Integral Controls, Inc.
    Industrial Automation Controls and Service

    IMM

Injection Molding

Experience

Integral Controls, Inc. has a strong back ground in the injection molding, directly working for major manufacturers such as Husky Injection Molding systems.Lab Machine We have worked on major projects including the E8000 (The largest injection molding machine in the world).  This injection molding experience coupled with our vast controls, automation, hydraulics, and motion control knowledge allows us to provide a wide range of services for injection molding machines.

e8000

Services

We have worked with most injection molding OEM’s standard control systems as well as many after-market control systems.  Integral Controls, Inc. can provide service and support for existing machine controls, as well as upgrade or replace the existing controls systems.  We have upgraded IMM’s with the Allen Bradley Proset 200 system, custom controls systems using Automation Direct controllers, and other standard control platforms, including our own S-Max IMM control system.

S-Max IMM Control Upgrades

Integral Controls Inc. has worked with many different control systems used on injection molding machines. We do not feel that any pre-developed control system used for  injection molding meet all of our customers needs. Some systems were too expensive, some do not meet the performance standards required for injection molding, others are not user friendly, or expandable. After considering the options currently available to the end user, we decided to develop our own control system specifically for injection molding.

We feel we have succeeded in this mission with the introduction of our S-Max IMM system. Please review the distinct & unique advantages provided by our S-Max IMM control system as shown below.

    Integrated Controller and HMI

    The control system is based upon Phoenix Contacts S-Max controller, running Entivities Visual Logic Controller and MMI.  This is an extremely powerful control system, capable of scan times as low as 200 us, and is perfect fit for any project. This is an open control system that can be modified or expanded at any time. This system has many advantages over traditional PLC based systems, including an integrated HMI with advanced smax blind02features, simple flow chart programming, and extremely fast scan times to name a few. The Phoenix Contact S-Max controller is an embedded PC with no moving parts. This provides the power and flexibility of a PC based system with the reliability and ease of use of a PLC based system. The controller has both Profibus and Modbus TCP/IP communication protocols allowing it to connect to a large verity of devices.

    Powerful

    The power and speed of the S-Max controller allows all of the control to be performed by one CPU.  A single processor performs the machine control, closed loop lance injection control, closed loop clamp control, closed loop temperature control, and HMI functions. Most systems would require a main processor for the machine sequence and coprocessor card for all of the addition functions, such as closed temperature control. The more temperature zones a system has, the more coprocessors would be required, thus the more complex and expensive the system will become.  Our system uses the same processor for all of these functions eliminating the need for coprocessor cards.  This simplifies the system and greatly reduces the cost.  The more complex the molding machine the more cost effective our system becomes.  Our processor does all of this while still running a 2 millisecond scan time. Most control systems are only capable of a program scan time of 20-30 milliseconds. This scan time includes reading all inputs, processing all of the machine control logic, closed loop control calculation, and then writing to all of the outputs. This speed allows our system to have extremely tight closed loop control, makes it extremely repeatable, and improves cycle times. Our system can see an input change or position reached, make a decision based upon it, and energize a valve 10-15 times while other systems are still executing the logic for the first time.

    User Friendly HMI

    Integral Controls Inc. has used our years of experience with different injection molding machines to create and HMI (operator interface) package that is easy to use. The screens are laid out in an organized manner, and provide you with all of the flexibility required to process your parts. We have included advanced features in our HMI that other systems don't or can't provide. Some of these feature are listed below.

clamp02 inj02
    • The logic controlling the machine can be monitored form the HMI screens.
      vlc
    • The status of every input and output can be monitored from the HMI.
    • Outputs can be forced on/off for troubleshooting.
      output
    • Every pressure, position, and proportional valve command can be trended on the HMI screens providing graphical images of processes. An example would be injection pressure, position, along with the pressure valve and speed valve commands all graphed on the same screen, at the same time.
    • The times of every step of the machine sequences are logged and displayed on a cycle breakdown screen for the past ten machine cycles. All of these times can also be graphed. The graph with trend the past 720 cycles of the machine.
      trend
    • The HMI's security features allow access to different variables only if the user current user has a high enough security level. New users can be added at any time as well as user names and passwords modified. Calibration screen can only be accessed by maintenance and supervisor levels.
    • Our HMI has unlimited recipe storage. Any process specific parameters can easily be saved onto the flash drive. They can latter be recalled as long as the machine pumps are off. The recipes are saved in a format that can be view using Microsoft Excel if required.
    • All variables can be accessed by your network using our systems built in OPC and DDE servers
    • With the screens being our own design we can easily configure them or add additional features you may require with ease.

    Position/Velocity Measurement

    Our S-Max IMM system provides further cost saving by using MTS Temposonic rods over a Profibus network for our position measurements. This allows us to monitor up to twelve positions mtswith each Temposonic rod. We can monitor clamp, clamp stroke, and ejector position with one rod, injection and carriage positions with another. By not using a separate measurement device for each position we reduce the number of components used which reduces the systems cost, plus simplifies the system.  Existing components can be used for cost savings, but we recommend upgrading to the Temposonic rods for the reliability, resolution, and repeatability they will provide. The Temposonic rods provide our control system with .005 mm of resolution for extremely tight position and velocity control. Temposonic rods have been proven to be rugged and reliable with years of use on injection molding machines. The Temposonic rods connect to our control system over a Profibus DP high-speed communication network.

    I/O System

    Our control system uses a Profibus DP high-speed communication network. This not only Beckhoffallows us to have extremely fast I/O update rates buts allows us to communicate with almost every manufactures I/O products. Most popular I/O systems can communicate over a Profibus network. This means if your company has standardized on a particular manufacturer such as Allen Bradley, or GE Fanuc, we can integrate their I/O into our control system.  The standard I/O that our system uses is Beckhoff’s Field-bus I/O. This is a rugged, flexible system that is priced to be competitive. Using a distributed I/O system and a Profibus network, allows us to have either one central I/O strip in the electrical cabinet or several strategically placed I/O strips anywhere on the machine. It also allows us to expand the system at anytime if required.

    Remote Diagnostics

    The S-Max IMM control has remote diagnostics built into it. We can dial in over an analog phone line or connect over your companies network to perform remote diagnostics and troubleshoot at your request. This can reduce down time, increasing productivity.

    Documentation

    Once a control upgrade is performed, Integral Controls, Inc. will provide our customer with a full documentation package. This package includes the electrical, bill of materials, spare parts list, and full copies of the HMI and machine control software

Husky XL300 PET System

Husky

Van Dorn 75 Ton Toggle

Lab Machine

Nessei 160 Ton

GEDC0753

HPM 1000 Ton

PB080076

Remu 750 Ton Toggle

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