3. Getting to know the S-4

• Supply Hopper

This large stainless steel hopper is where you will put your bulk material.
 
• Supply Hopper Gate

This is a small gate located on the Supply Hopper that controls how fast the material should flow from the Supply Hopper onto the Feed Pan.
 
• Feed Pan/Vibrator assembly

The bulk material flows down from the Supply Hopper onto the Feed Pan. The Feed Pan is attached to a vibrator.
 
• Optional Dribble Gate

The purpose of the optional dribble gate is to restrict the flow of material during the dribble cycle.
 
• Weigh Hopper

This is where the material accumulates and is weighed during a fill cycle. Once this is filled to the desired weight, it is dropped into the container by the controller using the drop gate.
 
• Controller

The controller is the “brain” of the S-4. It contains a small computer that controls the speed of the vibrator motor and interfaces with the operator through the footswitch, front panel switches and front panel LCD display.
 
• Foot Switch

The footswitch will normally sit on the floor. The footswitch is used by the operator to start and stop the S-4. If it is pressed before the Accumulation Hopper is filled, the S-4 will pause. Pressing the Foot Switch again will resume the fill cycle.

4. Getting to know the S-4 Controller

• Power Switch

The power switch is located on the bottom of the Controller. 
• LCD display

The LCD display is a 4 line by 16 character display that is used by the controller to communicate to the user. 
• Keypad

The Keypad has 16 keys and is used by the operator to communicate with the controller. The keys "0" thru "9" , "." and "Enter" keys are used to make menu selections and to enter values. The "C/CE" key is used to clear an erroneously entered value while entering a new parameter. The up and down arrow keys are used for scrolling through menus or data. The "Home" key takes you back to the main menu from any screen. This last key keeps you from getting lost in the menus. It also allows easier communications for our telephone technical support. For example, no matter what screen you are in, pressing "Home 1" will tare the scale. Pressing "Home 24" will save the current job. 
• Fuse

The fuse is located in the power entry block. The power cord must be removed to replace the fuse. If there is no display when the power switch is turned on, unscrew the Fuse and visually inspect it to see if it is blown. Replace it with a fuse of the correct value (4 amps). 

5. Operating your S-4 in the User Mode

The Fill Process
The S-4 Controller in User mode fills a container as follows. It fills the major portion of the container at a high speed (Bulk Speed) until it reaches a certain weight (Bulk Cutoff). It then fills the remainder of the container at a slower speed (Dribble Speed) until it reaches a terminal weight (Dribble Cutoff). The terminal weight is usually a bit less than the final weight because a small amount of material falls into the container after the vibrator motor turns off.
For example, if the operator was filling bags with 5 pounds of rice, he/she might program the S-4 Controller to fill the first 4.75 pounds at a high vibrator motor speed. The Bulk Cutoff would be 4.75 pounds and the Bulk Speed might be 50% of full motor speed. The remaining pound of material might then get filled at a lower vibrator motor speed. The operator might program a Dribble Speed of 20% and a Dribble Cutoff of 4.98 pounds guessing that the final 0.02 pounds will fall into the container after the controller turns off the vibrator motor.

• Turn on the Controller

Every time the controller is turned on using the power switch, the LCD screen displays a short “splash” screen (fig. 1) that indicates the model number and revision number. You should see a line like “S4 Rev 1.06”. In this example, the first part of the message “S4” would tell you that the controller is setup for the Model S-4 machine. If this first part shows “S3”, call Alard Equipment Corp for instructions on changing it to “S4”. The “Rev 1.06” part of the message is indicating the software revision in the controller (1.06 in this example). Write this down so that if you need to call Alard Equipment Corp. with a question, they will know what machine you have.

Once the “splash” screen has past, the “Home” screen (fig. 2) will show a short menu, a “Job number”, an indication of whether the current job is “automatic” or “manual”, and the weight indicated by the scale.
The “Job number” is the job currently being used. The controller can store several jobs that the operator has setup and saved in its internal memory and the operator can recall those jobs later on. A Job is a set of parameters that tell the controller how to fill a particular container with a particular amount of material. All jobs are saved when the power is removed.

