Emerson creates a fizz improving champagne producer’s bottle line

By Jenny Eagle

- Last updated on GMT

Nicolas Feuillatte calls on Emerson to improve its bottling line

Related tags Bottle Automation

Nicolas Feuillatte has partnered with Emerson to improve its bottling line, replacing a conveyor drive system without the need for an alignment controller.

The Centre Vinicole - Champagne Nicolas Feuillatte (CV-CNF) is a champagne producers´ union comprising 80 cooperatives and 5,000 wine-growers.

'One of the most automated plants of its type'

Frédéric Lopez, automation manager, CV-CNF, said it needed to replace a series of drive systems, in a gradual process.

He said it considered using the original supplier of the equipment, as well other firms but it wanted to establish a partnership with a company that could deliver the level of service it needed.  

NICOLAS FEUILLATE 7 Servor+®ducteur Pjn et Unidrive M700

We have taken over the application completely so 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 its technology across our entire site​,” said Lopez.

The CV-CNF facility in Chouilly, France, is one of the most automated plants of its type, with a workforce of 235 people, producing 23 million bottles a year.

Its conveyor drive system sits at the start of the line and places empty bottles before cleaning and filling.

The bottles are loaded onto a conveyor from 1,200 x 1,200 pallets, and then lifted in rows of four to 12 onto a perpendicular conveyor. The line runs at a rate of 4,000 to 6,000 bottles an hour.

The existing drive system consisted of an automatic controller, an alignment controller, a variable speed drive and a motor. The technology from Emerson removes the need for the alignment controller, reducing the overall complexity of the system.

Unidrive M700 variable speed drive

It consists of a Control Techniques Unidrive M700 variable speed drive, connected to the automatic controller, combined with a Leroy-Somer DYNABLOC Pjn1102 low backlash servo-gear.

Emerson´s MCi200 machine control option module has been added to Unidrive M to manage positioning. The Unidrive M700 drive has a cycle time of 250µs, synchronised through real-time Ethernet and an integrated PLC for controlling movement sequences.

The entire application uses the program Engineering Control Studio and Unidrive M´s Advanced Motion Controller.

A total of 15 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.

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