PECS The Control System

for Extrusion Blow Molding

The PECS control system for extrusion blow-moulding
machines is based on advanced but proven technology
and is easy to use. It enables flexible machine design
and quick start-up. The system makes possible to
design blow-moulding machines with unprecedented
precision, minimal material use and the fastest production cycle.
Due to the Mitsubishi advances in manufacturing technology and due to high production
volumes, the Mitsubishi PLCs can meet or beat the price of many competitor systems.
The PECS control system allows highly flexible configuration of hardware and software
components. The PLC system is completely modular system, which could be optimized by
the machine designer to reach the optimal price/performance level.
The machine parameters and data are organized as recipes. Their use ensures fast and
efficient set-up of the new machine without excessive time consumption to configure and to
parameterize the control system from the scratch. On the other side, the product recipes
are used to help the end user to change the production in the shortest possible time.
The PECS control system can be used as a package for building new blow-moulding
machines or as well as for retrofit machines.

Advantages of the PECS control packages

The human-machine interface (HMI) screens are already prepared and SPAC20 coprocessor
modules are pre-programmed to execute the most demanding control algorithms. Everything
is linked together by the PLC software to make the machine running in the shortest possible
time. The user needs only to match the system to the specific configuration of the machine
and to make final adjustments. Of course, one may make greater redesigns if necessary.

The main advantages of the system are:

! Modular PLC system, which can fit to different requirements and price/performance levels
! Standard PLC I/O modules support interfacing to all kind of control signals and to most of
communication protocols.
! High-speed intelligent co-processor modules take the control of fast blow-moulding tasks.
Dedicated control algorithms are pre-programmed and easy to use.
! Analog and digital I/Os are included in the co-processor modules for fast and effective
control of wall thickness and hydraulic motions.
! Powerful HMI terminal with color touch screen and function keyboard helps the operator
to operate the machine in a user-friendly, efficient and safe way.
! Three types of recipes are available: machine data, product data and complete data.
! Several security access levels are possible.
! Multi-language HMI supports with up to 4 languages and different types of fonts (Asian
fonts as well) are available.

Functions of the PECS Blow Moulding Control System

Mitsubishi Electric offers complete blow-moulding solutions for:

! Temperature control
Auto-tuning temperature control with pretune.

! Parison control
Fast wall thickness control with simple profile programming.

! Hydraulic control
Accurate open-loop or closed- loop motion control.

! Sequence control
Standard ladder logic programming.

Hydraulic Control
The hydraulic motion control with smooth and precise control is one of the most important
features of the blow-moulding machines. While closed-loop control provides the ultimate
positioning accuracy, the open-loop control may also be used to realize less demanding and
cost sensitive positioning solutions.

! Motion control in open-loop or closed-loop for carriage, mould and blow-pin movements
! Up to 16 channels possible to drive servo/proportional valves (using four SPAC20 PA4
modules)
! Hydraulic motion control with high accuracy and repeatability
! Simple calibration of the complete hydraulic system (including valve, cylinder and linear
position sensor)

Parison Control
Wall thickness parison controller is available for continuous as well as for accumulator based
machines. The touch screen technology enables fast and efficient design of the parison wall
thickness profile.

! Wall thickness control using profiles with up to 128 points and smooth interpolation
between points
! Control loop update in 80s or 160s

! For continuous extrusion and for accumulator-based machines

! Up to 16 channels available for multi-head machines (by using up to four SPAC20 PA4
modules. Axial wall thickness control possible.
! Cycle time correction for time based systems and push-out time correction for
accumulator based machines
! Separate weight and profile adjustments

Temperature Control
Multi-loop temperature control is capable of accurate temperature control of different types of
extruders and co-extruders. Intelligent pre-tune and auto-tune functions are built-in to enable
simple automatic tuning of the control loops and to adapt control parameters to varying load
conditions. User-friendly graphical screens and improved diagnostics make the control
system easy to use and simple to maintain the heating/cooling elements.

! Temperature control of up to 64 heating/cooling temperature zones

! Suitable for different types of zone cooling: air, water or oil cooling
! Automatic pre-tune cycle assures quality tuning and fast start-up of the machine.
! Auto-tune control algorithm monitors control loops on-line and continuously retunes the
control if necessary.
! Automatic machine scheduling using time schedule for heating

Sequence Control
The MELSEC series is an extremely compact and very powerful generation of logic
controllers from the Mitsubishi Electric. Besides the other convenient programming tools, the
sequential programming can be done also with the powerful GX Developer featuring full online programming capability.

