User Manual v3.3.2

wbk
Institut für Produktionstechnik Contents
Contents
Contents 1
1 User manual for the dosing and mixing machine v3.3.2 2

1.1 User Interface v3.3.2 4
1.2 Commissioning 6
1.3 Emergency stop 7
1.4 Settings Mode 8
1.5 Manual Mode 8
1.6 VALVES menu 9
1.7 HEATERS menu 10
1.8 Special heater menu 12
1.9 GENERAL MOVEMENTS menu 12
1.10 SPECIAL MOVEMENTS menu 13
1.11 EXTRUDE MIXTURE menu 14
1.12 Automatic Mode 15
1.12.1 Machine and tool parameters 16
1.12.2 Sequences 17
1.12.3 EDIT SEQUENCE menu 18
1.12.4 Sequence execution 19
1.12.5 Instruction Set v3.3.2 20
1.12.6 Sequence examples 23
1.13 Maintenance 24
1.13.1 Adjustability of the lance 24
1.13.2 Deaeration 24
1.13.3 Cleaning of the static mixer connector 24
1.14 Important Notes 25
cand.mach Ernesto Miguel Sanchez Solis Seite 1

wbk 1 User manual for the dosing and mixing
Institut für Produktionstechnik machine v3.3.2
1 User manual for the dosing and mixing machine v3.3.2
This user manual explains the usage and features of the dosing and mixing machine (firmware
version 3.3.2) shown in figure 1.1. The machine is used to precisely mix, heat and dose two
Figure 1.1: Mixing and dosing machine
component epoxy inside the lathe (along its rotation axis) to which the machine is connected
to as part of the rotational molding process.
The machine uses two dosing units (each with a glass dosing cylinder) to extrude both resin
and hardener. Each dosing cylinder is actuated by an electromechanical linear actuator. It is
possible to disconnect the electromechanical actuator from the dosing cylinder by removing

the decoupling pin as shown in figure 1.2. This functionality is very useful when testing
sequences without extruding mixture.
Figure 1.2: Cylinder decoupling pin
When not using the machine, the static mixer connector needs to be closed, the connector
has two openings, one for the hardener and one for the resin, a M5 and a M8 short screws
are used respectively to close both opening (see figure 1.3), Teflon tape should be used to
assure a good seal.
The machine has a rotary table near the mixer connector (when the lance is at its home
position) this table must be used when installing a static mixer, or when cleaning the connector.
Important note: the user must make sure that no epoxy can drip on top of the linear belt axis.
Important note: the user must make sure to move the rotary table out of the way before the
lance moves into the lathe.
Figure 1.3: Closed static mixer connector

1.1 User Interface v3.3.2
The dosing and mixing machine is controlled through the interfaces located on the control
panel, an overview of the interfaces is shown in figure 1.4.
Figure 1.4: Interfaces
The machine is controlled through menus that are displayed on the (128 x 64) pixels display.
There are three different modes (settings, manual and automatic modes) that can be selected
though the three way toggle switch (see figure 1.5), each mode will display its own menu. In
addition, from within the manual mode a special menu to control the the heater inside the
injection lance can be accessed by pressing the push button on the fourth encoder, or the red
button, the 4th encoder can then be used to set the desired temperature, while the red push
button can be used to turn the PID controller on and off. The menus are navigated and used
by using the first two encoders and the START button, rotating the encoder will result in the
in screen cursor moving through the menu items (see figure 1.6), to select a menu item the
push buttons in the first two encoders or the START button can be used.
Several menu items contain editable fields, upon selecting an editable field by pressing the
push button on encoders one or two the field value can be adjusted with coarse resolution,

Figure 1.5: Interfaces
after pressing the push button a second time fine adjustments can be made, also the second
encoder is four times faster as the first one.

