Emerson Motors and Drives Deliver Upgrade at Champagne Producer


Nicolas Feuillatte, the globally recognised champagne producer, has chosen Emerson to deliver improvements to its bottling line. The Centre Vinicole - Champagne Nicolas Feuillatte (CV-CNF) is the leading Champagne producers’ union. It comprises 80 cooperatives and represents over 5,000 wine-growers. Its facility in Chouilly, in the Marne region, is one of the most automated plants of its type, with a workforce of 235 people, half of whom are involved in production. The company output reaches 23 million bottles a year, making it one of the world’s leading champagne producers.



Frédéric Lopez, automation manager CV-CNF, said: “We needed to replace a series of drive systems, in a gradual process. We considered using the original supplier of the equipment, as well other leading firms in this sector. They were all able to supply equipment that would have met our expectations, but we also wanted to establish a partnership with a company able to deliver the level of service we needed. This is why we selected Emerson.



The first step was to replace one conveyor drive system. It sits at the start of the line, to position the empty bottles with extreme accuracy before cleaning and filling. The bottles are loaded onto the conveyor from 1,200 x 1,200 pallets, and then lifted in rows of four to 12 (depending on their size) onto a perpendicular conveyor.



 This line runs at a rate of 4,000 to 6,000 bottles an hour and has to offer maximum availability in operation. Emerson designed the most appropriate solution for us as well as to program the variable-speed drives,” said Frédéric Lopez.



The existing drive system consisted of an automatic controller, an alignment controller, a variable speed drive and a motor. The solution from Emerson removes the need for the alignment controller, reducing the overall complexity of the system. It consists of a Control Techniques Unidrive M700 variable speed drive, connected to the automatic controller and combined with a Leroy-Somer DYNABLOC Pjn1102 low backlash servo-gear. This offers high overload tolerance, very high torsion strength and great accuracy. Emerson’s MCi200 machine control option module has been added to Unidrive M to manage positioning. The Unidrive M700 drive is especially suited to this type of application, with a cycle time of 250µs, synchronised communications through real-time Ethernet and an integrated PLC for controlling movement sequences.



The entire application is simple to program using Engineering Control Studio. The system uses Unidrive M’s embedded Advanced Motion Controller. In the final configuration, 15 different configurations have been defined to suit the various bottle shapes. Each cycle has a coarse pitch with a specific movement profile (position, speed, acceleration and deceleration), a fine pitch with a second movement profile (position, speed, acceleration and deceleration) and the number of short pitches to be carried out.



The required configuration is selected using logic inputs, which automatically starts the chosen cycle. The coarse pitch is performed then the fine pitches are chained together while the path is free. Signals for ‘end of long movement’ and ‘cycle completed’ are sent by the drive’s logic outputs to the client system. All programming and training was carried out on site by Emerson’s support teams.



We have taken over the application completely so that we can make our own adaptations. With its technologies, expertise, and service, Emerson has fully met our expectations and we are in the process of deploying their solutions across our entire site”, added Frédéric Lopez.



About Emerson

Emerson (NYSE: EMR), based in St. Louis, Missouri (USA), is a global leader in bringing technology and engineering together to provide innovative solutions for customers in industrial, commercial, and consumer markets around the world. The company is comprised of five business segments: Process Management, Industrial Automation, Network Power, Climate Technologies, and Commercial Residential Solutions. Sales in fiscal 2014 were $24.5 billion.



For more information, visit www.Emerson.com.



About Emerson Industrial Automation

Emerson Industrial Automation, a business of Emerson, is a global technology provider that enables productivity, efficiency and quality gains for customers across a spectrum of industries. Our products include alternators, electric motors and drives, electrical distribution devices and mechanical power transmission, fluid automation and ultrasonic joining solutions. Emerson brands include Appleton, ASCO, Branson Ultrasonics, Browning, Control Techniques, Kop-Flex, Leroy-Somer, McGill, Morse, Numatics, O-Z/Gedney, Rollway, SealMaster and System Plast.



For more information, visit www.EmersonIndustrialAutomation.com.



About Control Techniques and Leroy-Somer

As part of Emerson Industrial Automation, Control Techniques and Leroy-Somer have operated globally as sister companies for many years, each with their individual areas of expertise and specialist technologies. Now our combined business allows us to provide optimized drive and motor technology, develop perfect industry-specific and customized automation solutions, with strong local technical and sales support on a global scale.



For more information visit www.EmersonIndustrial.com/Automation



EMERSON INDUSTRIAL AUTOMATION

7078 Shady Oak Road

Eden Prairie

MN 55344-3505

Rob Kelly

Phone : +1 952 995 8173

Fax : - rob.kelly@emerson.com



Emerson Industrial Automation, Control Techniques Ltd

79 MochdreEstate

Newtown, SY16 4LE, UK

Chris Corfield

Phone : +44 1686 612996

Fax : +44 7818 522442

Chris.Corfield@Emerson.com  

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