Product News - Compact Operator Station, Programmable Limit Switch Expand Line OfControls

Compact Operator Station, Programmable Limit Switch Expand Line Of Controls

The Maco family of operator stations has been expanded with the addition of a compact unit specifically designed for injection, extrusion and blow molding machine controllers. In addition, the manufacturer has introduced a new visual, multi-channel programmable limit switch, designed to work with smaller PLCs.

Compact operator station The Lite Operator station is claimed to offer 'expensive' display features at an inexpensive price.

It is available in either active matrix color or gray-scale displays. The color is a 6.4-in. display that is also used on commercial aircraft for its brightness and contrast. The lower-cost 7.4-in. gray-scale display has adjustable contrast to provide maximum readability under any lighting conditions.

Both units support the same screen information and resolution (640x480) as the larger Maco Optima displays. They also support downloadable fonts, graphics and sprites.

The Lite ships with standard screens for injection, extrusion and blow molding processes. Manufacturer says it is easy to change legends on the machine function keys to become application specific. Using the OptiGrafix Screen Editor software helps users meet specific machine requirements. A 375K baud connection to the chassis makes updates seem instantaneous.

Screens are password protected with a security code; once the code is entered, users can page through the authorized screens with one of the six 'path' keys at the bottom of the display.

Job recipe storage is standard via the internal or external 'cartridge' Insta-Set. A single cartridge can store up to 20 machine setups, depending on the number of individual job setpoints. The cartridge also allows for the back-up of screens and sequence programs.

Programmable limit switch The Maco XLP visual, multi-channel programmable limit switch accepts up to three 0 to 10 v dc analog input signals; displays the values graphically, in volts, and in engineering units; and generates up to 24 digital output events based on pre-defined setpoints entered by the user. The conversion from analog to digital is reported at  1.25 milliseconds.

Company says the XLP is ideal for applications currently using limit switches to step through a sequence of events of profiles, such as packaging machines, plastics processing machinery, presses and other general-purpose linear motion sequencing.

It can also be used to monitor and generate alarms or thresholds for pressures, levels, flows or any process value. An integral sensor-break feature is said to allow annunciation of loss-of-sensor.

The Maco XLP is priced at $720. Optional RS-485 communications are available for an additional $150.

Barber-Colman Co.
Loves Park, IL