There are 2 characters after the job number. They will either be “Au” indicating that the currently loaded job is an “automatic” mode job or “Us” indicating the current job is a “User” mode job. An automatic job means the controller will constantly adjust the job parameters during operation and a user job will use fixed operator supplied parameters and will make no adjustments.

The weight of the material currently in the Scale/Accumulation Hopper will be shown on the bottom right side of the LCD display. If you connected the scale you should be able to make this weight change by pressing on the Scale/Accumulation Hopper.

• Load a Job

We will load job number 2 for this example. Load the current job number 2 from the controller’s memory by pressing “Home 2,3” to get to the load job screen (fig. 3). You will be asked to enter the job number you want to load. Press “2” and then “Enter” to load the parameters currently saved in job#2. After hitting “Enter” you will be returned to the main screen. Notice that the bottom line of the display starts with “Job: 2” (fig. 4). This is telling you that job number 2 is being used.

• Setup Operating Modes

Now we need to tell the controller to use “user” mode for this job. This forces the controller to use operator supplied parameters while it is running. Press “Home 2,2” to get to the “Edit Modes” menu (fig. 5). The first item in this menu should be “Mode”. By pressing the “1” key you can toggle the mode from “Auto” to “User”. Toggle the mode to indicate “User”

While you are in this menu, notice the other menu items. Press the “2” key o toggle the “AutoDump” setting to “Off”. Use the “3” key to toggle the “AutoTare” to “Off”.

Once you have made the above changed to the Modes, press Home to go back to the home screen.
 

• Set the Bulk Cutoff Weight

If we are running the job described above we will want to enter the bulk cutoff weight of 4.75 lbs. Press “Home 2,1” to get to the parameter edit list. Press the “1” key to edit the bulk cutoff weight (fig. 6). If while entering the parameter you make a mistake, you can press the C/CE key to clear your entry and reenter the parameter. Enter the desired bulk cutoff weight and press enter when you are done. (Your Model S-4 comes calibrated in pounds. If you wish to change to the metric system, see the section on calibration , listed below.) You will be returned to the parameter edit list. You can use the arrow keys to view all of these parameters. Use the “Home” key to return to the main screen.

• Set the Bulk Speed

Press “Home 2,1” to get to the parameter edit list if you are not already in it. Press the “2” key to edit the bulk speed (fig. 7). If while entering the parameter you make a mistake, you can press the C/CE key to clear your entry and reenter the parameter. Enter the desired bulk speed and press enter when you are done. (Both Bulk and dribble speeds are displayed as a percent of 100%, full speed.) You will be returned to the parameter edit list. You can use the arrow keys to view all of these parameters. Use the “Home” key to return to the main screen.

• Set the Dribble Cutoff Weight

Press “Home 2,1” to get to the parameter edit list if you are not already in it. Press the “3” key to edit the dribble cutoff weight (fig 8). If while entering the parameter you make a mistake, you can press the C/CE key to clear your entry and reenter the parameter. Enter the desired dribble cutoff weight and press enter when you are done. You will be returned to the parameter edit list. You can use the arrow keys to view all of these parameters. Use the “Home” key to return to the main screen.

• Set the Dribble Speed

Press “Home 2,1” to get to the parameter edit list if you are not already in it. Press the “4” key to edit the dribble speed (fig. 9). If while entering the parameter you make a mistake, you can press the C/CE key to clear your entry and reenter the parameter. Enter the desired dribble speed and press enter when you are done. You will be returned to the parameter edit list. You can use the arrow keys to view all of these parameters. Use the “Home” key to return to the main screen.

