MECHATRONICS LABORATORY

Experiment No: 9
LINEAR CONVEYOR CONTROL SYSTEM

Aim: Study and Demo of linear conveyor control system.

Objectives:
1) Prepare control logic to run linear conveyor control system.
2) To verify the operation of the linear conveyor control system.

Apparatus:
Linear conveyor control trainer (bottle filling plant)

Fig. 1: Setup Diagram

Introduction:
In industrial application the linear conveyor controller plays a vital roll, in industrial
applications related to material handling, it is necessary to control the operation of the
different conveyors in the industries in coordination with the machines and setups they are
working with.

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MECHATRONICS LABORATORY

Basic components involved in linear conveyor control trainer are as follows:

1) Proximity switch for initial bottle position (PS1).
2).Proximity switch for bottle filling position (PS2).
3) Proximity switch for counting filled bottle (PS3).
4) Solenoid valve for controlling the liquid flow in the bottle while filling (SV)
5) Conveyor Motor (M)
6) Level switch for main container liquid level checking.(LS)
For sensing the level of liquid level switch is used. It operates according to following logic.
Output = 1 for liquid level above the switch.
= 0 for liquid level below the switch.

Procedure
1. Make necessary supply connections to the PLC Panel as per wiring diagram. i.e. Give
230 V AC single phase supply to PLC Panel.
2. Turn ON the following switches.
MAINS ON Switch to give supply to PLC Panel.
SW1 - Switch to make 24 VOC Power Supply ON.
SW2 - Switch to make Bottle Filling Plant Panel ON.
3. Ensure the Reservoir tank is full of water at desired level i.e. Level Switch LS input to
PLC is ON.
4. Keep the bottle (Container) at initial position PS1. This completes necessary condition for
Ladder Program to execute further sequential operation.
5. As LS, PS1 get sensed, conveyor motor (M) starts till bottle reaches Liquid Filling Station.
As soon as bottle on Conveyor belt reaches at Liquid Filling Station, PS2 senses the
bottle, the conveyor motor (M) is stopped. At the same time liquid Filling starts, Solenoid
Valve (SV) is made open for preset time interval (app.15 to 20 sec.) [i.e. time required to
fill the bottle ].
6. The bottle gets filled with liquid during the preset time interval. After elapsing of preset
time interval for filling the liquid, the liquid filling solenoid valve get shut off again and as it
gets shut off conveyor motor (M) restarts its rotation.

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MECHATRONICS LABORATORY

7. As the bottle on conveyor belt reaches at bottle count position i.e. stack, the proximity
sensor PS3 get sensed and conveyor motor (M) stops rotating, and counter is
incremented by 1 count, i.e. at PS3,every bottle is counted.
8. Also, the above circuit will not start if the above sequence of operation is not followed
meaning that first PS1 should sense the bottle, then only the filling will start at PS2.
9. If directly the bottle is kept at PS2, it will sense it but filling will not start.
10. Also the motor stops the conveyor when the bottle reaches PS3, thus avoiding wastage
of power. The conveyor belt stops when the bottle reaches PS3 and will not start until
PS1 senses the bottle.
11. We can repeat the procedure for filling another bottle.

Safety Precautions :

Before starting operation of bottle filling plant, ensure that the liquid level in liquid storage
tank.

Don't carry filled bottle initially on conveyor belt.

During the experiment always maintain the level of liquid in the tank.

When experiment is over, switch off all the rocker switches on the control panel & remove
the mains power cord from the socket

If the system is not in use for longer period, replace the liquid from the tank with fresh
liquid prior performing an experiment.

Conclusion:

*****

SIT, LONAVALA