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Mint motion language speeds development of state-of-the-art machinery

language underpins step-function improvements in packaging & processing - applications in case packing, food processing, airbag glueing highlight unique resources for machine builders
Birmingham, UK, March 29, 2004 --- Mint motion control software, which recently celebrated its 15th anniversary, is at the heart of major progress in packaging and process machinery.

The English-like motion keywords and commands such as SPEED and PRINT, and the free multi-tasking operating system released with version 5 of Baldor's Mint language, continue to help machine builders speed projects and focus on adding flexibility and modularity to their equipment designs.

Mint now boasts high level keywords to simplify the development of motion and all the other control, networking and HMI tasks on automation.

As an example, the language helped machine builder Fluid Packaging Systems to focus its software effort on modularity and flexibility of control for its innovative continuous fluid packaging machine*. This new inline filling automation utilises a detachable pump cart mechanism and programmable motion to achieve batch changeovers of just a few minutes. The machine requires a large number of motion profiles - from simple velocity control, through point to point positioning, to reciprocating indexed movement. Here, the Mint language's ready-to-use keywords saved many days of programming effort. Examples include the use of the FLY command which synchronizes the movement of two axes while controlling the position of one - providing an elegant solution for matching the filling head movement with the containers. The control program also uses the OFFSET command, which allows a positional move to be added onto a base velocity, providing a solution for the machine's 'phasing conveyor' feeding mechanism.

Other recent Mint-in-machinery examples include:

• a novel continuous ‘cross-web’ zipper applicator for continuous vertical form-fill-seal and horizontal flow-wrapping
• an airbag glueing machine which was speeded by Mint's 'CAD to motion' toolkit. Without this, the company would have been faced with a major software project that would probably have added tens of thousands of Euros in additional cost, and months to project timescales
• and a motion control system based that adds further operational flexibility to an award-winning wrap-around case packer

“It’s the softer side of motion control - simplicity and ease of programming, configuration and set-up - that we see making a big difference to automation project efficiency, timescale and cost", says Mark Crocker, Marketing Director of Baldor UK.