Only last summer, futronic launched the VCS (Vacuum Control System) in the market, a reject system that enables manufacturing problems occurring during the vacuum process to be detected. The automation specialists from Lake Constance are now introducing a more advanced version: the new VPC (Vacuum Process Control System) makes processes visible in the vacuum cycles and records pressure curves and errors precisely. The wear condition of filters, valves and blow moulds, for example, can be represented in this way, so that the VPC detects manufacturing problems at an early stage before they have a chance to occur. The system can optionally be integrated into the FMT24S IS machine control system or retrofitted to existing equipment and will also be available in a standalone version.
Quality has to be controlled, and the manufacturing processes in container glass production are no exception. The principle is invariably the same: sensors identify faulty containers automatically and reliably, and those containers are then accurately removed by the reject unit. futronic’s VCS works this way too: sensors measure the vacuum that is applied to each job and compare the value with a setpoint which is individually defined for each section. If a discrepancy is determined, the inferior article is ejected from the conveyor belt. The VCS thus makes a significant contribution to improving the quality of both the products themselves and the manufacturing process.
Quality-sensitive vacuum processes
But wouldn’t it be even better to detect errors before they have a chance to occur? “Of course”, says Florian Pawlowski, Product Manager at futronic, “that has to be the goal”. That’s why 37 year-old Pawlowski and his colleagues have held many discussions with machine operators, production managers and technicians ever since the VCS first appeared in the market. Their verdict: the majority of manufacturing processes and sequences in an IS machine are measured in even the most inaccessible corners, and monitored and controlled from the furnace to the lehr. However, the vacuum process in the blow mould has so far taken place largely in the dark.
