February 15, 2010 — Siemens Industry announced Converting Toolbox, a set of standardized automation tools for the integration of various machine components that previously had to be performed individually. It simplifies web processing applications and offers greater flexibility for machine designers and builders of paper, film, foil and other converting machinery. It is completely scalable and is provided at no cost to qualified machine designers, builders and integrators. The Converting Toolbox enables machine builders to achieve considerably faster time to market by reducing the time required for engineering, programming, commissioning and documentation, as much as 80 percent in some cases. It offers modular open functions, for items such as:
- Center winder,
- Flying splice controls,
- Rotary knife with print mark correction,
- Flying saw,
- Traversing control,
- Speed set-point cascade and more.
The Converting Toolbox components take the form of pre-programmed functions.
Sample applications demonstrate how each function can be efficiently and effectively implemented into a machine design.
Such sample applications are ready-to-use after only minor modifications and include basic HMI functionality.
This enables the machine function to be tested and optimized in a very short time frame.
When a functionality module needs to be modified, extended or changed, the Converting Toolbox’s completely open source code provides a wide and solid basis from which even the most specialized functions can be implemented quickly and easily.
Simotion, the Siemens motion control system, is ideally suited as an operating platform for the Converting Toolbox because applications can be operated directly on an intelligent drive, very compactly and without need of an additional PLC.
Simotion offers drive, controller and PC-based topologies.
The Converting Toolbox also includes drives-based solutions using Siemens Sinamics Drive Control Chart (DCC) graphical programming language.
About Siemens
A division of Siemens Industry, Inc.
(SII), the Drive Technologies (DT) Division is the world’s leading supplier of products and services for production machinery and machine tools.
DT’s integrated electrical and mechanical technologies cover the entire drive train and include standard products as well as industry-specific control and drive solutions for metal forming, printing and electronic manufacturing.
DT also provides solutions for the glass, wood, plastics, ceramics, textiles, packaging equipment and crane system industries as well as mechatronics support to online services for web-based fault management and preventive maintenance.
With nearly 40,000 employees worldwide, the Drive Technologies Division posted worldwide revenues of $13.4 billion in fiscal year 2008.