Cables Archives - AUTOMATION INSIGHTS

Why Choose an IO-Link Ecosystem for Your Next Automation Project?

By now we’ve all heard of IO-Link, the device-level communication protocol that seems magical. Often referred to as the “USB of industrial automation,” IO-Link is a universal, open, and bi-directional communication technology that enables plug-and-play device replacement, dynamic device configuration, centralized device management, remote parameter setting, device level diagnostics, and uses existing sensor cabling as part of the IEC standard accepted worldwide.

But what makes IO-Link magical?

If the list above doesn’t convince you to consider using IO-Link on your next automation project, let me tell you more about the things that matter beyond its function as a communications protocol.

Even though these benefits are very nice, none of them mean anything if the devices connected to the network don’t provide meaningful, relevant, and accurate data for your application.

Evolution of the IO-Link

IO-Link devices, also known as “smart devices,” have evolved significantly over the years. At first, they were very simple and basic, providing data such as the status of your inputs and outputs and maybe giving you the ability to configure a few basic parameters, such as port assignment as an input or an output digitally over IO-Link. Next, came the addition of functions that would improve the diagnostics and troubleshooting of the device. Multi-functionality followed, where you have one device under one part number, and can configure it in multiple modes of operation.

Nothing, however, affected the development of smart devices as much as the introduction of IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things) and the demand for more real-time information about the status of your machine, production line, and production plant starting at a device level. This demand drove the development of smart devices with added features and benefits that are outside of their primary functions.

Condition monitoring

IO-Link supplies both sensor/actuator details and secure information

One of the most valuable added features, for example, is condition monitoring. Information such as vibration, humidity, pressure, voltage and current load, and inclination – in addition to device primary function data – is invaluable to determine the health of your machine, thus the health of your production line or plant.

IO-Link offers the flexibility to create a controls architecture independent of PLC manufacturer or higher-level communications protocols. It enables you to:

- use existing low-cost sensor cabling
- enhance your existing controls architecture by adding devices such as RFID readers, barcode and identification vision sensors, linear and pressure transducers, process sensors, discrete or analog I/O, HMI devices, pneumatic and electro-mechanical actuators, condition monitoring, etc.
- dynamically change the device configuration, auto-configure devices upon startup, and plug-and-play replacement of devices
- enable IIOT, predictive maintenance, machine learning, and artificial intelligence

There is no other device-level communications protocol that provides as many features and benefits and is cost-effective and robust enough for industrial automation applications as IO-Link.

How Lower-Priced Cables Can Cost More and Cause Downtime

Cable selection is an important step when it comes to creating a system to yield the most uptime. Sensors tell a machine when to start and stop or begin the next process. The time to replace and rewire the cable are costly, but small in comparison to the costs associated with the unplanned downtime a failed cable can cause. That is why it is so important to make sure you are selecting the right cable for the job.

There are three cable jacket materials that are the most commonly used: polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyurethane (PUR), and thermoplastic elastomer (TPE). Each material has its own strengths and weaknesses, allowing them to work better in certain applications than others. When selecting cables, you must consider all factors and conditions such as the temperature rating, whether the cable will have contact with any chemicals, how much will the cable be moving, will it encounter weld spatter, vibrations, etc. Once you have this information you can start to look for what cable will work best for you.

Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC)
PVC is the most general cable jacket. It usually has the lowest price, it’s durable and offers a decent temperature range. This is the cable jacket you will see in most standard automation applications, but it isn’t built for harsher environment conditions. PVC does not perform well with weld spatter and can’t handle high heat; it also does not have the best chemical resistance compared to other cable material options.

Polyurethane (PUR)
The PUR jacket is a step up from PVC in most areas. It provides a higher abrasion resistance and better chemical resistance but has a lower temperature range. PUR jackets are mostly used in areas with lots of oils and chemicals or in a cable carrier due to its higher abrasion rating.

Thermoplastic Elastomer (TPE)
TPE jacketed cables deliver a higher temperature rating, are more flexible, offer great chemical resistance, and can resist weld spatter. These cables work in weld cells, high-heat applications, cable carriers, and much more. Because of the higher performance, TPE jacketed cables tend to have a higher price point than PVC and PUR but will last longer and can be used effectively in a variety of environments.

There are many other cable jacket options available that are more application specific than the three mentioned above. Cables with silicone or FEP jackets will have higher temperature ranges than even TPE and can more effectively resist weld spatter. Steel-jacketed cables provide great protection from abrasion and constant vehicle traffic or any falling objects that could cut through a standard jacket. There are also TPE-V cables that are made for the Food and Beverage industry that have all the necessary certifications and can undergo many washdown cycles.

