Unit- 1

Introduction to the control of machines

Machines :

Electrical machines is a general term for machines using electromagnetic forces such as electric
motors, electric generators and others. Where the electrical energy is converted in to mechanical
energy by the motion of the parts. Therefore A machine, as we know, is a device consisting of
several interconnecting parts which by their motion, transform/transmit power to do some work.
The motion of various parts of a machine can be obtained by using two types of devices,

An electrical motor

In electrical motor a linear mechanical movement is obtained by constant rotational motion

through rack and pinion arrangement connected to the motor shaft hence here circular motion is
converted to linear motion by using electrical motor

A solenoid valve and cylinder piston assembly operated by a compressor or a pump.

In solenoid valve and cylinder piston assembly, fluid or air pressure is applied to cylinder piston
through a solenoid valve. Solenoid valve consists of a mechanical valve operated through an
electrical coil. Below Fig shows how a cylinder piston is used to get linear to and fro motion of a
machine part. A spring returned solenoid valve is also shown in Fig below

In fig (a) solenoid coil here is de de-energised it means no power to the solenoid coil is given. the
valve port connection in this condition shown in fig (a).where valve A is connected to exhaust
through D and valve B will be connected to C and to the air receiver, compressor and motor.
Direction of flow of pressure in the ports is also shown. When coil is de energized piston moves
in left direction due to the air pressure applied by compressor on the right hand side of the piston
through valve B. When the solenoid coil is energized i.e power supply given to solenoid coil.
spool(pressure) will get shifted in the valve and now the ports of the valve will get connected as
shown by arrows in Fig. (b). Port A gets connected to pressurised air C while port B gets
connected to exhaust. The piston will thus move forward to the extreme end due to air pressure
on the left-hand side of the piston through valve A. In this arrangement also, of course a motor is
used as drive for the air compressor or the pump (if fluid is used) to build up air or fluid pressure.
Thus it is seen that a motor is the heart of all machinery whether its output is used directly or
indirectly.

1.2 DISADVANTAGES OF MANUAL CONTROL

When electric motors were first introduced, simple manual switches were used to start and stop
the motor. The only protective device used was the fuse. Progress was subsequently made along
the lines of improving the reliability, flexibility and make-break performance of the manual
switches. In those days one large motor was used to drive a line shaft through a belt pulley
arrangement. Individual machines were then connected to the line shaft through belt and pulley
arrangements. This system of driving a number of individual loads from a common line shaft and
manual switching of motors had many disadvantages as listed below:

• Starting, stopping and speed control of motor had to be performed by hand every time. The
operator had to move a manual switching device from one position to another.

• Switching of large motors required great physical effort.

• Operator had to remain continuously alert to watch indicators so as to adjust motor

performance according to drive requirements. • Sequence operations of number of motors could
not be accomplished in common line shaft arrangement.

• The varied needs of individual machines like frequent starts and stops, periodic reversal of
direction of rotation, high-starting torque requirement, constant speed, variable speed, etc., could
not be accomplished in common line shaft arrangement

Because of presence of above disadvantages in manual control we are using contactors and
relays to control the motor. The controlling done by using contactors and relays is nothing but
semi automatic control.

INTRODUCTION TO MAGNETIC CONTROL

The disadvantages of common line shaft arrangement necessitated the use of small motors on
individual machines instead of one large motor in line shaft arrangement. In magnetic control the
word magnet whose property is to attract the opposite poles The word control means to govern or
regulate hence magnetic control is to govern/regulation various operations like starting, stopping,
acceleration, reversal of direction of rotation, speed variation, protection. Devices operated by
electromagnets and requiring only a small power for actuation as compared to the power
switched ON through their main contacts,

The working principle of a contactor:

In fig 1.3 the coil seen above which is energized using switch is wounded on fixed core while
contacts are mounted on movable core called armature. we have auxiliary contacts and main
contacts. contacts can be in normally closed(NC) and normally opened(NO) position. power
supply will flow through contacts during normal closed(NC) position. When ever power supply
is given to the coil. the coil gets energises and produce magnetic field .this magnetic field
produced attracts the movable armature core against the spring towards fixed core. now the main
contacts and auxiliary contacts change the position normally open contacts will be normally
closes and normally close contacts will be normally open. The main contacts are used for
switching the power to the motor while auxiliary contacts are used in the control circuit. When
the coil is again de-energised armature comes back to its original position due to the tension of
the spring (S)

Manual and Magnetic control of a small squirrel cage induction motor using push buttons:
In a simple manual control the motor starts when the main switch is closed by the operator. The
motor is protected by fuses as shown in Fig. 1.2 (a). In Fig. 1.2 (b) an electromagnetic contactor
is used to switch on the motor.

