REVAMPING

Since 1978 EEI S.p.A. designs and manufactures electronic equipment for cableway systems for the transport of people and materials. EEI, thanks to the many still efficient systems, is above all interested in revamping of systems in service for decades. Any of these still employ the original analog electronic control circuits designed in the 80s and 90s, which are demonstrating their reliability and safety in many years of operation.

For these systems, EEI has designed and is using new versions compatible with the same control boards built at the time, but made with technologically current components, reliable and perfectly compatible with the old units.

The new versions of the EEI control boards keep all the functions, the electrical architecture and the general organization of the circuits (inputs and outputs, adjustments with potentiometers, etc.) completely unchanged.
In circuits that perform important functions, the only difference is the substantial replacement of obsolete components with updated components combined with a strong microprocessor diagnostic interface with a color touch screen LCD panel.

FN BOARDS

For your static logic systems, actually in operation, EEI has the opportunity to guarantee you all the operational reliability you need, necessary to guarantee your customers adequate transport.

The new “FN series” versions of the analog electronic control boards are intended both for the construction of new equipment, for the modernization of ski lifts and chairlifts with fixed connections, and to be supplied as spare parts for the pin-to-pin replacement of the historic ones, the 700 series boards.

The new versions are perfectly interchangeable with the previous ones; to replace an obsolete board with the new equivalent one, simply extract the previous board, insert the new one, and adjust the settings with the same simple methods used for the previous one.

The analog electronic circuits of the previous versions controlled indicator instruments, lamps and LEDs; the new versions allow all these functions to be created equally.

In the new versions, microprocessor circuits have been added which collect much information from analog circuits and can transmit it to an optional Operator Panel.

The new Operator Panel shows on the graphic display a greater number of useful information for the operator to search for the causes of  stops and faults, the operation and the tests:

  • operating states, inputs and outputs;
  • trend of the quantities received and commanded (speed, current, references);
  • state of alarms, with indication of the first respondent who ordered the stop;
  • charts of speed, current and brake control during stop.

Contact EEI team to receive technical documentation or for a preliminary quotation.

FF BOARDS

EEI with these solutions intends to give you the opportunity to update your systems already of the digital type, at the current state of the art.

With the creation of new boards, the fifth generation of equipment opens and the integration of a new SCADA supervisor born from an Industry 4.0 perspective.

EEI will allow you to project your plant at the same level as a new plant with a few simple and cheap steps:

  • Technological adaptation with the replacement of the rack cards with the new pin to pin generation compatible with the existing ones and possible adaptation to PTS-IE for systems built before 2001.
  • Spare parts guarantee for over 10 years.
  • New and powerful SCADA supervisor with optional packages that can be customized to the needs of each customer such as: Maintenance package, Fault statistics, Detections of faults recorded on each car by reading with RFID Tag system, Remote connections, WI-FI connections to I pad, Portable PCs, control or maintenance cameras, etc.
  • Funding possibilities Industry 4.0

Contact EEI team to receive technical documentation or for a quote.

SCADA SUPERVISORY SYSTEM

The new supervisor system is fully part of the “smart technologies”:

  • Smart Production: creating a direct link between the driver, machine and tools
  • Smart service: for the integration between systems and structures by integrating supplier – customer support through the possibility of remote access for maintenance operations and problem solving in a collaborative way.
  • Smart energy: all this with a “careful eye on energy consumption”, with the possibility of using electric drives powered by “A.F.E.” (active front end) for high performance engines and reduction of energy waste according to the typical paradigms of sustainable energy. The use of AFE-Inverter systems for AC motors, or AFE – Chopper for DC motors, allows to reduce consumption thanks to the elimination of harmonic currents and automatic correction of the cos φ without the help of benches capacitors and reactors, which, as is known, disperse a lot of energy into heat.

The peculiarity of the new supervisor born for the integration between IT systems is strictly connected to the concept of industry 4.0, so it is possible to benefit from the tax incentives defined by the National Industry 4.0 plan of the budget law.

The main “Control panel” page contains all the information useful for the operator. The top alarm is highlighted in the upper part and the stop history on request. By clicking on the first responder, it will be possible to open the page relating to the protection unit that intervened before for the detailed analysis of the arrest.

Contact EEI team to receive technical documentation or for a quote.

SINGLE-WIRE LINE SAFETY DEVICES

The EEI 19 line safety circuit is of the “selective” type and has spread in recent years for the best performance.

Its characteristic is the use of many separate support circuits, each dedicated to a line support or to a remote station. This allow to clearly recognize the support or station that has detected an abnormal condition, or has issued a stop command, or is not functioning properly due to a fault.

If it is necessary, and with the appropriate procedures, the “selective” Circuit provides the exclusion of a Support Circuit hit by a fault, however despite the function of the other Support Circuits.

The system is intended to be used both for cableways that have a short route and few line supports, and for cableways up to 3 km long and 30 supports.

Each support is associated with a circuit with independent quiescent current: this is to be able to exclude a complete circuit of support, leaving the others running, and to identify where the irregular condition or a fault has occurred.

These needs require a modular structure of the system:

  • a number of “Support Circuit” modules configurable according to the needs of the system;
  • a safety PLC, responsible for managing the operation of the modules, processing the numerous information they transmit and issuing the summary Consent /Stop command with adequate safety performance and continuous test of the quiescent currents;
  •  an Operator Panel, controlled by the safety PLC, suitable for providing the operator with the large number of information collected from the numerous Support Circuits and processed by the transmitter PLC for a clear and unequivocal diagnosis for each support.

DUAL-WIRE LINE SAFETY DEVICES

The line safety circuit for two-wire systems is of the inductive and capacitive type.

EEI has installed the safety component in compliance with Directive 2000/9 / EC, called “Transmission system of EEI 08 commands for cableways”, on various cable systems, either newly built or modernized.

A single “Command Transmission System”:

  • Collects up to 32 On / Off signals in the “remote place”; 28 are general purpose “commands”, 4 are suitable for “fast signals”, for example fixed point sensors, which require special treatment.
  • It transmits the 32 signals along the rope to the “central place” (the driving station).
  • It summarizes the 28 commands and issues 2 stop commands (“Electric Stop” and “Mechanical Stop”), suitable for functions of class AK3 or AK4, the highest foreseen by the harmonized standards.
  • It emits 6 On / Off signals that repeat as many commands and fast signals collected in the “remote place” (eg. Fixed point, Consent, Run), suitable for class functions AK1 or AK2.
  • It transmits the status of the 32 signals collected in the “remote place” to the PLC of the “central station”. In the “remote place” a card can be installed, to collect 14 “commands” and 2 “fast signals”, or two cards, to double the available signals.