Application of digital communication techniques to plastic extrusion process

Extrusion of molten plastic onto wire and other metal shapes requires very close control of numerous variables to ensure consistent product quality at maximum production rates. To accomplish a higher extruder performance, the hardware structure and software design of a plastic extruder control system based on digital communication technique is presented. The system is constituted of an integrated control mode with Personal Computer (PC) and programmable logic controller (PLC). The working principle, hardware and software are described in detail. The virtual produce results indicate that the designed control system ensures a good plastic extruder control.