Skip to Content
Skip to content
Production lines

Plastics & Injection Molding

Closed-loop pressure and position profiles for repeatable part quality.

  • Typical axes3
  • NetworkEtherCAT
  • Control modeCST / CSP · CSP
  • Recommended seriesSDU3 · SM13 · SD24-LP · SMR
01
The sector at a glance

Plastics & Injection Molding

The injection cycle demands precise profile tracking across phase changes.

Three things that decide it on the shop floor

  1. 01

    Repeatable profile

    The same pressure and position curve every cycle decides part quality.

  2. 02

    Holding pressure

    The motor heats during the hold phase; it counts in the RMS torque.

  3. 03

    Braking energy

    Slowing a heavy mould needs a braking resistor.

02
Our advantages

Why SMB TECHNICS?

One set, controller to cable

Controller, drive, motor, cable and connector arrive checked against each other; interface problems are solved at the desk, not on the shop floor.

Open standards

EtherCAT, CANopen, Modbus RTU, CODESYS and CiA 402: your machine is not tied to a closed ecosystem.

Engineer-to-engineer support

The same team from sizing to commissioning, on site and remotely.

Documented products

Manuals, CAD, ESI/EDS and firmware in the Document Centre; every product you choose comes with its documents.

Our application know-how for this sector
  • Injection control with pressure and position profiles
  • Thermal sizing of the hold phase (RMS)
  • Braking energy and braking-resistor calculation
03
How we build the system

From control chain to commissioning, which product goes where

3.1

The control chain and the recommended products

How the machine is driven and the SMB products we choose for it.

The injection moulding cycle — fill, pack/hold, plasticising and mould open/close — needs a different velocity and pressure profile in each phase. Servo-driven units track these profiles in closed loop, improving shot-to-shot repeatability and delivering significant energy savings over hydraulic systems. Smooth handover between phases and stable holding torque directly determine part quality.

Engineering know-how from the shop floor carries over to managing every phase of the injection cycle in closed loop and with energy efficiency.

The control chain

An injection cycle is four different machines in sequence — clamp, inject, hold, eject — and the part is decided in the transition between them. That puts the burden on the controller: a MAT-LC CPU sequencing the cycle, SDU3 and SDE drives on SM10 and SM13 motors where the axis has to hold pressure rather than just reach a position, and an HMI-R9 panel that lets a process engineer see the cycle, not just start it.

What decides the result

  • The changeover point. Moving from velocity control to pressure control is where short shots and flash are made. It is a loop transition, and how cleanly the drive makes it is the machine.
  • Repeatability across a shift. A cycle that is right cold and wrong warm is a thermal problem expressed as a motion one; it shows up as drift in hold pressure.
  • Energy in the hold phase. A servo-hydraulic or all-electric axis spends most of the cycle holding, which is where the running cost of the machine actually lives.

Sizing it

Bring the clamp force, shot weight, screw diameter and the cycle time you have to hit. The selection guide narrows drives by power and supply; for the mechanics, the sizer works from mass, stroke and cycle.

Select the products for this machine Enter power, torque and network; compare compatible drives and motors and add them to your basket. Selection guide
3.2

The architecture: which product goes where

The boxes show the real products; click one to open the series.

  • EtherCAT
  • Ethernet
  • Power and feedback
  • Safety
Where this machine sits on the full SMB system map
CPU / PLC & Motion Control 3 series Expansion Rack / IO 10 products Ethernet switch Ethernet Operator Panels 3 series Sensors 3 series EtherCAT Servo Drives 17 products CANopen Servo Drives 6 products Modbus RTU Servo Drives 4 products Servo Motors 6 series Power and Encoder Cables 2 series CODESYS IEC 61131-3 PLCopen Motion Control CiA 402 Drive profile
EtherCAT Ethernet CANopen Modbus RTU Digital I/O Power and feedback

CPU / PLC & Motion Control

Expansion Rack / IO

Ethernet switch

The industrial switch distributes Ethernet traffic between the controller, the operator panel and the engineering PC. It is part of the architecture, not part of the SMB catalogue.

Operator Panels

Sensors

EtherCAT Servo Drives

CANopen Servo Drives

Modbus RTU Servo Drives

Servo Motors

Power and Encoder Cables

CODESYS

SMB controllers are programmed in CODESYS: the IEC 61131-3 languages, integrated motion and a single project covering both machine logic and the axes.

PLCopen

PLCopen Motion Control function blocks give every axis the same standard interface, so proven machine code carries over from one project to the next.

CiA 402

SMB servo drives implement the CiA 402 drive profile: the same state machine and the same operating modes over EtherCAT and over CANopen.

3.3

Product placement, axis by axis

Each axis, its task, its control mode and the drive–motor pair on it.

  1. 01
    Injection screw Pressure and position profile
    CST / CSP · EtherCAT
  2. 02
    Mould clamp Fast approach, controlled close
    CSP · EtherCAT
  3. 03
    Take-out robot Fast part removal from the mould
    CSP · EtherCAT

CSP: cyclic synchronous position · CSV: cyclic synchronous velocity · CST: cyclic synchronous torque · PP: profile position. The series is confirmed by load and supply voltage.

3.4

The build, step by step

From requirement to support; the SMB products and tools each step uses.

  1. 1

    Requirements and sizing

    The motion profile, load and cycle time of every axis are collected; torque, speed and inertia ratio are calculated per axis.

    • Peak and RMS torque, top speed
    • Load-to-motor inertia ratio and gearing
    • Supply: 220 V AC, 380 V AC or 24–70 V DC
  2. 2

    Architecture and product choice

    The network (EtherCAT, CANopen, Modbus RTU), the controller and the drive–motor pair per axis are chosen; the safety and power side is drawn at this step.

    • EtherCAT for synchronised axes, CANopen for independent ones
    • Drive current covers the motor peak current
    • STO and braked motors come from the risk assessment
  3. 3

    Cabinet, cabling and EMC

    Power and encoder cables run in separate ducts with their shields bonded 360°; an EMI filter goes at the drive input and a braking resistor where the load regenerates.

    • Flexible cable for the cable chain
    • Shields are earthed at both ends
    • The braking resistor is sized from the braking energy
  4. 4

    Software and network

    In the CODESYS project the axes are defined with PLCopen blocks; the drives join the network through their ESI/EDS files and run the CiA 402 state machine.

    • IEC 61131-3 languages and PLCopen Motion Control
    • ESI (EtherCAT) and EDS (CANopen) in the Document Centre
    • EtherCAT coupler for remote I/O
  5. 5

    Commissioning and tuning

    After wiring and direction checks the gains are tuned and the axes homed; the operator panel carries the machine recipes.

    • Direction, limit and emergency-stop tests
    • Speed and position loop gain tuning
    • Backing up the parameter sets
  6. 6

    Support and lifecycle

    Alarm codes, spare parts, firmware and training, from the same engineering team.

    • Alarm-code and troubleshooting guides
    • Manual, CAD and firmware downloads
    • Remote and on-site support
3.5

The solution package: what comes with the product

Hardware, software, engineering and lifecycle.

02

Software and know-how

The CODESYS project, PLCopen motion blocks and know-how specific to this machine.

  • Injection control with pressure and position profiles
  • Thermal sizing of the hold phase (RMS)
  • Braking energy and braking-resistor calculation
03

Engineering support

Sizing, architecture, commissioning and tuning, on site and remotely.

  • Motor and drive sizing per axis
  • System architecture and network choice
  • Commissioning, gain tuning and homing
04

Lifecycle

Manuals, ESI/EDS files, spare parts and training.

  • Document Centre: manuals, CAD, firmware
  • ESI and EDS files, parameter backups
  • Spare parts and user training
Engineering knowledge base

Commissioning this application

The topics engineers in this industry ask about most, each with answers, checklists and troubleshooting steps.

Need this motion in your machine?

Request Quote
Start Product Selection Filter, compare, add to basket