Figure 1.6: Menu usage
1.2 Commissioning
To start the machine the user must turn the security ON/OFF switch (located on the left side on
the control panel) to the ON position. Upon turning on the machine an automatic initialization
procedure takes place, first the starting configuration of the valves is set, the resulting flow
configuration should connect dosing pistons to both reservoirs, then the stored settings will
be loaded from an SD card located inside the control panel (do not confuse with the external
SD card on the control panel), if the settings file can not be loaded, the user is notified on
the screen and the default settings will be used. Then the internal Ethernet communication
between the three drives and the main control unit (MCU) is enabled, if successful, the user
is prompted to press the enable button, pressing this button will provide power to the drives.
Lastly the user is prompted to start the referencing of the three drives, upon pressing the
START button, all three drives will move to their home position (both dosing cylinders will
empty and the lance axis will completely drive outside the lathe), when the three drives have
successfully reached their home position, the initialization procedure will be finished. The
machine then goes into the mode selected by the toggle switch.
Before using the machine it is necessary to make sure that the resin has not undergone any
crystallization, this will happen if the room temperature is below 15◦ C (this temperature may
vary depending on the selected epoxy system), when this happens the resin will start to form
scales or it will turn into a paste if the temperature is too low. To reverse this crystallization,
there is a heater plate (IKA RCT BASIC) under the resin reservoir as well as a stirrer (IKA
EURO STAR digital) on top of the reservoir. Refer to the user manuals of both components
to use them. Setting the temperature above 30◦ C while stirring at about 100RPM should be
enough to restore the resin’s liquid state. If the resin inside the tubing has also crystallized, it
might be necessary to use a heat gun to warm the tubing, once the resin is liquid enough the
special cycle functions in manual mode can be used to cycle warm liquid resin through the
tubing into the dosing cylinders.

A union nut is used to secure a compatible static mixer to the static mixer connector, static
mixers with an inner diameter of 16.7mm are compatible. The union nut must be secured by
hand force while holding the lance. It is not necessary to apply a lot of torque to achieve a
good seal, approximately 1Nm is enough. Important note: it is very important to make sure
that mixed epoxy does not come in contact with the thread in the static mixer connector.
Before turning the machine off it is recommended to empty both cylinders and drive the lance
to its home position (x = 0). The cylinders can be emptied with by selecting EMPTY within
the EXTRUDE MIXTURE menu in manual mode. The lance can also be moved manually to
its home position after the machine is shut down. Doing so will shorten the amount of time
required to reference the drives the next time the machine is started.
Some static mixers have a stepped reduction nozzle, if this is the case, it is recommended to
cut the reductions at the end to achieve the largest hydraulic diameter possible (see figure
1.7).
Figure 1.7: Static mixer reduction nozzle
1.3 Emergency stop
Pressing the emergency kill switch on the control panel will turn off the heater and stop
the movement of all three drives, a notification will appear on the display, showing that the
emergency stop has been pressed. After releasing the emergency kill switch (by turning it
counter clockwise) the machine will cancel the function that was being executed and it will
then launch a special recovery procedure, the enable button needs to be pressed again to
enable the drives, the user will then be prompted to change into manual mode. The position
of the 3 drives and the configuration of the four valves will remain unchanged.

1.4 Settings Mode
The setting mode allows the user to change any of the parameters of the machine, as well
as to test the setting of the heater’s adaptive PID controller. Figure 1.8 shows the complete
settings menu.
Figure 1.8: Overview of the settings menu
1.5 Manual Mode
The manual mode allows for direct control of the mixing and dosing machine, figure 1.9 shows
the manual menu.
The VALVES (section 1.6), HEATERS (section 1.7) and GENERAL MOVEMENTS (section
1.9) sub menus allow for direct control of each of the separate components of the machine.
Important note: The user must make sure that mixed epoxy is never sucked back into the
lance. The manual mode also provides a special menu to quickly adjust the PID control loop
(section 1.8). The EXTRUDE MIXTURE (section 1.11) menu allows for simple dosing and