! More than 60 different types of modules are available to interface with different kinds of
control devices.
! Up to 1024 I/O points are possible by using up to 7 extension racks.
! High-speed ladder processing with instruction cycle as low as 0.075s per logic
instruction (Q2ASHCPU)
! More than 700 instructions available
! Standard PC-based programming with powerful ladder logic programming tools
! Full on-line programming capability, which is especially useful during upgrading or
maintenance of machines

System Configuration
Three different powerful versions cover the overall range of applications of blow-molding
technology: Basic, Standard and Professional. Maximum flexibility permits a very attractive
price level.
performance

PROFESSIONAL
STANDARD
BASIC
systems
Specifications

BASIC

STANDARD

PROFESSIONAL

Temperature zones

16

16

64

16

BASIC

STANDARD

PROFESSIONAL

A2SHCPU-S1

Q2ASHCPU

Q2ASHCPU-S1

I/O points

512

512

1024

Instruction time s

0.25

0.075

0.075

Floating point math

Multiple programs

Co-processor
module SPAC20

BASIC

STANDARD

PROFESSIONAL

MAC E700

REDIS 52 B

REDIS 52 B

Display type

320x240 color

640x480 color

640x480 color

Display size

5.9

10.4

10.4

Function keys

16

26

26

Touch screen

Multi-language

1000

10000

10000

Parison and
Hydraulic channels
Continuous
extrusion machine
Accumulator based
machine
Hydraulic motion
control
Specifications
PLC CPU type

Specifications
HMI type

Recipe size (values

in recipe)

Example of the System Configuration Blow Molding Standard

Main Base Unit

A1S61PN

Power
Supply

Q2ASHCP

SPAC20PA4

SPAC20ATHC16

CPU
Module

Coprocessor
Module: Parisonand Hydraulic
Controller

Coprocessor
Module:
Temperature and
Analog I/O

A1S68TD A1S68TD A1SJ71 Free

QC24-R2

Thermo- Thermo- (RS232

couple
couple
Module)
Module Module

(Profibus
Module)

Extension Base Unit

A1SX80 A1SX80 A1SX80 A1SY80 A1SY80 A1SY80 A1SY80 A1SY80

Digital
Inputs
(16)

Digital
Inputs
(16)

Digital
Inputs
(16)

Digital
Outputs
(16)

Digital
Outputs
(16)

Digital
Outputs
(16)

Digital
Outputs
(16)

Digital
Outputs
(16)

REDIS 52 B

PECS the control systems for extrusion blow moulding are the actual result of the
partnership between Mitsubishi Electric, Inea and Resotec.
Mitsubishi Electric is a recognized company as a Global Player among the worldwide
leading companies of control technology, drives technology and robotics.
Inea's business is control and management of industrial processes. Inea is a specialized firm,
providing engineering solutions, services and equipment for control and management of
industrial systems, known for its excellence in technology, quality and customer services.
During the last ten years, Inea is present also in the field of automation control of the blowmolding machinery as a technology partner of Mitsubishi Electric and gives all necessary
technical support worldwide.
Resotec is recognized as a carrier of know-how in the field of automation for plastics
processing machinery and a leader in visualization technology.

MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC EUROPE B.V.

Gothaer Strae 8
D-40880 Ratingen
Phone +49 2102 486-0
Fax
+49 2102 486-112
Hotline +49 2102 1805000-765/-766
Faxback +49 2102 486-485/-790
www.mitsubishi-automation.de, www.mitsubishi-automation.com
megmail@meg.mee.com

INEA d.o.o.
Stegne 11
SI-1117 Ljubljana
Phone +386 1 51381-00
Fax
+386 1 51381-70
www.inea.si
pecs@inea.si
Local distributor:
RESOTEC
Eisenstrae 7
D-34225 Baunatal
Phone +49 561 94987-0
Fax
+49 561 498089
www.resotec.com
info@resotec.com

PECS Blow-Moulding Leaflet 030220

Print date: 20.02.2003