• Set the Target Weight

Press “Home 2,1” to get to the parameter edit list if you are not already in it. You can use the up and down arrow keys to view all the parameters. Press the “5” key to edit the target weight (fig. 10). If while entering the parameter you make a mistake, you can press the C/CE key to clear your entry and reenter the parameter. Enter the desired target weight and press enter when you are done. You will be returned to the parameter edit list. You can use the arrow keys to view all of these parameters. Use the “Home” key to return to the main screen.

• Set the Drop Gate Open Time

The drop gate open time is the time that the controller leaves the gate open. This and the drop gate close time can be adjusted to optimize cycle time. Press “Home 2,1” to get to the parameter edit list if you are not already in it. You can use the up and down arrow keys to view all the parameters. Press the “8” key to edit the drop gate open time (fig. 11). If while entering the parameter you make a mistake, you can press the C/CE key to clear your entry and reenter the parameter. Enter the desired open time and press enter when you are done. You will be returned to the parameter edit list. You can use the arrow keys to view all of these parameters. Use the “Home” key to return to the main screen.
 
• Set the Drop Gate Close Time

Press “Home 2,1” to get to the parameter edit list if you are not already in it. You can use the up and down arrow keys to view all the parameters. Press the “9” key to edit the drop gate close time (fig. 12)

• Tare the Scale

With nothing on the Scale, press”Home 1” (fig. 13). The display should read “0.000”. This removes any offset in the scale so that anything you now put on the scale will be weighed from a value of zero.
 
• Check Calibration of the Scale

Place a known weight on the scale and see if it is accurate. If it is not, you must “calibrate the scale”. To calibrate the scale, first tare the scale (see above), then put an object of known weight on the scale. Press “Home 3,1” to get to the calibrate screen (fig. 14). You will be prompted to enter the weight of the object you put on the scale. Enter the weight of the object and press “Enter”. You will be returned to the main screen where you should see the correct weight for the object on the scale.

• Adjust the Supply Hopper Gate

Set the height of the Supply Hopper Gate to something that will restrict the material flowing from the Supply Hopper to the Feed Pan so that it will flow smoothly. You may have to adjust this later on.
 
• Put some material in the Hopper

Put your material in the Hopper. It should flow down into the Feed Pan/Vibrator. You may have to push some material down into the Feed Pan to get things started.
 
• Press the Foot Switch

Press the Foot Switch to start the fill cycle. The “Drop Gate” will open and close and the vibrator will start. If you have the optional Feed Pan Gate, it will open. The Controller will use the supplied parameters to fill the accumulate hopper. When the accumulator has been filled the display will indicate the weight of the material in the Accumulation Hopper.

• Fine Tuning Material Flow

If you find the vibrator is running very fast and/or it takes a long time for the accumulator to fill, you may have the Supply Hopper Gate too restrictive for the material in the Supply Hopper. On the other hand, if the container fills quickly but is not very accurate, the Supply Hopper Gate may not be restrictive enough and should be lowered. Generally the Feed Pan should contain one layer of material when the container is filling. For example, if you are filling a container with beans, you should observe a continuous flow of beans in the Feed Pan, one bean deep that flows smoothly and evenly. If there are gaps or open spots where you can see the bottom of the Feed Pan, you should open up the Supply Hopper Gate.
• Save the Job

You should now save the job so that the next time you turn the machine on, all the current operating parameters are saved. The S-4 does not automatically save jobs. You must save the job. To do this simply press “Home 2,4” (fig. 15.) This will save all of the current parameters so that the next time you load this job from the controllers memory, it will operate just as it did the last time you saved the job.

6. Operating your S-4 in Automatic Mode

• Turn on the Controller

Every time the controller is turned on using the power switch, the LCD screen displays a short “splash” screen (fig. 16) that indicates the model number and revision number. You should see a line like “S4 Rev 1.06”. In this example, the first part of the message “S4” would tell you that the controller is setup for the Model S-4 machine. If this first part shows “S3”, call Alard Equipment Corp for instructions on changing it to “S4”. The “Rev 1.06” part of the message is indicating the software revision in the controller (1.06 in this example). Write this down so that if you need to call Alard Equipment Corp. with a question, they will know what machine you have.

