Eaton's new C441 Ethernet series of communications cards allow customers to select from Ethernet/IP, Modbus TCP, HTTP web services and Modbus RTU communication protocols in a single card. The innovation is designed to help industrial customers, machinery OEMs and panel builders with flexible communication options to configure, control and monitor their systems.

Integral web services provide an easy-to-use web-based graphical user interface (GUI) to make it easier to recognize potential problems. Using a laptop or smart device, customers can drill down to a given load by simply entering an IP address into their web browser. With four levels of access, the cards ensure only those with credentials have access to critical or sensitive functions.

An Eaton representative explained, “Integral web services allow for configuration, control, monitoring and diagnostics. Also, the flexibility in communications allows OEM customers to add value to their equipment with simple and desirable features, like supervision and control.”

The C441 is compatible with Eaton C440, XTOE and C441 electronic motor protection relays, S611 soft starters, and can be used as stand-alone input/output (IO). Now, the suite of protocols available for Eaton motor protection and soft starter solutions includes PROFIBUS, Modbus TCP and RTU, DeviceNet, and Ethernet IP.

Problems can be addressed in real time with intelligent monitoring readouts from starters and onboard available four digital inputs (120 volts alternating current or 24 volts direct current) and two discrete relay outputs. With a dual port switch, the Ethernet card allows for easy daisy chaining and reliable ring configurations. Additionally, customers have the ability to use one network for control and another for monitoring – through the Modbus serial protocol used in parallel with the Ethernet network –allowing redundant communications and greater reliability with a single card.

If you are in the Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) business, the recovery from the downturn happened much earlier than had been generally expected. Most PLC suppliers were pessimistic on their future business after the economic crisis of 2009 and thought their business would not recover to the level of 2008 until 2013. However, in the event, their business was back on track three years earlier than they had expected; in some countries in developing regions, such as China and India, revenues had grown even in 2009. Overall global revenues from PLCs in 2010 were nearly 30% higher than in 2009, reaching an estimated at 8.2 billion US dollars.

“Although the recovery was unexpected, it is not hard to explain,” said Alex Hong, market research analyst in IMS Research’s industrial factory automation group, “The demand for automation products in many ongoing projects stagnated when investment funding dried up in the economic downturn.  However, government economic stimulus in several countries helped to make money more available at different levels of industry.” The customers for PLC manufacturers, mostly builders or users of industrial machinery, had more access to funding to purchase more PLCs and other automation products to continue with their projects. Both the restart of projects discontinued in 2009 and the start of new ones contributed to the high growth of the PLC market in 2010.

Moving forward growth continued in 2011, though at a lower rate than in 2010. Global PLC revenues have remained high in 2011. However, the industrial markets differed by region. In Europe, despite the continuing and worsening Eurozone sovereign debt crisis, the most important market for industrial automation products – Germany - continued to grow at a healthy rate. In the Americas, large projects from some end-users and growing domestic demand enabled the PLC market to grow, though the market in Latin Americas is still underdeveloped. In Asia, the markets in the growing economies of China and India have performed quite well, though that of Japan was hit by the consequences of the earthquake earlier in the year. In general, the growth of the global economy in 2011 underpinned the global growth of the PC market.

However, PLC suppliers and their industrial customers are currently very uncertain whether growth will continue into 2012, considering the risks to the world economy. Many factors, such as Europe’s unresolved sovereign debt crisis, tightening economic policy in China, and the consequences of the earthquake in Japan and the recent floods in Thailand, are affecting the market.  However, IMS Research believes that the PLC market will still grow in 2012, mainly because many large and important PLC markets, such as Germany, France, China and the US, are still performing well at the turn of the year. In addition, emerging markets, such as Brazil, and India, which already account for half the entire PLC market, will be the main driving force for future growth.

AC drive manufacturer Vacon will announce a new product family of compact AC drives, optimized for the needs of original equipment manufacturers, at the electric automation fair SPS/IPC/DRIVES 2011 in Nuremberg, Germany on 22 November 2011.

Vacon will introduce three new products: Vacon 10, Vacon 20 and Vacon 20 Cold Plate. The existing Vacon 10, available in the power range of 0.25-5.5 kW, has a re-designed user interface and more functionality. The brand new Vacon 20, available from 0.25 to 18.5 kW, offers higher performance and tailorability. The new Vacon 20 Cold Plate, available from 0.75 to 7.5 kW, shares all the features of the Vacon 20 and is designed to allow OEMs to create the optimum cooling solution for the drive.

"More than 25% of our sales came from [OEMs]" explains Heikki Hiltunen, Executive Vice President at Vacon Plc.

The new product range has been designed to meet the various needs of OEMs all over the world.

• Efficient volume manufacturing is possible as the AC drives are fast to install and easy to set up.
• The products can be modified and tailored to the needs of the customer.
• The Vacon 20 series incorporates a built-in programmable logic (PLC) functionality which conforms to the IEC61131-3 standard.
• Functionality can be extended via optional modules such as a wide variety of fieldbus cards, and tools for easy parameter copying from one unit to another.

Eaton Corporation is introducing the SmartWire-DT^TM panel wiring solution in North America. Already available in Europe under the brand SmartWire Darwin, the system is designed to reduce panel wiring complexity, improve system reliability, save installation time and reduce panel space. The idea changes the way panels are constructed by eliminating conventional wire and wiring found in the control circuit into a single cable, connecting motor control components to customers’ PLCs.

The SmartWire-DT system is engineered to reduce panel wiring complexity and assembly labor time, speed the start-up commissioning processes, and provide extensive run-time diagnostics. It links standard motor control components within the panel, separate distribution panels or remote control stations, and creates communications enabled devices. Additionally, the SmartWire-DT flat cable connections safeguard the control panel from unauthorized wiring changes, helping to protect the craftsmanship and integrity of the control panel.

ABB’s drive module ACS850 has been expanded to include a 230Vac offering, available from ½ to 30 horsepower.

The ACS850 features on-board safe-torque-off, a removable memory block, intelligent user interface with a series of assistant wizards, a built-in energy saving calculator, and modular hardware and software. It also includes an advanced adaptation of ABB’s exclusive high-performance motor-control platform, Direct Torque Control (DTC).

The ABB industrial drive modules are designed for industrial machinery and applications such as extruders, cranes, mixers, web handling and converting, in the power range 1.5 to 600 hp at 480 Vac and now from ½ to 30 hp at 230 Vac.   An ABB spokesperson says that the drive is targeted specifically at OEMs, panel builders and system integrators who work in tight spaced. The 10 hp drive is 4 inches wide, so more drives can fight in one box.

It's a full-featured product.

Integrated safety
Safety as standard is provided by an integrated Safe Torque Off (STO) feature, which removes the torque from the motor shaft. This safety feature conforms with the requirements of SIL 3 / IEC 61508, EN ISO 13849-1:PL e. There also are solutions available for Safe Stop 1(SS1), Safe Limited Speed (SLS), Safe Brake Control (SBC), Safe Speed Monitor (SSM) and Safe Direction (SDI).