Figure 1.9: Overview of manual menu
mixing operations. Lastly, SPECIAL MOVEMENTS (section 1.10) provides some procedures
for quick positioning of the cylinder and lance drives states and cycle procedures that are
used in the deaeration procedure.
1.6 VALVES menu
Figure 1.10: VALVES menu
The VALVES menu allows for direct control of the 4 electromechanical valves, when selecting

the options PISTON->CAN or PISTON->LANCE the machine will first close the valves that
need to be closed and open the necessary valves afterwards, this behavior guarantees that
the lance is never connected directly to the reservoirs, which would result in reverse flow from
the lance due to gravitation. In special situations it might be necessary to actuate the valves
manually, to achieve this change the valve’s mode into manual operation by rotating the mode
selector knob in front of the valve and selecting "(M)MAN" (see figure 1.11), the valve can
then be directly actuated using the rotating knob on top of the valve. Note that the mode must
be changed back to "(A)AUTO" before the valve can be used by the machine control solution.
Figure 1.11: Valve mode selection knob
1.7 HEATERS menu
Figure 1.12: Locations of the three thermometers T1, T2 and T3
The HEATERS menu can be used to directly control the heating tube within the lance, this
heating tube is used to increase the temperature of the resin before mixing in order to accel-
erate the curing process. The firmware provides two PWM (pulse width modulation) signals
to control heaters (H1 and H2), however only H1 is connected (H2 is still accessible inside

Figure 1.13: HEATERS menu
the control panel). The adaptive PID controller controls both PWM signals simultaneously,
the current output power is shown in POW : X.XX %, if the PID controller is set to "OFF", the
user can set a specific output power by editing the POW : X.XX % option. The adaptive PID
settings can be changed in the settings mode under HEATER SETTINGS. When activating
the PID controller by setting it to "ON", the controller will attempt regulate the output power of
the heater until the temperature T[is] is the same as SET T X.XX C. Because the lance is
two meters long, there are three digital thermometers along it, T1 is at the beginning of the
lance, T2 is in the middle and T3 is at the end of the lance T[is] (see figure 1.12), T[is] is
calculated as the weighted average of the three temperatures (equation in figure 1.14) The
W1 ∗ T1 + W2 ∗ T2 + W3 ∗ T3
Tis =
W1 + W2 + W3
Figure 1.14: Formula to calculate T[is]
three weights W1 , W2 , W3 can be adjusted within the HEATER SETTINGS menu in settings
mode. The adaptive PID controller is parameterized by two sets of PID parameters (Kp,Ki,Kd
and aggKp, aggKi, aggKD) and a range defined by UpperBound and LowerBound, all
of which can be adjusted in the HEATER SETTINGS menu within settings mode. When
the temperature T[is] is outside the range: (T[set]-LowerBound, T[set]+ UpperBound), the
aggressive PID parameters aggKp, aggKi, aggKD are used, inside that range the normal
PID Kp, Ki, KD parameters are used. If any of the measured temperatures is higher to the
defined maximum temperature defined in the HEATER SETTINGS menu in settings mode
or if the temperature measurement fails, the PID controller will automatically shut down, this
behavior must be taken into account when selecting the maximum temperature because
depending on the PID parameters and temperature weights a higher temperature may be

reached before the controller converges to the target temperature T[set].
1.8 Special heater menu
Alternatively to the HEATERS sub menu inside the manual menu, a special heater menu
is accessible in manual mode by pressing the push button in the fourth encoder, see figure
1.5 in section 1.1. Within this menu, the fourth encoder can be used to quickly set the
target temperature for the PID controller (in 0.1◦ C steps), the current power POW and actual
temperature T[is] are also shown in this menu (see figure 1.15), pressing the heater push
button (red) will toggle the PID controller ON or OFF, it will also launch the special heater
menu. The special heater menu can only be used if no other function is being executed at the
same time. Pressing the push button on the fourth encoder a second time will exit the special
menu. The red LED on the heater button will turn on when the output power of the heater is
not 0.
Figure 1.15: Special heater control menu
1.9 GENERAL MOVEMENTS menu
The GENERAL MOVEMENTS menu allows for independent or synchronous positioning of

the three mechanical axis (two dosing cylinders and the lance axis), movement can be set to
RELATIVE or ABSOLUTE modes, and units can be selected between mm, ml and grams.
Position 0 is the home position of the drives, the positive direction is defined from there
towards maximum hub. To move the drives, adjust the desired position and speed, and then

