Conveyor jam detection

The brief

Client

Brackenfield Parcels

Site

Sorting hub conveyors CV-1 to CV-3

Work order

BP-2610

Industry

Logistics

Task code

PLC-10

Difficulty

Intermediate

Type of work

Programming

Start three conveyors in the right order, spot a jam with a timer on a photo-eye, stop the jammed belt and the ones feeding it, let the others clear, and make sure nothing restarts by itself.

What you do

1. Read the client brief and the tag table: 14 tags, 7 inputs and 7 outputs.
2. Write the logic in ladder, Structured Text or SFC.
3. Press Simulate and watch the plant answer your program.
4. Run the factory acceptance test and fix what fails.

Skills you practise

• Sequenced starts with timers
• Jam detection with a timer
• Latching faults and resets
• Upstream and downstream interlocks
• Restart prevention

What the test checks

The factory acceptance test runs 6 numbered tests against your program. The numbers in the brief are drawn per learner. The tests are:

• Start order: CV_3, then CV_2, then CV_1
• A jam needs the full time, without a break
• A jam stops that belt and the ones behind it
• After a jam: clear the eye, Reset, then Start
• Emergency stop and Stop
• A belt that is not running cannot jam

In this lab

• Ladder, Structured Text and SFC in one studio
• A plant that answers: motors, tanks, conveyors
• Numbered tests mark your program