Maguire has also enhanced its standard controller by replacing coded read-outs with messages in plain English and other languages, added flash memory and a USB port, made Ethernet connectivity standard, and eliminated need to change chips in order to update software.

“Both the advanced ‘touchscreen” controller and the enhanced standard system make deployment and operation of our blenders easy and intuitive and provide fast, seamless communication with other information systems,” Good said. “By combining wireless connectivity and a capability of communicating both internally and with outside systems at speeds of up to100 megabits per second, the new touchscreen controller readily links Maguire blenders with other wireless-equipped machines, regardless of manufacturer.”   
 
Enhanced Standard Controller Streamlines Operation, Updates, and Networking

Maguire has built five new or improved features into the standard controller:

• User-friendly interface. A new two-line, 40-character vacuum fluorescent display
  (VFD) provides detailed messaging and can be set to deliver text in English, Czech, Dutch, French, German, Italian, and Spanish. Maguire plans to add five more languages.
    
• USB port. The addition of this connection option broadens the range of printers that can be connected with the controller.
    
• Software updates via email, without need of installing a new chip from Maguire. The company has added flash memory programming that, along with the new USB port, makes it possible to update the software using a memory stick. Alternatively, updates can be downloaded from a PC through a serial port in the controller.
    
• Ethernet capability now standard.  An external device is no longer required to translate between the controller microprocessor, with internal communication speeds of 2.4 megabits per second, and external Ethernet networks. This translation capability is now built into the system, making possible communication with outside systems at a speed of 10 megabits per second.
    
• Single card for fieldbus communication. The new Communications Gateway Card facilitates communication between the blender and other devices via Profibus, DeviceNet, and other widely used networking languages.

The advanced controller is available only for new blenders and upon customer specification; otherwise, Maguire will equip all new blenders with the enhanced standard controller and will also provide a retrofit module that connects to an existing serial port.  
 

MAGUIRE PRODUCTS, INC., headquartered in Aston, Pennsylvania, U.S.A., is the world’s largest supplier of gravimetric blenders and liquid color pumps and also manufactures loading systems, granulators, dryers, auger feeders, and related equipment and software. Its customers include injection, blow, and rotational molders, extrusion processors, and compounders. Founded in 1977, Maguire operates five manufacturing facilities in Aston and Smithfield, Rhode Island, U.S.A. The company maintains a network of distributors in the Americas and overseas and has two sales and service subsidiaries: Maguire Europe, which supports customers throughout Europe and operates a distribution center in Tamworth, Staffordshire, United Kingdom; and Singapore-based Maguire Asia, serves customers throughout South Asia and the Pacific Rim. Visit the Maguire Products web site: www.maguire.com