Bring new life to your existing die cast machine, with our control package.
solidCAST is a controls retrofit kit for cold-chamber die casting machines of any brand. Every machine function is an Add-On Instruction that you configure, not program, and each one has a matching PanelView faceplate.
- cold-chamber machines
- any brand
- Compact GuardLogix safety controller
- Compact 5000 I/O
- 10.4 in PanelView Plus
The operator screen always says which step the machine is in and what it is waiting for.
Illustration, not to scale and not a recording of a machine. This example machine has no cores, so the core steps are skipped. All cycle steps
A pre-wired backplate and an operator station.
The backplate goes into the machine's existing cabinet. The operator station replaces the old operator panel. Field wiring lands on numbered terminals that follow one standard I/O list.
Backplate
- Compact GuardLogix 5380 safety controller with a standard task and a safety task, and two Ethernet ports.
- Compact 5000 I/O: 48 digital inputs, 48 digital outputs and 8 analog inputs in the design baseline. Four analog outputs are an option for proportional valves.
- Compact 5000 safety I/O: 8 dual-channel safety inputs and 8 safety outputs, with their own field power distributor.
- 24 V DC supplies, breakers and surge protection, sized for the machine.
- Numbered terminals in the order of the standard I/O list, so the drawings, the terminals and the program agree.
Operator station
- PanelView Plus, 10.4 in touch screen, with one faceplate or screen section for each function.
- E-stop, cycle start, cycle stop and reset. A pour-confirm button covers machines that are ladled by hand.
- Stack light and horn driven from the machine state.
Not in the kit: hydraulic valves, motors, starters beyond the kit's pilot devices, and the guards and gate switches themselves. The kit provides the safety inputs, safety outputs and logic for them.
Commissioning is filling in parameters, not writing logic.
Each machine function is one Add-On Instruction. You make one instance per function, connect it to the real I/O points, and set its options. The logic inside stays as delivered.
Instantiate the function block
One instance for each function the machine has: clamp, shot, ejector, each core, ladle, sprayer, extractor and so on.
SDC_Ejector Ejector SDC_CorePull Core1 SDC_CorePull Core2
Point it at the I/O
Tie the Inp_ and Out_ parameters to the terminals the devices are wired to, then set the Cfg_ options. A sensor the machine does not have is an option, not a rewiring job: with its Cfg_Has… bit off, the block uses a timer.
Inp_ forward, returned Out_ forward, return Cfg_ strokes, limit switch or timer Set_ dwell time
Drop the faceplate
Every block has a matching PanelView faceplate. It takes one tag, the instance, and shows that function's status, setpoints, manual jog and alarms.
faceplate SDC_Ejector tag = Ejector Sts_Waiting → "ejector forward"
The same rules in every block
- Any brand. Nothing assumes a machine maker. The differences between machines are options: toggle or tie-bar-lock clamp, zero to four cores, which limit switches exist, which peripherals are fitted.
- One naming scheme.
Inp_wired inputs,Out_wired outputs,Cmd_commands,Set_setpoints,Cfg_configuration,Sts_status,Val_values,Alm_alarms. - Honest status. Every block reports what it is waiting for, so the screen can say why the machine is not moving.
- The screen follows the block. Overview, Clamp, Shot, Ejector and Cores, Hydraulics, Peripherals, Lube and Cooling, Production, Die Recipes, Alarms, Safety, Setup and Manual screens are built from the faceplates.
Scope of this edition
- Cold-chamber machines. Hot-chamber is planned as a later edition.
- Staged shot with monitoring: the controller switches slow shot, fast shot and intensification by position and records each shot.
- It drives the machine's existing hydraulic valves. It is not a closed-loop servo shot profile.
Names
Every PLC object is prefixed SDC_. Safety objects are prefixed SDCS_.
Twenty blocks cover the machine and its peripherals.
Sixteen machine functions and four building blocks that the others are made from.
