Festo launches new products and services

Europe's leading pneumatics and automation company, Festo, will be actively participating in this year's PPMA show at the TOTAL Processing and Packaging Exhibition

Europe's leading pneumatics and automation company, Festo, will be actively participating in this year's PPMA show at the TOTAL Processing and Packaging Exhibition.

Festo will use the event to launch a range of new sector-specific products and services.

On display will be a wide range of specialist automation products and services with training, advice, and documentation available on the Festo stand - 4350 in Hall 4 of the NEC, in Birmingham.

Among the new products on show will be the latest range of electrical drives, including servo and integrated models plus motor-driven axes; the innovative Checkbox contactless checking range, including the flexible Checkbox Compact solution; the ingenious Fluidic Muscle; and the increasing Festo range of process industry components and system solutions.

Electrical Drives.

New intelligent electric motors from Festo offer lower costs and more flexible production.

The DC motor features a fully integrated control package to make it simple to set-up and easy to use.

It is the optimum way to add automated flexibility to packaging machinery.

Servo electric drives complement the company's pneumatic actuator ranges, sharing common controllers and Fieldbus protocols to offer the flexibility that the market now demands.

Festo will show its new 2-phase stepper motor range that delivers reduced size and greater performance at savings up to 50%.

Unique to the new range is a combination of linear axis and motor drive package that is pre-commissioned and selectable straight from the standard Festo product catalogue.

The new stepper motor series features three sizes for low cost positioning of toothed belt or spindle axis systems.

The unique Festo-configured and tested stepper drive solution means that users only need make connections with standard cable-sets using simple multipin plugs.

In terms of dimensions, the company's new stepper drive is just one-third of the size of the previous Festo module.

Despite its diminutive proportions, the performance of the single drive now covers the entire range of Festo stepper motors, comprising 8 models in all, and will drive both 24V and 48V systems.

Festo also offers two motor models that feature an integrated drive.

Also launching at the exhibition is a high-speed mechanical axis for electrical drives, which is available with or without the complete Servo and Stepper motor drive packages.

Checkbox Contactless Checking.

The Festo Checkbox range integrates dynamic checking and sorting into a process line or application.

The company's original Checkbox incorporates a conveyor.

The new Compact Checkbox mounts instead in any plane above an existing conveyor.

Compact Checkbox integrates all the electronics, camera and a scanning laser illumination source in a single, straightforward enclosure, making it easy to integrate into existing systems.

Offering a resolution of 0.02mm, Compact Checkbox identifies minute discrepancies from the 'learnt' ideal along with tiny details like angles, spaces, gaps and critical dimensional measurements.

The new unit can operate at conveyor speeds up to 1.5m/s, check up to 100 parts per second, and operate 3 actuators as a result of the check, for example: eject wrong orientation, eject incorrect part, etc Fluidic Muscle.

Festo will show off its muscles at Total! The company will demonstrate the celebrated Fluidic Muscle actuator - an ideal automation product for the packaging and process industries.

With high initial force and rapid acceleration characteristics, the extremely lightweight pneumatic muscle is well suited for applications requiring short cycle times, as are often encountered in production and packaging line applications.

When extended, the muscle develops a force ten times greater than that of a conventional pneumatic cylinder, and consumes 40% less energy in doing so.

Process Actuators and Controls.

New for Total is the Festo range of actuators and controls for process industry applications, including manifold mounted pilot valves for process valve actuation featuring open Fieldbus connectivity (e.g DeviceNet or Profibus Solenoids for Category 2 and 3 applications).

Competition.

Visitors to the Festo stand 4350 will be invited to enter a competition to win a GBP800 mountain bike and Maglite torches.

The PPMA Show 2004 is being held at the Total Processing and Packaging Exhibition in Birmingham at the NEC, from 29th March to 1st April 2004.

The Festo stand is 4350 in Hall 4.

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