Figure 1.16: GENERAL MOVEMENTS menu
use the EXECUTE to simultaneously execute the desired movements. Important note: the
user must make sure that the current configuration of the valves doesn’t block the cylinders, it
is also important to never allow mixed epoxy to flow back into the lance. The maximal speeds
and hubs can be adjusted in settings mode.
1.10 SPECIAL MOVEMENTS menu
Figure 1.17: SPECIAL MOVEMENTS menu
The SPECIAL MOVEMENTS menu provides some procedures to quickly move the elec-
tromechanical cylinders between 0 and their maximal hub (the maximal hub of the cylinders
can be adjusted in the settings mode) as well as functions to cycle the cylinders continuously
between 0 and their maximum hub, within these cycle functions the cylinder will wait after

reaching the top for a specified delay before moving back to 0 (defined as cycle delay within
the OTHER menu in settings mode). Any of the cycle functions can be canceled by pressing
the CANCEL button, or by pressing START again.
1.11 EXTRUDE MIXTURE menu
Figure 1.18: EXTRUDE MIXTURE menu
The EXTRUDE MIXTURE menu provides functions for simple mixing-dosing operations, the
RELOAD and EMPTY functions can be used to completely fill or empty both cylinders with
resin and hardener from and to the respective reservoirs, the used speed is defined within the
SPEEDS menu as LOAD in settings mode. The NO TRICKLE function is meant to be used
right after extruding mixture with an installed static mixer, it retracts a very small amount of
flow (defined as TrickleVol within the OTHER menu in settings mode) to avoid trickle from the
static mixer. The RETRACT FLOW function is meant to be used after cleaning the connector
before closing the openings, it retracts a small amount of flow (defined as RetractVol within
the OTHER menu in settings mode), this will leave a small amount of air at the end of the
lance, after the connector is closed, this small amount of air allows for volume expansion due
to temperature changes that might occur before the connector is opened again. A position
and speed can be set for the lance axis (in absolute coordinates), as well as an amount of
mixture and extrude speed, both volumetric and mass units are available, when selecting an
amount in volumetric units (ml), the corresponding amount in mass units (g) will automatically
be calculated and updated. To start the mixing-dosing operation EXECUTE must be selected,
upon activation, the mixture extruding and lance motion will begin simultaneously. The

screen will display the current speed and path deviations (from the ideal path) for both
electromechanical linear actuators (see figure 1.19). After the mixture extrusion finishes,
the delay between both actuators reaching their target position will also be displayed for
two seconds. These deviations can be used to infer the quality of the achieved mixing
Figure 1.19: Drive deviations when extruding
ratio, if the extrusion speed is set too high, the resulting pressure will be too high and the
electromechanical actuators will not be able to keep up with the ideal path. All deviations
should be close to 0 at all times, the position deviation is the most important metric to describe
the quality of the mixing ratio, both position deviations should be below 0.1mm at all times.
Note: if the extrusion speed is set to low values, (e.g. 1 ml/s) the time deviation at the end will
increase, however experimental results show that this metric is not important at low speeds.
1.12 Automatic Mode
The automatic mode provides all the functions needed to read, edit and execute sequences
with the machine. Sequences must be stored as plain text files under the "PROGRAMS"
directory at the top level in an external SD card which can be inserted in the SD card bay
located on the control panel beside the display (see figure 1.5 in section 1.1). Important
note: all sequences must follow the "8.3" naming scheme, this means that sequence file
names can have a maximum of 8 characters, followed by a point and a 3 character extension,
(e.g.: SEQUENCE.TXT is valid, but SEQUENCE1.TXT isn’t). Sequences created directly
on the machine will also be stored in the "PROGRAMS" directory on the external SD card,
except for LAST.TXT, which is stored in the top location in the external SD card, this file stores
a copy of the sequence that was executed last. Figure 1.20 shows the menu structure within
the automatic mode.

