Application

rosive gas, fluids and water that can affect the components of the system. The B&R solution offers easy operator installation and complies with the Nema 4X regulations (IP67).

The results
Systemex, Rotalec and B&R designed, installed and tested the Elcotech automation system in only a few weeks. The time to market was critical for Elcotech and the B&R solution met this criterion and exceeded Elcotechs expectations. Given how important it is for leaders in electrodewatering to protect their intellectual property, Elcotech can now sell their machines worldwide without any concerns.

Seamless transition
Cobble/Tufting Machine Co, Inc., USA, a wholly owned subsidiary of Spencer Wright Industries, Inc., is at the forefront of tufting machinery technology worldwide. Cobble manufactures specialized multi-needle sewing machines to create textiles, in particular carpet.
Basic tufting machines use hundreds of needles to stitch rows of pile yarn tufts through a backing fabric called the primary backing. The needles push yarn through the primary backing, where a looper or hook holds the yarn in place to form a tuft as the needle is removed. Loopers are used to form loop pile carpet while hooks and knives are used to form cut-pile carpet. The yarn construction, pile type and type of secondary backing applied determine carpets appearance, resiliency and properties. understanding how carpet is constructed helps identify which type of carpet works best in a specific location. Due to the relatively high output rates of tufting machines, they produce approximately 95 percent of all carpet manufactured. they knew they needed a partner who could supply them with the products necessary to meet their very critical applications. Their previous platform had become outdated and superseded by newer technologies. They wanted a relationship with a solutions provider that offered both hardware and software capabilities for the long term. In the end it was B&Rs product range depth and B&R usA partner Piedmont Automations interaction which gave Cobble the confidence to choose B&Rs solution. The B&R product range Cobble is currently using covers all of their machine types which require servo and patterning I/O points. cobble refers to these machines as pattern attachment machines that include Colortec, LCL (Level Cut Loop), FRS (Full Repeat Scroll) and any other machine type requiring servo motor and/or patterning control. When Cobble began development with B&R and Piedmont none of their competitors were able to offer these machine types. Colortec

Systemex:

Established: 2002 Employees: 15 Locations: Ville St-Laurent (CN) Products & Services: Engineering consultant/integrator for automation and robotics www.systemex.ca
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The Cobble Difference

What makes Cobble machines different from general tufting machines is that they are actually specialized for specific end use applications. When Cobble decided to develop their new generation of specialized machines

to act as either a hook or looper. FRS is a sophisticated pattern attachment which allows precise carpet designs to be made by way of varying loop pile heights for texturing or color patterning by threading of two colors of yarn to produce a two color pattern. The result of this technology: Cobble machines were making their own completely unique style of carpet.

The solution - POWERLINK

During development of Cobbles new generation tufting machines there were several challenging areas which needed significant attention. Chris OReilly, President of Piedmont Automation, explained that coordinating and synchronizing a large distributed digital I/O network of over 500 modules and up to 30 axes of motion placed special demands on the control system and the engineering team. One EPL channel and five X2X are inherently synchronized which allows greater flexibility in controlling yarn dynamics. Cobble also requested a deep level of integration across their range of pattern attachment and servo systems. B&R provided solutions in each area from visualization, high performance I/O networks, and innovative valve manifold control to an advanced motion platform. The 2005 cP382 was used as the primary controller, X20 and XV modules for I/O, ACOPOS drives and B&R motors for motion and an APC620 for visualization. According to Piedmont Automation, the most distinctive features of this maNeedle layout on Cobble Mini LCL machines.

is the ultimate in color pattern tufting technology, capable of producing up to eight color carpets or rugs in almost any pattern imaginable. complex patterns and designs, previously only achieved by weaving, are now possible on a tufting machine. LCL is a sophisticated method of combining cut and loop pile constructions in the same fabric with a full patterning capability. This produces a near level pile effect through the use of a special hook that can be selectively controlled

chine application were that visualization and interface to third party design systems was accomplished through an XP Embedded application using Microsofts .NET Framework. There is a wide variety of machine combinations and options that customers can request of Cobble. The project team decided early in the review process to build one configurable project that is flexible enough to handle all potential versions of machines.

Cobble:

The decentralized X2X backplane maintains a perfect connection between the numerous XV I/Os on the machine.

Established: 1977 Employees: 75 Locations: Dalton, Blackburn. Agents worldwide Products & Services: Production, developtment and service of tufting machines and auxiliaries www.cobbleusa.com
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