Paul Vahle GmbH & Co. KG

Hardly any production line in the automotive industry today can do without automated conveyor systems. Electric monorail applications are regarded as proven and established transport systems for material flow in production, manufacturing and assembly and are therefore predestined for use in intralogistics and the automotive sector.

A reliable drive control system is required so that the conveyor systems can perform their tasks with positional accuracy. The VAHLE single-axis controller VCS1 covers all requirements for use in connecting conveyor technology. Various types of communication are available for data transmission between the stationary and mobile side, such as half-wave communication, rail bus and the VAHLE slotted waveguide system SMGM for Ethernet-based fieldbuses such as PROFINET.

Available up to a power class of 1.5 kW and a variety of different interfaces, the drive controller can be used in almost any application. In addition, numerous functions for positioning and distance control are available.

Using the available function libraries for rail bus communication, the controllers can be easily integrated into the system PLC for simple process and diagnostic data communication. The drive parameters are set using VAHLE configuration software, which was developed in-house and is easy to use. All drive parameters and the respective vehicle number are stored on a data connector that is easily accessible from the outside. In the event of servicing, this enables the device to be replaced quickly without the otherwise necessary parameterization of the single-axis control unit.
Status and operating information can be easily displayed on the integrated, two-line OLED display. The control unit has a specially developed infrared remote control for set-up operation and simple diagnostic tasks.

Additional components such as curve block controls for maintaining the safety distance when driving through a curve or separation block controls for separating driving zones or preventing voltage carry-over. to prevent voltage carry-over at disconnection points of conductor-fed conveyors are also available.

Combined with the modules for energy supply (vPOWER), positioning (vPOS) and data transmission (vCOM), the VCS1 control system is also available as a system solution.