A key to reducing downtime and MRO costs is selecting the right cable for the application. Choosing a lower-priced cable can costs your more in the long run. Using a PVC cable in a weld cell will cost you much more in replacements costs and downtime than would be spent on using a slightly more expensive silicone cable designed to last 4 times longer in that environment. Don’t be blinded by initial costs; instead, focus on the needs of your application and you will see the benefits.

Why Sensor & Cable Standardization is a Must for End-Users

Product standardization makes sense for companies that have many locations and utilize multiple suppliers of production equipment. Without setting standards for the components used on new capital equipment, companies incur higher purchasing, manufacturing, maintenance, and training costs.

Sensors and cables, in particular, need to be considered due to the following:

The large number of manufacturers of both sensors and cables
Product variations from each manufacturer

For example, inductive proximity sensors all perform the same basic function, but some are more appropriate to certain applications based on their specific features. Cables provide a similar scenario. Let’s look at some of the product features you need to consider.

Inductive Proximity Sensors

Cables

· Style – tubular or block style

· Size and length

· Electrical characteristics

· Shielded or unshielded

· Sensing Range

· Housing material

· Sensing Surface

· Connector size

· Length

· Number of pins & conductors

· Wire gage

· Jacket material

· Single or double ended

Without standards each equipment supplier may use their own preferred supplier, many times without considering the impact to the end customer. This can result in redundancy of sensor and cable spare parts inventory and potentially using items that are not best suited for the manufacturing environment. Over time this impacts operating efficiency and results in high inventory carrying costs.

Once the selection and purchasing of sensors and cables is standardized, the cost of inventory will coincide. Overhead costs, such as purchasing, stocking, picking and invoicing, will go down as well. There is less overhead in procuring standard parts and materials that are more readily available, and inventory will be reduced. And, more standardization with the right material selection means lower manufacturing down-time.

In addition, companies can then look at their current inventory of cable and sensor spare parts and reduce that footprint by eliminating redundancy while upgrading the performance of their equipment. Done the right way, standardization simplifies supply chain management, can extend the mean time to failure, and reduce the mean time to repair.

Top 5 Insights from 2019

With a new year comes new innovation and insights. Before we jump into new topics for 2020, let’s not forget some of the hottest topics from last year. Below are the five most popular blogs from our site in 2019.

1. How to Select the Best Lighting Techniques for Your Machine Vision Application

How to select the best vision_LI.jpg The key to deploying a robust machine vision application in a factory automation setting is ensuring that you create the necessary environment for a stable image. The three areas you must focus on to ensure image stability are: lighting, lensing and material handling. For this blog, I will focus on the seven main lighting techniques that are used in machine vision applications.

2. M12 Connector Coding

blog 7.10_LI.jpg New automation products hit the market every day and each device requires the correct cable to operate. Even in standard cables sizes, there are a variety of connector types that correspond with different applications.

3. When to use optical filtering in a machine vision application

blog 7.3_LI.jpg Industrial image processing is essentially a requirement in modern manufacturing. Vision solutions can deliver visual quality control, identification and positioning. While vision systems have gotten easier to install and use, there isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. Knowing how and when you should use optical filtering in a machine vision application is a vital part of making sure your system delivers everything you need.

4. The Difference Between Intrinsically Safe and Explosion Proof

5.14_LI The difference between a product being ‘explosion proof’ and ‘intrinsically safe’ can be confusing but it is vital to select the proper one for your application. Both approvals are meant to prevent a potential electrical equipment malfunction from initiating an explosion or ignition through gases that may be present in the surrounding area. This is accomplished in both cases by keeping the potential energy level below what is necessary to start ignition process in an open atmosphere.

5. Smart choices deliver leaner processes in Packaging, Food and Beverage industry

Smart choices deliver leaner processes in PFB_LI.jpg In all industries, there is a need for more flexible and individualized production as well as increased transparency and documentable processes. Overall equipment efficiency, zero downtime and the demand for shorter production runs have created the need for smart machines and ultimately the smart factory. Now more than ever, this is important in the Packaging, Food and Beverage (PFB) industry to ensure that the products and processes are clean, safe and efficient.

We appreciate your dedication to Automation Insights in 2019 and look forward to growth and innovation in 2020!

