Polar Emc 115 DIY electronics replacement- help needed

I have a polar EMC 115 guillotine. Machine 5232179, fro. The 1980s.

Mechanically, it is perfect..but the electronics are starting to cause problems.

I have built a number of different machines using a motion control card and servo motors. The card has 20 digital inputs and 20 digital outputs. I'm competent in programming this.

I feel comfortable with replacing the backguage motor with a closed loop stepper that I can control from the board.

I'm struggling with the flow of controls for the clamp, safety bolt, and blade.

Is there someone who knows this machine intimately and can assist me for an hour or two to understand the flow of each step.

Ie,
1. Send x volts to the clamp to activate
2. send 42v dc to the safety bolt to retract
3. Check the safety bolt sensor to ensure it has retracted
4. Send 42vdc to the cluth to engage the blade
5. Wait till blade top position sensor is activated
6. Re engage safety bolt.

Etc etc

I'm sure it's more complicated than this, and would love some assistance from someone who I could bounce ideas of. I would be happy to share back to the forum whatever I end up making.

 

I don't know about Australia, but the safety standards on guillotines in the UK are very stringent. I would be very carefull doing a DIY on a guillotine. Everything needs to be duel channel cross monitored inputs and fail safe safety outputs. Any accidents would be your responsibility

 

Thanks Andy,
Rules here are strict, but not as strict as UK. My plan was to replace the existing light curtain with a modern version, connected to a dual channel safety relay. Presumably the biggest risk is the knife cutting someone, so this should hopefully negate that.

 

Good afternoon,
If you require replacement part, kindly do not hesitate to contact me.
scassar@tradealliances.net
Thanks

 

Dear Ltovey,

Your creative endeavor is very rare in this commercially oriented lunatic asylum world, and therefore your efforts are highly commendable. I do not hope that you can get the information you are interested in, here or on other forums. Usually, most public and private comments are limited of retranslation of miserly paragraphs from "stolen" technical documents of manufacturers, of the CPU reset procedures and checking the tolerances of supply voltages, etc,.. and of various commercial intentions.

However, I would like to support your intentions a little. Even an uncompleted invention may bring us positive side results, at least a mind training, if the head will remain on its place, of course.

1. You know that motion in industrial machines is very dangerous. I suspect the manufacturers have a lot of safety experience, implemented into the control systems of these machines. These are not only flowcharts in normal working machine states, but also while exceptions caused by damages of mechanical, hydraulic, electrical, electronic parts, SW bugs, and by power failures. I saw one similar machine (Polar 115 EM-MON) with a primitive control system rebuilt on an Unitronics PLC, once. This machine was first bought by one of our customer from another, refurbished with replacing of the problematic original control with the PLC, and already sold or thrown out of that printing house.

2. I have some standard technical docs collection for this machine, but I don't think you will find many answers to your questions there (they are focused on more primitive usage). Contact me privately for this, if that would help a little.

3. In the case of a comet falls here and aliens land down here, having more subtle knowledge of the processes inside these machines, then I also have a number of questions for them, such that them would forget to fly back away. For example, the specifications and protocols of SMP, I/O buses & of serial interfaces of the Polar Controls?

4. Control systems by MICROCUT / C&P Microsystems Inc. can be considered as an alternate for Polar cutters. They have a great and long term experience in the subject as well: www.microcutsystems.com

Sincerely,
Oleg T.