The conventional point-to-point cabling between the PLC and the field elements is very expensive during the installation and initial commissioning. The risk of mistakes also increases proportionally to the number of cables used. You need much space in the electrical cabinet and too much time for the creation of wiring plans and drawings. The group of PLC interfaces and pre-assembled cables solve all of these problems.
Due to the need to reduce costs, space and time in the construction of electrical cabinets, the universal wiring system for the PLC provides an efficient alternative to point-to-point wiring.
Weidmüller offers a wide range of pre-made cables and interfaces for the main PLC manufacturers:
Siemens
Schneider
Rockwell
Omron
GE-FANUC
ABB
Mitsubishi
Honeywell
The interfaces are used as transition components between the control side and the field side and are available in the screw or direct connection versions. These interfaces have a compact design and provide different functions, ie. as LEDs, fuses, isolators or relays.
The pre-made cables are supplied with the manufacturer’s connector on one end and are available in different lengths.
The advantages of this system when using standard point-to-point wiring are as follows:
minimum wiring costs.
reduced installation time.
no wiring errors.
reduced space.
clear wiring in the cabinet (cable system instead of individual wires).
the commissioning and production of wiring drawings is simplified.
Weidmüller also provides a guide for selecting the cable assembly + interface depending on the PLC card. This software can be seen on Weidmuller’s Website: http://galaxy.weidmueller.com
With help of this cabling system for the key Siemens S7-300 and S7-400 input/output cards, users can design a byte-connection system for both digital inputs and outputs. This system consists of:
Cable with front adapter for the PLC and standard flat cable connectors for the interface.
Passive interface or per-relay in byte mode (shared supply in groups of eight signals).
The main advantages of this system:
Quicker project planning and initial commissioning.