Pharmaceutical packaging is the last pass to ensure product quality and form quantitative indicators. It is no less important to ensure the quality of pharmaceuticals than other direct production and processing processes. With the development of pharmaceutical packaging automation, large-volume, fast-paced production lines must rely on a stable and reliable control system to ensure accuracy, the PLC and motion controllers are two of the main control devices.

1.  PLC

PLC is a digital operation electronic system using programmable memory. PLC is powerful and easy to use and has become one of the main devices of contemporary industrial automation. Hoping Machinery’s blister packaging machines, cartoners, and other packaging machines are equipped with PLC control equipment, among which Siemens TP900 and SMART1000 are the main ones. PLC has the following characteristics:

●  High reliability. The high integration of PLC improves the reliability of the system.

●  Flexible configuration. PLC adopts a building block structure, users only need to simply combine to change the function and scale of the control system.

●  The input/output function modules are complete. PLC has corresponding templates for different on-site signals that can be directly connected to devices on the industrial site.

●  Easy to install. The installation of PLC does not require a dedicated computer room and strict shielding measures.

●  High efficiency. The operation of PLC is executed by program control, so it has excellent efficiency.

2.  Motion controller

The motion controller is a special controller that controls the operation mode of the motor. By installing the motion controller, the cost and operation difficulty of the packaging machine to achieve motion control can be effectively reduced. We have equipped motion controllers for flow packaging machines, end-of-line packaging machines, and other products, and you can choose different motion control systems according to your needs. The motion controller has the following characteristics:

●  The hardware composition is simple.

●  The software that can be developed is very rich.

●  The motion control software has excellent code commonality and portability.

●  The cost of learning is low, and operators can use it without too much training.

3.  PLC and motion controller

Motion control mainly involves the control of stepper motors and servo motors, and the control structure usually includes a control device, a driver, and a stepper or servo motor.

Wherein, the control device can be PLC, or a dedicated automation device, such as a motion controller. PLC has higher flexibility and versatility, but its cost is also higher. The motion controller has solidified some functions, and users can easily call function blocks or instructions, which reduces programming difficulty and cost.