FATEK Automation Corporation

The development of the Automatic Paper Turning and Collecting Machine project stems from the printing and post-press packaging industry's increasingly stringent requirements for production efficiency, labor intensity, and finished product quality. In traditional printing production lines, the paper collection stage is often a critical bottleneck for large-format, high-quality double-sided printed materials (such as posters, decorative prints, commercial prints, etc.) or papers requiring specific stacking methods. Traditional paper collection methods, typically involving manual operation or simple mechanical collection, are not only slow and inefficient but also face several core challenges. First, stacking printed materials that are not fully dried can easily cause ink smudging, leading to high scrap rates. Second, manually turning or handling large-format paper is labor-intensive and risks scratching the surface, compromising the quality of the finished product. Furthermore, it is difficult to synchronize the production pace with high-speed printing presses, limiting the overall production line's capacity utilization.
Therefore, there is an urgent market need for equipment capable of automating and intelligently handling paper collection, turning, and stacking tasks. The Automatic Paper Turning and Collecting Machine project emerged precisely in this context. It aims to integrate precision robotic arms, suction paper systems, turning mechanisms, and intelligent stacking devices to achieve non-damaging grasping, smooth turning (e.g., from face-up printing to backside-up, or vice versa), and neat stacking of printed materials. This equipment can seamlessly interface with high-speed printing presses, ensuring uninterrupted paper collection, greatly safeguarding the surface quality of printed products, freeing up labor, and elevating the automation and intelligence level of the entire production line to a new height. It represents a key piece of equipment for enhancing the core competitiveness of modern printing enterprises.

This solution aims to build an efficient, stable, and user-friendly control system for an automatic paper turning and collecting machine. The system's core control unit utilizes the FATEK FBs-MA series PLC, which natively integrates four-axis independent high-speed pulse outputs, enabling direct driving of multiple servo motors without the need for additional motion control modules. This highly integrated design not only simplifies the electrical cabinet layout and reduces system complexity and hardware costs but also ensures high-speed and stable transmission of motion control commands, laying a solid foundation for the efficient and reliable operation of the equipment.
At the transmission and execution level, the system achieves precise position and speed control for each process, including paper collection, turning, and stacking, through servo drive technology. The fast response and high precision of the servo system perfectly meet the equipment's stringent requirements for dynamic response and positioning accuracy. At the same time, detection components such as proximity sensors located at key points across the equipment provide real-time feedback on the position status of the actuators to the PLC, forming a fast-response closed-loop control. This ensures accurate and error-free actions even during high-speed operation, effectively preventing paper jams and collisions.
For human-machine interaction, the solution incorporates the FATEK P5B series HMI. Through an intuitive and clear graphical interface, operators can easily set process parameters such as paper specifications, turning modes, and stacking quantities, while also monitoring the equipment’s operational status and production data in real time. This user-centric design significantly reduces operational difficulty and technical barriers, while making fault diagnosis and information tracing more convenient, further enhancing the equipment's reliability and maintainability.

► Outstanding Motion Control Capability
The system selects the FATEK PLC as its control core. Its powerful motion control functions support linear interpolation for up to 4 axes, enabling easy coordination of multiple servo motors to accomplish complex synchronized trajectory movements. Combined with dedicated NC positioning instructions and the convenience instructions of ladder logic programs, it simplifies and makes efficient the implementation of complex controls like high-precision multi-point positioning and synchronous tracking. This fully meets the stringent requirements of high-end equipment for precise positioning.

► Excellent Reliability and Cost-Effectiveness
The FATEK PLC ensures a long service life through its superior hardware quality, significantly reducing the risk of downtime caused by controller failure. Furthermore, this solution offers excellent cost-effectiveness. It is not only more economical in the initial investment, but its stable performance also greatly reduces later maintenance needs and spare part costs, providing clients with a high long-term return on investment.

► Efficient Development and Debugging Experience
The built-in simulation function in the FATEK programming software is a distinct advantage. Technical personnel can conduct program verification and logic testing in a virtual environment beforehand. This significantly reduces on-site debugging time and costs, accelerates the project commissioning process, effectively lowers equipment risks due to program errors, and overall enhances the efficiency of project implementation.

► Intelligent Human-Machine Interaction and Global Support
FATEK touch screens support multi-language display, allowing flexible adaptation to the language requirements of different export countries without the need for additional development, facilitating the global sales of equipment. Their comprehensive alarm management system can accurately pinpoint the source of faults and effectively distinguish between genuine faults and transient interferences. This helps reduce product scrap rates while also minimizing production disruptions caused by false alarms, thereby improving the equipment's continuous operation efficiency.