What to Ask Before You Build an RFID System to Meet Your Traceability Needs

An industrial RFID system is a powerful solution for reliably and comprehensively documenting individual working steps in manufacturing environments. But an industrial RFID system that meets your application needs isn’t available off-the-shelf. To build the system you need, it is important to consider what problems you hope RFID will solve and what return on investments you hope to see.

RFID can deliver many benefits, including process visibility and providing data needed to better manage product quality. It can be used to improve safety, satisfaction and profit margins. It can even be used to help comply with regulatory standards or to manage product recalls. And RFID can be used in a wide range of applications from broad areas like supply management to inventory tracking to more specific applications. These improvements can improve time, cost or performance—though not typically all three.

It is essential to understand and document the goal and how improvements will be measured to in order to plan a RFID system (readers, antennas, tags, cables) to best meet those goals.

Three Ways to Configure a Splitter and Harness the Power of Pin 2

Based on the increasing popularity of machine mounted I/O utilizing readily available IP67 components, it’s more important than ever to utilize every I/O point. I/O density has increased over the years and the types of I/O have become more diversified, yet in many systems pin 2 is left unused by the end user. Sensors tend to come in twos, for example, a pneumatic cylinder may require a sensor for the extended position and one for the retracted position. Running each individual sensor back to the interface block utilizes pins 1,3 and 4 (for power, ground and signal) but wastes pin 2 on each port.

Fig. 1 Bad I/O configuration: neglecting pin 2 is inefficient and costly

Rather than using a separate port on the I/O block for each sensor, a splitter can collect the outputs of two sensors and deliver the input to a single port. With a splitter, one sensor output goes to pin 4, the other goes to pin 2.

Fig. 2a Typical splitter wiring where I is the trunk of the splitter and heads II and III are the extensions going to the sensors.

By putting two signals into one and utilizing both pins 2 and 4, the overall I/O point cost decreases.

There are multiple ways to configure a splitter to utilize pin 2. We will review three methods — good, better and best:

1. T-splitter on the I/O block:

Fig. 3 Good basic method for utilizing the additional I/O point, pin-2

A T-splitter is a good way to utilize pin 2. However, the “T” covers the I/O module port eliminating the benefit of the high-value diagnostic LEDs on the block. Also, individual cables must run all the way from the block to the sensors at the installation point, creating clutter and cable bulk. In addition, when Ts are used on a vertically mounted block, the extra cable bulk can weigh down the T-splitter and threaten its integrity.

2. V-type splitter on the I/O block:

Fig. 4 Better way of utilizing pin 2 while also allowing visibility of diagnostic LEDs

The use of a V-type configuration allows better visibility of the diagnostic LEDs and eliminates the need to purchase a separate part. However, individual cables must still be run from the block to the sensors, creating clutter and cable bulk.

3. Y–type configuration:

In the Y-type splitter configuration, all aspects of usability are improved. One cable runs from the I/O block to the installation point. The split of pins 2 and 4 is done as close to the sensors as possible. This significantly cleans up cable clutter, provides a completely unrestricted view of the diagnostic LEDs and allows for easy installation of multiple connectors to the I/O block.

Maintain Machine Up-Time with Application-Specific Cables

Using high-durability cables in application environments with high temperatures, weld spatter, or washdown areas improves manufacturing machine up-time.

It is important to choose a cable that matches your specific application requirements.

Washdown Applications

When a food and beverage customer needs to wash down their equipment after a production shift, a standard cable is likely to become a point of failure. A washdown-specific cable with an IP68/IP69 rating is designed to withstand high-pressure cleaning. It’s special components, such as an internal O-ring and stainless-steel connection nut, keep water and cleaners from leaking.

Welding Applications

Welding environments require application-specific cables to deal with elevated temperatures, tight bend radiuses and weld spatter. Cables with a full silicone jacket prevent the build-up of debris, which can cause shorts and failures over time.

High Temperature cables

Applications with high temperatures require sensors that can operate reliably in their environment. The same goes for the cables. High temperature cables include added features such as a high temperature jacket and insulation materials specifically designed to perform in these applications.

Cables

Selecting the correct cable for a specific application area is not difficult when you know the requirements the application environment demands and incorporate those demands into your choice. It’s no different than selecting the best sensor for the job. The phrase to remember is “application specificity.”

For more information on standard and high-durability cables, please visit www.balluff.com.

If our products could talk, what would they say?

In industrial automation we put our products through a lot. Extreme temperatures, harsh environments, and the demands of high performance can put a strain on the components of any machine. This led me to wonder, if our products could talk, what would they say?

