DYNA JOURNAL ENGINEERING

Key words:

máquina de corte por plasma/oxigás, CNC, electrónica de control, reducción de cableado de maniobra, plasma and oxifuel cutting machine, CNC, control electronics, wiring reduction, control cabinets

Article type:

ARTICULO DE INVESTIGACION / RESEARCH ARTICLE

Section:

RESEARCH ARTICLES

Nowadays cutting machines usually used in industry are controlled by a Computer Numeric Control (CNC) system working with a lot of signals which communicates with sensors and actuators in the machine through a control cabinet. In many cases this unit is designed by the cutting machine manufacturer (who is usually different from that of the CNC) and, as he is not a specialist in electronic design, the control cabinet is electrically implemented with the logic functions carried out in a discrete way by means of relays. This solution generates a hard wiring work when mounting onto the machine and makes it very difficult to repair when a failure is detected.
This work presents a new electronic control system which replaces the old electrical one, with all its relays, usually used in this sort of machines. This new system has been tested in a plasma and oxifuel cutting machine. It has provided a noticeable reduction in the machine wiring and a simplification of the control cabinet design. These facts mean that the machine is now easier to assembly with an important reduction in purchasing and maintenance costs.