At the K 2022 plastics and rubber trade fair in Düsseldorf, some of the exhibits of the machine manufacturer BOY will be presented with a new visualisation of the machine control on booth A 43 in hall 13. The Alpha 6 - the designated successor to the still current Procan Alpha 4 control system - is immediately recognisable by its 16: 9 screen format. The TFT-colour display of the Alpha 6 has a Full-HD resolution with 1920 x 1080 pixels (px) and operates with the Multitouch PCT-technology (projected capacitive). The display of the symbols has been changed to a design that is particularly comfortable for the eyes. Special focus has been placed on soft colours and a structured symbolism.
Due to the modified and slightly wider screen format, the Alpha 6 offers its users an additional input (widget)-area, that can be individually configurated with prefabricated modules as it is the case in a modular system. By clicking on an object from this library set values can be freely defined and edited at any time, and the actual values determined by the control system can be displayed.
"With the updated visualisation of the user surface and a slightly updated symbolism, users who are already familiar with the previous BOY-controls will be able to get easily and quickly along with Alpha 6”, comments Thomas Kühr, Head of Electrical Design at BOY.
The display of the Alpha 6 with its touch-surface still offers the advantages of a clear and intuitive machine control. In the course of the increasing networking of injection moulding machines, the Alpha 6 also offers the use of a wide variety of "add-ons" (digital expansion programmes), such as the BOY-WLAN-Stick, the BOY-Software Moulding Assist and the BOY-Status-App. In addition, the possibility of a voice control will be demonstrated at the exhibition booth. The BOY-WLAN-Stick - plugged into the BOY machine control - connects the injection moulding machine to the Internet via an existing customer-WLAN or a hotspot. This enables a secure, remote-controlled monitoring of process sequences up to an immediate assistance via remote maintenance with the
BOY-repeater from Neustadt-Fernthal. After its premiere at the K 2022, the Alpha 6 control system will gradually replace the current Procan Alpha 4.