Figure 1.20: Overview of automatic menu
The option LOAD FROM SD will load the first 50 sequence files in the "PROGRAMS" directory
into a list in the menu, if more sequences are stored in the folder, they will not be loaded into
the list, it is recommended to store old sequences in a separate folder on the SD card.
1.12.1 Machine and tool parameters
Figure 1.21: Overview of the parameters X0 , X1 , and X2
Sequence execution requires the boundaries of the injection area to be correctly defined,
figure 1.21 shows how the values X0 , X1 , and X2 are defined. X0 is a machine parameter
that can be adjusted within the MACHINE PARAMETERS menu in settings mode, X1 , and
X2 depend on the tool that is being used and are defined in each sequence file. X0 is defined
as the position of the lance axis when the end of the static mixer connector aligns with the end

of the tool clamp in the lathe, X1 and X2 should be defined relative to this position. The length
of the static mixer (which can be adjusted within the STATIC MIXER menu in settings mode)
must match the definition of X0 , that is, the length of the static mixer must be measured
so that positioning the lance axis to X0 − LST AT ICM IXER will result in the extruding nozzle
perfectly aligning with the beginning of X1 .
1.12.2 Sequences
Sequences consist of a header of the form (not that X1 and X2 are case sensitive):
1 { X1 =... mm X2 =... mm }
followed by a list of instructions of the form:

1 [( TAG ) x =... mm v =... unit_v e =... unit_e t =... s T =... C ]
The TAG is used to identify which instruction is being executed, is case sensitive and must
comply with the instruction set (see section 1.12.5), an instruction can have up to five
parameters (which are also case sensitive):
• x describes a position or length, units are always in mm
• v describes a speed, units can be in mm/s, ml/s or g/s
• e describes a mixture amount, units can be in ml or g
• t describes a time, units are always in s
• T describes a temperature, units are always in degrees C
Any floating point number can be accepted as a value( e.g. -100.0987, 10.0 and 10 are all
valid values, but 1.2e-5 is not a valid value) the order of the arguments is not important, it is
also possible to use commas or multiple spaces to separate the arguments space characters
are ignored, units must always be included. The following two instructions are equal to each
other:
1 [( goto_r ) x =100 mm v =10 mm / s e =1 g ]
2 [( goto_r ) v = 10 mm / s , x =100.0 mm , e =1.000 g ]
Comments can be included in sequence files anywhere outside the header and instructions
as long as they don’t have any square or curly brackets:

1 This is a comment , the next instruction will prompt the user to install
a mixer of length 215.0 mm :
2 [( installmixer ) x =215.0 mm ]
The bare minimum required for a valid sequence to execute a useful mixing-dosing operation
inside the lathe requires at least a header and the following instructions:
1 { X1 =0.0 mm X2 =10 mm }
2 [( installmixer ) ] // prompts the user to install a mixer of default length
3 [( in ) ] // drives the lance into the lathe to the end of X1
4 [( inject ) e =10 ml ] // extrudes 10 ml mixture at default speed , ( goto ) or (
goto_r ) could also have been used instead of inject
Whenever a speed is not defined, the default speed is used, default speeds can be adjusted
within the SPEEDS menu in settings mode.
1.12.3 EDIT SEQUENCE menu
Sequences can be edited directly in the machine, creating a new sequence will automatically
open the EDIT SEQUENCE menu, to edit an existing sequence, use LOAD FROM SD,
then select the sequence file, and then select EDIT SEQUENCE. The SEQUENCE EDIT
menu shows one instruction at the time (see figure 1.20), the header of the sequence will
also appear as an instruction with the ID: "START", an instruction with the ID: "END" is
also included at the end of the sequence. The NEXT and PREVIOUS options are used to
navgate through the several instructions, ADD INSTRUCTION and REMOVE INSTRUCTION
are used to insert a new instruction after the current instruction, or to remove the current
instruction. The ID TAG of an instruction can be changed by selecting the ID :[TAG] option,
the menu will toggle through the available instruction tags. The TOGGLE ARGUMENTS sub
menu allows the user to select which arguments and argument units to enable or disable.
The values of each of the five possible arguments (x, e, v,t,T) can be directly edited from the
edit menu. The menu provides a SAVE option to overwrite the opened sequence file, or a
SAVE AS option to save the sequence as a new file, an in screen keyboard is used to edit
the file name.
NOTE: editing a menu will remove any comments that were originally present in the sequence
file.