In fig 1.2(b) we have two circuits shown first motor is connected to 3 phase supply (L1,L2,L3)
through main switch ,fuse, main contactors M1,M2,M3 and thermal load this circuit is called
power circuit. Auxiliary contacts of the contactors are connected to the control circuit connected
on the right side of the power circuit. Supply to the control circuit is isolated from the main
supply using a control transformer T1. Alternatively, a phase and neutral can also be used for
providing supply to the control circuit. The motor can be switched ON and OFF with the help of
push buttons. These push button switches require small force to actuate their contacts. These
contacts remain operated as long as pressure is applied and they return to their normal position
when pressure is released. In this circuit when the ON-push button is pressed, contact P2 closes.
Supply from secondary terminal of the control transformer reaches the contactor coil through
contacts, P1 (OFF-push button), P2, (ON-push button) and the over-load relay contact OL. The
other terminal of the coil is connected directly to the terminal b1 of the transformer. The coil is
thus energised and contactor closes its main contacts M1, M2, M3 and the auxiliary contact M4.
Closing of contact M4 bypasses ON-push button contact P2. Now if pressure on the ON-push
button is released contact P2 will open but supply to contactor coil M would reach through
closed contact M4 connected in parallel with contact P2. This contact M4 is known as holding or
sealing contact. A bimetallic thermal over-load is also shown connected in the power circuit. If
motor draws more current than its rated value, thermal relay contact OL opens and de-energises
coil M. De-energisation of coil opens the contacts M1, M2, M3 and M4. Supply to motor stops
and holding of control supply through M4 is also broken. Motor can also be stopped by pressing
the OFFpush button. When OFF-push button contact P1 opens, coil M is de-energised and thus
holding of supply through contact M4 is broken. Motor can be switched on again by pressing the
ONpush button. This circuit is also known as direct-on-line starting of motors. This is the
simplest control circuit in the field of industrial control.

ADVANTAGES OF MAGNETIC CONTROL

• Magnetic control permits installation of power contacts close to motor whereas the actuating
control device i.e., a push button switch could be located away from the motor in a position most
convenient to the operator.

• Magnetic control provides safety to the operator as remote operation described above
minimises the danger to the operator of coming into accidental contact with live parts or being
exposed to power arc and flashes at the main contacts.

• The most important advantage of magnetic control is the elimination of dependence on

operators’ skill for control of motor performance. Current and torque peaks could be limited thus
resulting in less wear and less maintenance.

• Magnetic control also makes interlocking between various operations of a multi motor drive
easy. The various operations can be performed in the desired sequence automatically.

• With the demand for more production in industry, it became necessary to automise the
machinery to meet the challenge. Today in our industrial plants most of the machines are
automatic. Once the machine is started most of the operations are carried out automatically

SEMI-AUTOMATIC AND AUTOMATIC CONTROL OF MODERN MACHINERY

Control of a machine can be semi-automatic or fully automatic. There are probably more
machines operated by semi-automatic control than by manual or fully automatic controls.
Consider, for example, an over-head tank which supplies drinking water to a factory. If we
provide a manual switch near the pump motor and depute an operator to switch it ON when
water level falls, then this is classified as manual control. Here, the operator has to go to the
pump site to fill the tank.

For the same pump if a magnetic starter is provided near the pump motor and for its starting, a
switch is provided near operator desk it may be classified as a semi-automatic control. A lamp
indication or a bell can also be provided near the desk to indicate if the tank is full. The foreman
can switch ON the pump from his desk without going to the pump site. Over-flow can also be
avoided by switching OFF the pump when the lamp glows or the bell rings.
 If a float switch is provided in the tank to switch ON the pump motor when water level falls
below a certain lower limit, and switch it OFF when water level rises beyond a certain upper
limit, then the control becomes fully automatic. The cost of installation of an automatic control
system will be higher than the other two types of controls. However, an automatic control
arrangement relieves the operator from the task of keeping an eye on the water level and operate
the pump. Also there is no danger of over-flow from the tank. Thus it is seen that the basic
difference in manual, semi-automatic and fully automatic control lies in the flexibility it provides
to the system being controlled.

Modern machines have large number of operations requiring extensive control circuits consisting
of large number of relays. Thus the control panel occupies a lot of space and control circuit
design also becomes tedious. Static control is used for such machines as the control design is
easy with static control devices. The static devices used for design of control circuits are the
digital logic gates.

DEVELOPMENT OF CONTROL CIRCUIT

Development of Two-wire and Three-wire Control

A control circuit is to be drawn in a simple form between two horizontal lines designated by 1,
which denotes a phase and by 0, which denotes the neutral wire.. As shown in Fig. 1.4 a motor is
connected to supply through a switch fuse unit, a contactor, and an overload relay. For
developing the control circuit, we take a phase say L1 and neutral as shown in the figure. A
control fuse is connected in phase L1 and outgoing control supply wire is numbered 1 and
neutral is numbered 0

The motor is energised by closing the contactor and stopped due to opening of the contactor
One method of designing of the control circuit is to connect a simple selector switch S and an
overload relay control contact in series with control supply wire no. 1 and then connect it to
contactor coil M as shown in Fig. 1.5. When switch S is open there is no supply at terminal 2
and, therefore, M remains de-energised. When the switch, S is closed supply reaches terminal 3
through the normally closed overload relay contact OL and thus the coil M is energised. The
motor gets supply because of closing of the main contacts of the contactor. This control circuit
just developed is known as two wire control. In this type of control circuit, however, the motor
would automatically start when power supply to the motor is restored after a failure. This type of
control is only useful for starting of motors at remote places, e.g., starting of water pump for
filling an over-head tank. Here the advantage is that the operator is not required to switch on the
motor when power supply is restored after a failure. This type of control may however be
dangerous in industries and can cause accidents due to sudden restarting of motors on restoration
of power supply. Thus the control circuit of Fig. 1.5 has very limited application due to safety
reasons.