SKEDD direct connectors make drive control scalable using a modular concept

• ASO GmbH supplies safety solutions for automated gates and machinery.
• The company scales the electronic equipment of its Drico 2.0 drive control to be able to provide application-compatible solutions for a wide range of performance classes.
• SKEDD direct connectors enable the needs-based equipment of controllers with extra connections.
• Thanks to solderless direct connection technology, the connectors are simply and securely inserted and interlocked during final assembly.

Headquartered in Lippstadt in North Rhine-Westphalia, ASO GmbH develops, produces, and sells drive controls, safety contact strips, contact mats, and contact bumpers for applications in production facilities, cold storage facilities, logistics, and agricultural technology. The company has around 180 employees at its locations in Germany, China, and the US.

Drico 2.0 drive control executes the main functions of gates that open vertically or horizontally. This includes controlling drives for opening and closing, integrating the gate brake or a safety stop function, and other features such as a rotary transducer or thermal switch. For customer-specific performance requirements, ASO GmbH provides the drive controls in various performance classes with the electronic equipment scaled accordingly. The modular system includes a total of nine different PCB layouts that enable up to 480 variations. Currently, 25 equipment variations have been specified. “The upper performance range encompasses high-frequency gates controlled by traffic, users, or processes with, for example, several drives, induction loops, or signal lights,” explains project manager Norbert Pewny. “The more complex the overall system, the more important safety functions become. The functionality of the control must increase accordingly.” While it was developing the modular system, ASO GmbH kept an eye on customer requirements. “The basic concept is hardware scalability, which provides our customers with many advantages.”

PCB connections such as terminal blocks and connectors make it possible to transfer signals, data, and power between the drive control and other powered devices such as drives. This is why connection technology plays such an important role in the scalability of functions. Key functions that remain the same in all performance classes are implemented with conventional PCB terminal blocks and PCB connectors from Phoenix Contact. For extra functions such as braking choppers, rotary transducers, and thermal switches, ASO GmbH also relies on single- and double-row SKEDD direct connectors. The special feature of the innovative connection technology? Series SDC 2,5 and SDDC 1,5 connectors are directly connected to the printed circuit board without soldering and interlocked with body-bound rivets, which makes them reversible.

The connectors are approved in accordance with UL 1059, CAN/CSA C22.2 No. 158-10, and DIN EN 61984 and permit up to 25 plug and pull cycles. “The connectors are not soldered, which is perfect. This allows us to add certain components after the fact or simply omit them in final assembly, depending on the device design,” explained Dennis Mettner, a hardware developer at ASO GmbH. The benefit for ASO customers: They receive hardware equipment tailored to their specific requirements and do not have to pay for functions and components that they do not need.

The developers have implemented key functions that remain the same in all performance classes with conventional PCB terminal blocks and PCB connectors from Phoenix Contact. The decisive criteria were the connection technology’s high reliability and worldwide availability. After all, customers around the globe will use large numbers of the new controller.