1.12.4 Sequence execution
All sequences are validated before being executed, this validation guaranteed that no mixture
extrusion occurs outside the specified areas. Once a sequence is validated, the dosing-mixing
machine undergoes a sequence preparation procedure:
• Cylinders are completely loaded with resin and hardener.
• Flow direction is set towards the injection lance.
• Heaters are turned off.
• Lance axis is driven to the starting position x = 0
• It is assumed that no static mixer is installed, this means that every sequence must
have an [(installmixer)] instruction before it can extrude mixture.
After the preparation procedure is complete, the green LED in the start button will turn on
and the message : "BEGIN SEQUENCE" will appear on the screen. The green LED is used
to signal that the machine is ready to execute the next step in the sequence (in cases that
require user confirmation). Sequences can be canceled at any time by pressing the cancel
button. Important note: pressing the cancel button does not stop the machine from moving,
once a move operation starts, the machine will finish executing that movement and then
cancel execution. In cases where movement needs to be stopped, it is necessary to press
the emergency kill switch. After executing each instruction in the sequence, the machine will
go through a sequence finalization procedure:
• Heaters are turned off
• Lance axis is driven to the starting position x = 0
• The user is prompted to remove the static mixer, the user should use the rotary table to
make sure any epoxy that spills does not damage the axis belt drive.
• Then 3 ml of mixture will be purged to make sure that any mixed epoxy that may have
diffused into the connector is flushed out.
• The user will then be prompted to clean the connector. The user must make sure that
no further mixing of the resin and hardener occurs, as this may clog the connector.
• The machine will then retract the flow by a small amount (defined as RetractVol within
the OTHER menu in settings mode)

• The user can then close the connector.
After finishing the sequence finalization procedure, the executed sequence will be saved to
"LAST.TXT", selecting the option "REPEAT LAST" will execute this sequence file.
1.12.5 Instruction Set v3.3.2
Every instruction in a sequence must be compliant with this instruction set (compatible with
firmware version v3.3.2). All tags, parameters an units are case sensitive. The positions
defined by the x argument in all of the instructions are relative to X0 Default speeds are
adjustable within the SPEEDS menu in settings mode.

TAG: NOTES:
in Requirements: [installed mixer, lance position = 0] , accepts arguments:
[t or v]. This instruction drives the lance to x = X1 (the beginning of the
injection area), if no time t or speed v is specified, the default speed will
be used.
installmixer Requirements: [no installed mixer, lance position = 0], accepts arguments:
[x]. This instruction will prompt the user to install a static mixer of the
specified length x. If no x is given, the length that is specified in the
STATIC MIXER menu will be used. Important note: the specified length
must match the definition of X0 and X1 , positioning the lance to X0 −
LM IXER + X1 should align the nozzle of the mixer with the beginning of
the injection area.
fillmixer Requirements: [ installed mixer, lance position = 0 or in injection range
(X1 < x < X2 )], accepts arguments [e, t or v]. This instruction extrudes
the volume e to fill the mixer, the argument e must match the inner volume
of the static mixer, if no e argument is given, the volume specified in the
STATIC MIXER menu will be used. If no time t or speed v is specified, the
default injection speed will be used.
goto Requirements: [installed mixer, lance is in injection range (X1 < x < X2 )],
accepts arguments [x,t or v, e]. This instruction will move the lance to
position x while extruding e amount of mixture, the speed v can either refer
to the lance positioning speed if its units are in [mm/s], or to the injection
speed if the units are in [ml/s or g/s], the motion will be calculated so that
the movement and mixture extrusion finish simultaneously. If no time t or
speed v is specified, the default positioning speed will be used.
goto_relative This instruction does the same as goto, with the exception that movement
is relative to the current position of the lance.
out Requirements: [installed mixer, lance position is not at x = 0], accepts
arguments [t or v]. This instruction is used to drive the lance out of the
lathe to its home position x = 0, if no time t or speed v is specified the
default translation speed will be used.
Table 1.1: Instruction set v3.3.2 (1)