| Add-On Instruction | What it does |
|---|---|
SDC_Machine | Mode (Off, Manual, Die-Set, Semi-Auto, Auto, Dry Cycle), cycle start and stop, the cycle sequencer, cycle timer, single cycle or continuous, and the summary of motion permissives. |
SDC_Hydraulics | Pump motor start and stop with feedback, unload valve, system pressure, oil level, oil temperature, filter, accumulator and nitrogen pressure check, pump warm-up. |
SDC_Clamp | Die close fast, slow, low-pressure die protect, lock-up (toggle locked or tie-bar pressure), open slow, open fast, open stop. Die-Set jog. Die-protect fault. |
SDC_Shot | Staged shot: slow shot, fast shot at a position, intensification at a position or pressure, dwell, follow-through as the die opens, plunger return. Permissives: die locked, gate closed, ladle clear. |
SDC_ShotMonitor | Per-shot capture from the position transducer and pressures: slow and fast velocity, fast-shot start position, intensification rise time, final metal pressure, biscuit thickness, shot time. Limits per value give Good or Reject, with a trace for the shot chart. |
SDC_Ejector | Forward, dwell, return, one or more strokes, forward and return confirmation, interlock with the extractor. |
SDC_CorePull | One instance per core, zero to four. In and out with limit switches or timers. Its place in the sequence is an option: in before close or after lock, out before open or after open. |
SDC_Ladle | Auto-ladle handshake (request pour, pour done, ladle clear, fault) or manual-pour mode where the operator confirms the pour. Pour delay. |
SDC_Sprayer | Die-spray or reciprocator handshake (permit, in die area, complete, fault) or timed fixed spray valves. |
SDC_Extractor | Extractor or robot handshake (permit to enter, in die area, part gripped, clear), part-present check, missed-part fault. |
SDC_Lube | Central lube every set number of cycles with pressure confirmation, plunger-tip lube each shot, low level. |
SDC_DieCooling | Up to four water or air zones timed against the cycle (delay and duration), flow switch optional. |
SDC_Production | Shot count, good, reject, warm-up shots, last and average cycle time, uptime, shift reset. |
SDC_DieRecipe | Die setup store: load, save and compare a die's setpoints with the running values. |
SDC_StackLight | Red, amber, green and horn from the machine state. |
SDC_SafetyStatus | A mirror of the safety task for the operator screen: which E-stop, which gate, which valve fault. |
SDC_Valve | Building block: one solenoid with optional on and off feedback, travel timeout, manual jog. |
SDC_Motor | Building block: starter with aux feedback, overload, run time. |
SDC_Analog | Building block: scaled analog with high and low limits, sensor-fault detection, filtering. |
SDC_Alarm | Building block: one alarm with latch, acknowledge, first-out, id and severity. |
One sequence. Every step says what ends it.
The cycle sequencer reports its step number. The operator screen turns it into a name and the thing the machine is waiting for. A fault holds the sequence at its step until it is reset.
| Step | Name | Ends when |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | Idle | mode, permissives and cycle start |
| 10 | Ready | cycle start (semi-auto: each cycle; auto: first cycle) |
| 20 | Cores in (before close) | configured cores are in |
| 30 | Die closing fast | slow-down position |
| 40 | Low-pressure die protect | die closed within the protect time, else die-protect fault |
| 50 | Locking | die locked |
| 60 | Cores in (after lock) | configured cores are in |
| 70 | Ladle pour | pour done (auto ladle) or operator confirm (manual pour) |
| 80 | Pour delay | timer |
| 90 | Slow shot | fast-shot position |
| 100 | Fast shot | intensification position or pressure |
| 110 | Intensify | pressure reached or timer |
| 120 | Dwell (solidification) | timer |
| 130 | Cores out (before open) | configured cores are out |
| 140 | Die opening (plunger follows through) | die open |
| 150 | Cores out (after open) | configured cores are out |
| 160 | Eject forward | ejector forward, plus dwell |
| 170 | Extract | extractor clear with the part, or operator confirm |
| 180 | Eject return | ejector returned |
| 190 | Plunger return | plunger returned |
| 200 | Spray | spray complete |
| 210 | Lube | lube done, when due |
| 220 | Cycle complete | counts updated; next cycle (auto) or Ready |
Safety in the safety task, ready for your risk assessment.
The kit uses a Compact GuardLogix safety controller with dual-channel safety inputs and monitored safety outputs. The safety routines run in the controller's safety task and pass motion permissives to the standard task: clamp close allowed, shot allowed, hydraulics allowed, die-set allowed.
The safety functions are designed for your risk assessment and validation. The safety routines are delivered as a draft. Before the kit is used on a machine, the integrator carries out the risk assessment for that machine, completes the safety functions to suit it, and validates them.
The documents name the standards the integrator applies: ANSI B152.1 for die casting machine safety, NFPA 79, and ISO 13849-1 for the performance level of each safety function. solidCAST does not come with a performance level or a certification of its own.
| Safety object | Function |
|---|---|
SDCS_EStop | Dual-channel E-stops (operator station, rear, pendant) with reset. |
SDCS_Gate | Front and rear gates, dual-channel. Gate open: no clamp close, no shot. |
SDCS_LightCurtain | Optional light curtain or scanner in place of, or with, a gate. |
SDCS_Enable | Die-Set mode: hold-to-run enabling device or two-hand, reduced pressure and speed only. |
SDCS_PumpContactors | Redundant pump safety contactors with feedback monitoring. |
SDCS_ClampValve | Monitored safety blocking or dump valve for clamp closing. |
SDCS_ShotValve | Monitored safety valve for the shot: a shot is possible only with the die locked and the gates closed. |
SDCS_Summary | The motion permissives passed to the standard task. |
Have a machine in mind?
Send us the make, the tonnage and what is fitted to it. We will come back with questions and a plain answer on fit.