Sydney, Australia, 26 November, 2003 - ABB, the leading power and automation technology group, announced today it has been selected by leading Australian carpet manufacturer Godfrey Hirst to provide a state-of-the-art automated system to run its tufting operation.
Eighteen months ago Godfrey Hirst started looking for an improvement on the mechanical tension controls running the 27 tufting machines at its South Geelong plant in Victoria. The speed of its existing system could be varied only through the gearbox and Godfrey Hirst wanted an automated system that was easily variable, was measurable and that cut maintenance. The solution, variable speed drives.
After trying several other brands, none of which gave them the simple operation or outcomes they were seeking, Godfrey Hirst trialed the ABB product - with positive results.
Even though the initial trial was on a different application to that for which the drives were ultimately intended, Godfrey Hirst were sufficiently encouraged by the drives’ performance to commit to the ABB product.
"The ABB ACS800 and ACS611 could give us the tension control required by our applications and we were really impressed with the setup assistance and support from ABB," said Godfrey Hirst electrical engineer Andrew Baker, who oversaw the project.
He said it was the combination of a superior product and outstanding service and support from ABB Sales Support Engineer Vlad Zilberg and his team that was critical to Godfrey Hirst’s decision.
Within weeks, Godfrey Hirst went ahead with full installation on all its tufting machines, where the ACS800 units are used to drive the pull rollers taking carpet out of the machines. The speed of each roller is based on encoder feedback of the tufting machine’s speed. Operators can also control the tension of the carpet between the machine and the pull roller to enable quality inspections and mending processes. The tension control derives from the ACS800's adaptive programming controlled through its Direct Torque Control (DTC) algorithm.
The ACS 800, which was released late last year, is up to 50 per cent smaller than its predecessor in the ACS 600 range, and is fitted with everything, including integral RFI filters and chokes, inside the drive. Its Direct Torque Control ensures smoother operation and rapid response to variations in motor load.
The major new features of the ACS800 are the Start-up Assistant, an interactive tool that guides the user quickly and easily the installation and commissioning procedure; and Adaptive Programming, which is a set of blocks that can be programmed to perform any operation from a predefined set of functions. All common mathematical and logical functions as well as switches, comparators, filters and timers are available.
Two ABB ACS611 regenerative drives were also installed on the plant’s finishing line.
Since the installation was completed in June, Andrew Baker says the plant operators can now dial in and record tension settings much more accurately, which improves quality control and allows quantitative access to this process information.
"Removing the mechanical aspect of the tension control has eliminated the need for associated mechanical maintenance and simplified product change machine setting modifications, which contributes to less downtime, reduced need for skilled labour and therefore greater productivity," says Baker.
ABB (www.abb.com) is a leader in power and automation technologies that enable utility and industry customers to improve performance while lowering their environmental impact. The ABB Group of companies operates in around 100 countries and employs about 120,000 people.