NA 2002: Rockwell products for material handling

Detroit, Mich. - Rockwell Automation introduced several products oriented toward material handling applications at NA 2002, the Material Handling and Logistics Show and Conference.

By Control Engineering Staff April 10, 2002

Detroit, Mich. – Rockwell Automation introduced several products oriented toward material handling applications at NA 2002 , the Material Handling and Logistics Show and Conference.

Allen-Bradley 22ZC Zone Control System’s modular architecture is designed to provide efficient and economical control of zero pressure accumulation conveyor systems. The system consists of a series of modules one for each conveyor zone connected via flat cable and requiring no separate controller logic. Each module accepts a sensor input and provides an output to an actuator based on the desired zone control logic for the application. The on-board zone control logic is configured through DIP switches, rotary switches, and a pushbutton on the master module. Once the system is configured at the master module (located at the discharge end of the conveyor), a press of the pushbutton will broadcast the configuration data to all upstream zone modules. Also known as ZoneSet, this patented feature eliminates the need for any sophisticated programming tools. Designed in a low-profile housing, Allen-Bradley 22ZC zone control modules fit into any industry standard steel conveyor frame.

The Allen-Bradley 1799 Embedded I/O family has expanded to include two new Zone Control I/O (ZCIO) cards. The ZCIO cards allow for seamless conveyor multi-zone control and bring DeviceNet connectivity with DeviceLogix configurability to modular conveyor applications. 1799-ZCIOV (sinking output) and 1799-ZCIOB (sourcing output) modules feature Zone Interlocking Parameters (ZIP), a parameter-based technology that allows one card to consume data directly from up to four other ZCIO cards. This feature enables high-speed applications because it eliminates the need to route information between the cards through a scanner or use hardwiring.

Allen-Bradley InView line of message displays is enhanced with DeviceNet and Ethernet network communication modules. The Ethernet modules are compatible with Ethernet TCP/IP and EtherNet/IP protocol. EtherNet/IP communication module and the DeviceNet module allow messages to be triggered via Allen-Bradley DF1 message instructions. The Ethernet TCP/IP module enables messages to be sent with InView ActiveX control from RSView 32, or any other ActiveX container.

Control Engineering Daily News Desk
Gary A. Mintchell, senior editor
gmintchell@cahners.com