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LT6 Trimmer Mount Leak Detector

With Touchscreen Control Panel

1. Summary

The improvements in electronic and pneumatic technology over the past 10 years have enabled a new leak tester to be designed which takes advantage of these improvements. Features which have been added include:

1.1. New Touchscreen Microprocessor control system

	Reliable - Hardened against very high levels of mains spikes and static discharges.
	Flexible - can quickly be re-programmed for special needs.
	Improved Accuracy - 12 bit A/D converter is 32 times as accurate as other designs.
	Future-proof - Large number of spare inputs and outputs to allow future expansion provided at no extra cost.
	Easy to Set - 240x128 pixel graphics touchscreen display allows quick, accurate setting and display of test parameters.
	Easy to Fault Find - Diagnostics are provided from the touchscreen, allowing engineers to quickly verify every part of the system.
	International - Since all information is presented on the touchscreen, it is easy to change the program to use another language (where the system is to be used in a non - English speaking country).

1.2. Extra Functions

Spare inputs and outputs are available to connect sensors for Handle Flash Detection, correct Number Failed Count, Jam detection, vision systems, alarms.

1.3. Improved Safety

Since all adjustments are from the front panel, it is no longer necessary for setters to have access to the inside of the control cabinet.

1.4. Self-Diagnostics

The cost of program memory is now very low, so it is easy to incorporate features that were not previously practical. Alarms can be displayed for : Incorrect threshold setting, test head misalignment, bottle crushing during test and high reject rate. For example, if channel 1 of a twin channel system produced significantly more rejects than channel 2, a message would be displayed "CHECK HEAD 1 ALIGNED".

1.5. Flexible Design

The design is highly flexible with respect to software, electronics and pneumatics.

1.6. Cost Effective

The circuit card design is specifically for this application, and does not incorporate unnecessary components for another machine. However, great care has been taken to ensure that the system is flexible, re-programmable and reliable. Spare inputs and outputs have been incorporated so that extra functions can be added whenever required.

1.7. Higher Reliability

This is possible due to technology improvement, reduced component count, integration of all electrical functions onto the PCB, and an in-depth understanding of failure mechanisms.

1.8. Interference Immunity

The voltage spikes produced by electromechanical switching and static discharges can cause electronics to fail. This failure can be temporary (spurious operation) or permanent (component damage). To try to prevent spurious operation of the leak tester, it was common to wire all machine connections through various interference filter cards. This had varying degrees of success. It is now possible and preferable to suppress spikes and static discharges at the leak tester PCB terminals. This results in a much neater and easier to build system. The level of immunity of new designs is extremely high, far better than most bought-in industrial PLC's.

1.9. New Touch-Screen Operator Interface

It is now cost effective to use a modern touch-screen operator interface, rather than a simple digital readout. This has many advantages as follows:

Extremely flexible design. Extra features and customisations can be easily integrated into existing systems.

All test results, displays and counts are displayed together on the main displays page. This enables evaluation of the status of the system at a glance.

All settings are displayed together on a settings page, allowing easy inspection and modification.

All input and output states are displayed together on a diagnostics page. This allows quick fault finding.

The graphics based nature of the screen allows descriptive text and graphics to appear identifying all settings , results and warnings.

Setting changes can be locked out if required.

See below for an example of a screen layout (in this case, for a four channel leak detector system):

LT6 Main Screen Layout

1.10. New Features Summary

	Improved Reliability
	Interference Immunity
	Improved Accuracy
	Improved Safety
	Adjustable Test Pressure
	Self Tuning Pressurisation Control
	Spare Inputs For Extra Functions
	Alarm Output Option
	Correct Number Failed count option for all trimmer configurations * Full Touch Screen Operator Interface
	International Language Displays
	Self-Diagnostics
	Data Logging Options
	Spare I/Os brought out to standard plug
	Reduced Internal Wiring Complexity
	Panel Mounted Pneumatic Controls

2. Specification

Electrical Power Supply	110/120 single phase
Electrical Connection	10 pin HA-10 standard plug
Electrical Power consumption	150 VA maximum
Air Supply	4-10 bar
Air Consumption	1 litre / minute typical
Minimum bottle volume	250ml - 1/2 pint
Maximum bottle volume	25 litres - 5 gallon
Test Pressure	Adjustable, 5 - 50 mB.
Cycle Time	1.0 - 20.0 seconds, adjustable
Hole Size Detected	Dependent on cycle time and container size. For a 500ml bottle and a 2 second test time, the hole detected would be 0.1mm.