CordsetTalk Cordset: Cables have certain limpness which makes installing the cordset in automation easier to fit in tight spaces. Most cable installers prefer to have the least amount of slack in cable to prevent the cable being snagged or pulled during operations. Cables need to have a bend radius to prevent kinking of the conductors and a continuous flow of power. The bend radius is “the smallest radius of curvature into which a material can be bent without damage” (McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Architecture and Construction). Typically in a fixed (stationary) application, an unshielded sensor cable has a minimum bending radius of 8 times the outer diameter of the cable.

Power Supply: Everyone wants a friend. When a load is too much for one power supply, adding another power supply helps increase the voltage or current output. “The simplest method to create higher current is to connect the power supplies in parallel and leave only one supply in constant voltage mode. Some power supplies are equipped with analog control signals that allow auto-parallel or auto-tracking, a more elegant way to control multiple power supplies. Auto-parallel supplies can be controlled with a single master supply; a second advantage is that all of the master power supplies features can be used.” (Keysight Technologies) By stringing together power supplies, it allows more voltage or current but also keeps operations up and running.

Which cable jacket is best for your application?

There are many different types of cable jackets and each jacket works well in a specific application. The three main sensor cable jackets are PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride), PUR (polyurethane) and TPE (thermoplastic elastomer). Each jacket type has different benefits like washdown, abrasion resistant or high flexing applications. Finding the correct jacket type for your application can extend the life of the cable.

PVC is a general purpose cable and is widely available. It is a common cable, and typically has the best price point. PVC has a high moisture resistance, which makes it a good choice for wash-down applications.

PUR is found mostly in Asia and Europe. This cable jacket type has good resistance against abrasion, oil and ozone. PUR is known for being Halogen free, not containing: chlorine, iodine, fluorine, bromine or astatine. This jacket type does have limited temperature range compared to the other jacket types, -40…80⁰C.

TPE is flexible, recyclable and has excellent cold temperature characteristics, -50…125⁰C. This cable is resistant against aging in the sunlight, UV and ozone. TPE has a high-flex rating, typically 10 million.

The table below details the resistance to different conditions. Note that these relative ratings are based on average performance. Special selective compounding of the jacket can improve performance.

Choosing the right jacket type can help reduce failures in the field, reducing downtime and costs. Please visit www.balluff.us to see Balluff’s offering of sensor cables in PVC, PUR and TPE.

Flexible Cables Don’t Flex For Long

Recently I read an article in Machine Design called “When Flexible Cables Doesn’t Flex for Long” by Leland Teschler which talks about different aspects of flexible cable terms, causes of breakage and testing.

The article touches on different lingo between flexible, high-flex and high-flex-life. Flexible and high-flex mean the same thing. Google’s definition of flexible is the capability of bending easily without breaking. High-flex-life is described by Northwire as a cable designed to survive 10 million to 20 million flexing cycles. Those are just the common terms used to describe flexing of a cable, but there are manufacturers that use their own flexing name to describe their cables.

Teschler also describes the feel of a cable, whether the cable bends easily or not, based on different degrees of limpness or stiffness. “All in all, cable makers say the stiffness or limpness of the cable has nothing to do with its flex life.” The article goes on to describe a limp cable as a jacket that is made from soft materials, or finely stranded conductors, that allow the cable to move easily but is not meant to be used in applications with repeated flexing.

The last part of the article mentions how cables are tested for flexing. There is not a standard in the industry so different manufacturers can use differernt tests. The 3 most common tests are twist and flex test, tick-tock cable test, and UL test setup. Teschler pointed out the main focus for UL and CSA is to test for fire safety and UL test the cables for runs of 15,000 cycles.

Overall, I really enjoyed the article and highly suggest giving it a read to understand more about raw cable and testing requirements.

To see Balluff’s offering of UL listed cables click here.

Tag: Cables

Why Choose an IO-Link Ecosystem for Your Next Automation Project?

Like this:

How Lower-Priced Cables Can Cost More and Cause Downtime

Like this:

Why Sensor & Cable Standardization is a Must for End-Users

Like this:

Top 5 Insights from 2019

1. How to Select the Best Lighting Techniques for Your Machine Vision Application

2. M12 Connector Coding

3. When to use optical filtering in a machine vision application

4. The Difference Between Intrinsically Safe and Explosion Proof

5. Smart choices deliver leaner processes in Packaging, Food and Beverage industry

Like this:

What to Ask Before You Build an RFID System to Meet Your Traceability Needs

Like this: