Reference project: Display / Solar Vacuum Coating Device: from vapour to homogenous surface finish

We have always kept up with the state of the art and, with regard to the customers’ demands, used a wide variety of technologies and control platforms during the development, whereas the core of the process systems was made of PLC Mitsubishi and Beckhoff.

To be able to maintain and further develop a large number of functions over the years, a strong emphasis has been placed on a structured working method. Well-thought-out and clearly documented specification and design phases form the basis of implementation and the subsequent testing phase.

The device also enables testing of procedures and processes independently of the real machine system. The simulation mode for PLC and HMI is permanently integrated in the software; there is no need to acquire it separately. Constantly, the individual components can be switched between “simulation” and “operation”, which reduces the commissioning time and limits necessary interventions on the spot to a minimum.

The latest control generation includes a newly developed software framework with an object-oriented extension and software concept controlled by the individual events. Thanks to the use of the object-oriented extension of the Beckhoff company, more complex functions can be encapsulated clearly and basic functions adopted very simply by means of dedication.

Outside the actual operating room, in which painting is executed, cassette stations are located, supplied with new glasses by means of an unattended transport system. The processed glasses are withdrawn during the same operation. Then the robot transfers the glass from the cassette station into one of the chambers. From the internal transport system, glasses are inserted in the process chambers, always with 10 reactors, and then processed according to the recipe selected. This perfectly coordinated interplay of operations of high vacuum, pressure, various media and process temperatures results in coated glasses used for TFT displays, conductive traces or thin-layer solar cells.