TAG: NOTES:
temp Requirements: [NONE], accepts arguments [T], This instruction will
set the target temperature to T and turn on the PID controller of the
heater, once the target temperature is surpassed the green LED in
the START button will turn ON, sequence execution will continue
once the user presses START. If no argument T is provided, or if T =
0.0 the heaters will be shut down, in this case sequence execution
continues automatically.
wait Requirements: [NONE], accepts arguments [t]. This instruction will
pause sequence execution for t seconds.
pause Requirements: [NONE], accepts arguments [NONE]. This instruction
pauses sequence execution until the user presses the START button,
the current temperature will be displayed on the screen.
inject Requirements: [installed mixer, lance is in injection range (X1 < x <
X2 )], accepts arguments [e, v or t]. This instruction will extrude e
amount of mixture, If no time t or injection speed v is specified, the
default injection speed will be used.
load Requirements: [NONE], accepts arguments [NONE]. This instruction
completely reloads both cylinders, it then sets the flow direction back
to the lance.
purge Requirements: [mixer is installed, lance position = 0], accepts ar-
guments [e, v or t]. If no e is given, the inner volume of the static
mixer will be used (as defined in the STATIC MIXER menu). This
instruction does the same as inject.
notrickle Requirements: [installed mixer, cylinders have enough available
volume], accepts arguments [NONE]. This instruction retracts a very
small amount of mixture to avoid trickle, this amount is specified
within the OTHER menu in settings mode
alignflowresin Requirements: [no installed mixer, lance position = 0], accepts ar-
guments [NONE]. This instruction to align the flow inside the resin
line to the end of the static mixer connector, the user uses the first
encoder to adjust an amount, and presses the encoder’s push button
to extrude it, this can be done multiple times, the amount of resin that
can be extruded is limited to the amount of resin contained in 10ml of
mixture. The user must press START when the alignment is finished.
alignflowhardener This instruction does the same as alignflowresin, but for the hard-
ener line.
Table 1.2: Instruction set v3.3.2(2)

1.12.6 Sequence examples
Listing 1.1: Sequence example 1
1 { X1 =0 mm , X2 =100 mm } // DEFINE THE INJECTION RANGE BETWEEN 0 mm and 100 mm

2 // INSTALL A STATIC MIXER OF DEFAULT LENGTH
3 [( installmixer ) ]
4 // DRIVE THE LANCE TO THE BEGINNING OF THE INJECTION RANGE AT 300 mm / s
5 [( in ) v =300 mm / s ]
6 // FILL THE MIXER
7 [( fillmixer ) ]
8 // POSITION THE LANCE TO x = 100 mm
9 [( goto ) x =100 mm ]
10 // EXTRUDE 15 ml OF MIXTURE WHILE MOVING -100 mm RELATIVE TO THE CURRENT
POSITION
11 [( goto_relative ) x = -100 mm t =5 s e =15 ml ]
Listing 1.2: Sequence example 2
1 { X1 =15.0 mm , X2 =115.5 mm } // DEFINE INJECTION RANGE

2 [( temp ) T = 40 C ] // SET THE TEMPERATURE TO 40 C
3 // ALLIGN BOTH FLOW COLUMNS
4 [( alignflowresin ) ]
5 [( al ignflo whardener ) ]
6 // INSTALL A MIXER OF 300 mm LENGTH
7 [( installmixer ) x =300 mm ]
8 // FILL THE MIXER WITH 10 ml WITHIN 5 SECONDS , THEN PURGE 10 g at 1 ml / s
9 [( fillmixer ) e =10 ml , t =5 s ]
10 [( purge ) v =1 ml / s , e =10 g ]
11 // DRIVE THE LANCE INTO THE LATHE AND WAIT FOR USER CONFIRMATION
12 [( in ) ]
13 [( pause ) ]
14 // EXTRUDE 15 g OF MIXTURE at 1 g / s WHILE MOVING TO x = 55.44 mm
15 [( goto ) x =55.44 mm , e =15 g , v =1 g / s ]
16 // SHUT DOWN THE HEATERS
17 [( temp ) ]
18 // WAIT FOR 10 SECONDS
19 [( wait ) t =10 s ]
20 // PREVENT TRICKLE AND DRIVE THE LANCE OUT
21 [( notrickle ) ]
22 [( out ) ]

1.13 Maintenance
1.13.1 Adjustability of the lance
Figure 1.22: Positions of the adjusting screws in the carriage assembly
In order to align the lance with the lathe’s rotation axis, it needs to be carefully adjusted. By
tightening / loosening the screws in the carriage assembly (figure 1.22), the lance can be
adjusted in all 6 degrees of freedom. It is recommended to adjust the lance with an installed
static mixer, since a long mixer would cause a significant drop at the end of the lance.
1.13.2 Deaeration
For the machine to function properly, it is necessary to purge the air out of the system. this
can be achieved by repeatedly filling and emptying the cylinders into the reservoirs. Special
functions in the firmware exist for this purpose(see chapter 1.5).
1.13.3 Cleaning of the static mixer connector
It is important to meticulously clean the connector before closing it and to purge a couple
milliliters out of the connector every time after the machine is used, doing this will prevent the
epoxy from hardening in the connector or from blocking the threads.

1.14 Important Notes
Within the manual mode of operation, it is imperative that the user never allows mixed epoxy
to flow back into the lance, as this would block the lines. Epoxy resin hardeners can be
are very aggressive, any seal or hose that has to be replaces needs to be made out of a
compatible material. FFKM and PTFE are examples of compatible materials for the seals.
The installed hoses are made out of polyamide (PA6).

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Institut für Produktionstechnik Contents

1 User manual for the dosing and mixing machine v3.3.2 2

cand.mach Ernesto Miguel Sanchez Solis Seite 1

1 User manual for the dosing and mixing machine v3.3.2

Figure 1.1: Mixing and dosing machine

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Figure 1.2: Cylinder decoupling pin

Figure 1.3: Closed static mixer connector

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1.1 User Interface v3.3.2

Figure 1.4: Interfaces

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Figure 1.5: Interfaces

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Figure 1.6: Menu usage

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Figure 1.7: Static mixer reduction nozzle

1.3 Emergency stop

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1.4 Settings Mode

Figure 1.8: Overview of the settings menu

1.5 Manual Mode

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Figure 1.9: Overview of manual menu

1.6 VALVES menu

Figure 1.10: VALVES menu

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Figure 1.11: Valve mode selection knob

1.7 HEATERS menu

Figure 1.12: Locations of the three thermometers T1, T2 and T3

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Figure 1.13: HEATERS menu

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reached before the controller converges to the target temperature T[set].

1.8 Special heater menu

Figure 1.15: Special heater control menu

1.9 GENERAL MOVEMENTS menu

The GENERAL MOVEMENTS menu allows for independent or synchronous positioning of

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Figure 1.16: GENERAL MOVEMENTS menu

1.10 SPECIAL MOVEMENTS menu

Figure 1.17: SPECIAL MOVEMENTS menu

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1.11 EXTRUDE MIXTURE menu

Figure 1.18: EXTRUDE MIXTURE menu

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Figure 1.19: Drive deviations when extruding

1.12 Automatic Mode

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Figure 1.20: Overview of automatic menu

1.12.1 Machine and tool parameters

Figure 1.21: Overview of the parameters X0 , X1 , and X2

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followed by a list of instructions of the form:

• x describes a position or length, units are always in mm

• v describes a speed, units can be in mm/s, ml/s or g/s

• e describes a mixture amount, units can be in ml or g

• t describes a time, units are always in s

• T describes a temperature, units are always in degrees C

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1.12.3 EDIT SEQUENCE menu

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