MOTION SUB-SYSTEM INCLUDING GEARED MOTORS CONTROLS ANALYTICAL EVALUATION PLATFORM. When ExpoPharma designed a new Process Analytical Technology (PAT) powder-stream conditioning chute - a full-scale development platform for characterising analytical sensors for use in continuous pharma or similar manufacturing processes - they turned to Mclennan for a standalone Ethernet-based three-axis micropositioning sub-system, complete with planetary gear units, preprogrammed HMI and a temperature controller. ExpoPharma's Spectrum Multi-Probe Chute allows multiple PAT technologies to be simultaneously evaluated as a means to economise API software related use and speed production development by providing optimum interfacing for several sensor types that economically gather high-quality data in sequence during the same process stream. The various sensors used provide precise information from the powder stream including chemical structure, identity, particle size, contamination etc. The three positioning axes, supplied from Mclennan's distribution partner JVL, are MIS232 series integrated microstepping motors - the novel motion control solution that combines motor, drive, controller and comms in a single package. Fitted with Mclennan's own range of IP57-M01, 10:1 ratio planetary gear units to provide high resolution angular positioning, each drive micropositions special 'wheels or flipper-shaped' end-effectors that are designed to collect sample material from the powder stream and present it to the sensor being assessed through a probe window. These sensors are typically particle image analysers, Raman spectroscopy probes and a near infrared (NIR) spectrometers. For these diverse and complex analytical sensor types, the characterisation process necessitates its corresponding and different shaped end-effector to manage the sample collection (and for some a PAT probe cleaning regime) with quite different positioning sequences in terms of angular travel, speed, acceleration and deceleration.
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