Wiring machine tool panels can be a labor-intensive task. Multiple solutions exist, ranging from special I/O modules that reduce wiring to special networks. One novel approach is the SmartWire-DT panel wiring system from Eaton. Designed to reduce panel wiring complexity, this system can improve system reliability, save installation time, and reduce panel space. It takes the myriad of wires typically found in a control circuit and combines them into a single eight-conductor, flat cable that connects motor control components to customers’ programmable logic controllers (PLCs). This cable eliminates the need to cut, strip, mark, bundle, and check individual wires.

You can connect motor starters and pilot devices without conventional point-to-point wiring. Connection is simple; devices snap on and crimping ensures an electrical connection. The cable supports up to 99 devices placed over a maximum cable length of 2,000 ft. You can connect non-reversing and reversing starters up to 20 hp at 480 V (25 hp at 600 V). Contactor coils are powered directly from the 24 Vdc carried on the flat cable. Electrical and mechanical interlocking of the contactors is still possible.

The start of the system is a SmartWire-DT gateway, which establishes the connection to standard PLC fieldbuses, including PROFIBUS-DP and CANopen. It directly integrates the input/output (I/O) level in the switching devices. Therefore, no conventional PLC I/O modules are needed; instead, communication enabled modules are attached to standard Eaton motor control components. Thus, the PLC in the control cabinet simply consists of a central processing unit (CPU).

Each SmartWire-DT enabled device also has individual status indicators, which help to reduce commissioning time and troubleshooting in the field. Emergency Stop switches can be connected and monitored on the network but need to be hard-wired to disconnect the 24 Vdc control power to conform with EN 954-1 Safety Category 1 or Safety Category 3 requirements.

Eaton Corporation
www.eaton.com

::Design World::

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Filed Under: Machine tool industry + subtractive manufacturing, Networks • connectivity • fieldbuses

 

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