the head agitator are servo driven, and the dispensing pressure is controlled by a total of 6 high-precision pressure sensors to ensure stable and accurate dispensing.
To maximize customer convenience and ensure the precision of adhesive coating production for automotive air filter seals, INVT has launched a new solution.
INVT Solutions
System topology diagram
The system uses an INVT AX series programmable controller to drive the glue application positioning servo interpolation action, which has stable trajectory movement speed and high accuracy.
The device is controlled via EtherCAT bus servo control, and multiple temperature control modules and analog quantity modules are configured to detect analog quantity information such as temperature, liquid level, and pressure.
In terms of touchscreen interaction, traditional G-code requires professional personnel to edit it manually, resulting in a complex user interface. Invt, through its deep understanding of the process, has modified the touchscreen interaction to be entirely in Chinese and developed functions such as automatic calculation of arc radius and path copying and translation, which greatly facilitates customer use.
Electrical cabinet diagram
The machine head consists of three servo motors on the X, Y, and Z axes, which control the adhesive application path using curve interpolation to ensure stable linear speed of the machine head.
In terms of material tank operation, the bottom of the material tank is the discharge port. The flow rate is controlled by the discharge metering servo to control the discharge pump. In order to ensure stable glue flow, the servo speed is adjusted based on the pressure monitoring of the machine head and the discharge pump throughout the process, thereby ensuring the accuracy of glue output and the stability of glue output speed.
Solution advantages
1. Interpolation control of XYZ axes
If a small PLC's linear or curved interpolation function is used, there will be pauses between line segments. However, INVT's AX series programmable controllers use interpolation to ensure that the glue application pattern maintains a uniform speed throughout the process, resulting in a uniform glue finish.
2. Easy-to-learn and easy-to-use path planning function
It adopts a fully Chinese interactive interface, making customer path planning simple and easy to understand;
The use of a green dynamic background to display the current running points makes it straightforward and easy for customers to understand.
A white dynamic bar is used to locate the current modification position, making the interaction convenient and intuitive;
The radius estimation function can automatically calculate the radius of the arc based on the preceding and following points, eliminating the need for customers to manually calculate the radius of the arc segment;
The "Run to Teaching Point" function allows customers to easily make corrections when modifying paths.
3. Convenient recipe function
Convenient recipe reading, writing, and management. Recipe names can be saved in Chinese for easy retrieval later.
4. PID control of temperature
Based on the excellent insulation performance of the equipment on site, a dynamic PID proportional parameter was developed. This ensures rapid temperature rise, no overshoot, and stable temperature control on site.
Overview
The air filter coating machine uses Invt's solution:
On the one hand, it allows on-site staff to quickly get started using the system without needing to master complex G-code programming;
On the other hand, the AB glue ratio is precise, the finished glue is mixed and reacted evenly, the finished product weight accuracy reaches ±0.2 grams, and the production speed reaches 10 pieces/minute, which fully meets the speed requirements of the production line.
