Corona treatment is a surface treatment. A Corona treating station generally consists of a generator, a high-tension transformer, an electrode charged to high voltage and an ozone suction fan.
The Corona treating stations are installed on the printing, extrusion, coating and laminating lines of our customers to activate the surface of the materials they need to treat.
For this reason, all mechanical parts of a Corona treating station, as well as its controls need to be integrated into the customer's production line. The integration of the control functions takes place by incorporating the remote controls of the corona generator into the PLC of the line.
The traditional communication systems, such as Profinet and Profibus, allow to manage the settings of the treating stations through remote control. Profinet is especially versatile and, through a cable, it transmits all the features of the Corona treatment to the Plc of the line, thus allowing customers to choose which features they want to see and monitor.
1 Setting and adjustment of parameters
The two main types of parameters affecting the Corona treatment are:
- "system parameters", such as the amount of power delivered by the generator, the number of sides to be treated and the speed of treatment
- "process parameters", such as the type of material to treat and the equipment used, which affect the sizing of treatment.
Our solutions allow to set the main features of a Corona treating station, for instance:
- adjustment of power according to the width of the material
- automatic adjustment according to the speed
- setting of minimum speed of stop and start
- autostart and skip treatment (treatment at intervals)
- wet start (controlled start in humid environments).
2 Monitoring
Operators can make sure in real time that the parameters set by the customers are actually delivered by the Corona treating station.
Additionally, the system is integrated by a number of alarms and diagnostic tools to detect problems and make sure the system is safe for use (short-circuit, over-heating, no communication, speed alarms). We are developing new solutions which will allow costumers to:
- manage in real time and in an effective way all the features and the monitoring of data, even on portable devices (tablets, laptops or smartphones)
- bring to the cloud all the production parameters and receive a data recording and a data analytics to draft quality control reports.
We will therefore be able to improve our remote diagnostic service, making it more user-friendly and efficient to benefit all our customers around the world.
3 Maintenance 4.0
By adopting digital solutions on our treating stations and by taking advantage of artificial intelligence systems, Corona treatment will become more sustainable.
The 4.0 technologies, the IoT Industrial, Data Analytics and Cloud Manufacturing will allow to better manage and monitor performances, linking the state of the machinery, the components, the productive efficiency and the maintenance processes.
Models and algorithms provide information about the condition of the machine, as well as the environmental and operating conditions (possible loads, progress of the decay process...).
Through the Smart Maintenance, the ability to predict the residual life of the equipment and the probability of failure will increase.
Knowing the average time of failure, operators will have enough time to organize properly:
- maintenance operations (before failure happens)
- spare parts management
- staff working on maintenance operations.
Ferrarini & Benelli, in line with this trend, is also developing new strategies to keep up with technology 4.0 and with new current scenarios.