Once the “splash” screen has past, the “Home” screen (fig. 17) will show a short menu, a “Job number”, an indication of whether the current job is “automatic” or “manual”, and the weight indicated by the scale.
The “Job number” is the job currently being used. The controller can store several jobs that the operator has setup and saved in its internal memory and the operator can recall those jobs later on. A Job is a set of parameters that tell the controller how to fill a particular container with a particular amount of material. All jobs are saved when the power is removed.

There are 2 characters after the job number. They will either be “Au” indicating that the currently loaded job is an “automatic” mode job or “Us” indicating the current job is a “User” mode job. An automatic job means the controller will constantly adjust the job parameters during operation and a user job will use fixed operator supplied parameters and will make no adjustments.

The weight of the material currently in the Scale/Accumulation Hopper will be shown on the bottom right side of the LCD display. If you connected the scale you should be able to make this weight change by pressing on the Scale/Accumulation Hopper.
 

• Load a Job

We will load job number 1 for this example. Load the current job number 1 from the controller’s memory by pressing “Home 2,3” to get to the load job screen (fig. 18). You will be asked to enter the job number you want to load. Press “1” and then “Enter” to load the parameters currently saved in job #1. After hitting “Enter” you will be returned to the Home screen (fig. 19). Notice that the bottom line of the display starts with “Job: 1”. This is telling you that job number 1 is being used.

• Setup Operating Modes

Now we need to tell the controller to use “automatic mode” for this job. This allows the controller to try and optimize the running parameters while it is running. Press “Home 2,2” to get to the “Edit Modes” menu (fig. 20). The first item in this menu should be “Mode”. By pressing the “1” key you can toggle the mode from “Auto” to “User”. Toggle the mode to indicate “Auto”

While you are in this menu, notice the other menu items. Press the “2” key to toggle the “AutoDump” setting to “Off”. Use the “3” key to toggle the “AutoTare” to “Off”.

Once you have made the above changed to the Modes, press Home to go back to the home screen.
 

• Set Target Weight

Since we are going to run in “Automatic” mode for this example, the only parameter we need to adjust is the target weight. Press “Home 2,1,5” to get to the target weight entry screen (fig. 21). This will prompt you for a target weight. Enter “0.5” followed by the “Enter” key. You will now be returned to the run parameter screen which shows all of the operating parameters. Since we will be running in “Automatic” mode you will not have to change any of these other items. You can uses the arrow keys to view all of these parameters. Use the “Home” key to return to the main screen.

• Turn On "Learn" Mode

The last thing we need to do is to tell the controller to do a “Learn” cycle. The learn cycle is done the first time a new job is run in automatic mode so the controller can get a “feel” for how the material flows. The controller in actually learning on every cycle if it is running in automatic mode but for the very first cycle we will tell it to very carefully learn the characteristics of the material and how it flows.

To tell the controller to “Learn” on the first cycle press “Home 3” to go to the “Utility” screen (fig. 22) and then press “3” to toggle the learn mode from “Off” to “On”. Press the “Home” key to return to the opening screen.
 

• Tare the Scale

With nothing on the Scale, press “Home 1”. The display should read “0.000” (fig. 23). This removes any offset in the scale so that anything you now put on the scale will be weighed from a value of zero.
 
• Check Calibration of the Scale

Place a known weight on the scale and see if it is accurate. If it is not, you must “calibrate the scale”. To calibrate the scale, first tare the scale (see above), then put an object of known weight on the scale. Press “Home 3,1” to get to the calibrate screen (fig. 24). You will be prompted to enter the weight of the object you put on the scale. Enter the weight of the object and press “Enter”. You will be returned to the main screen where you should see the correct weight for the object on the scale.

• Adjust the Supply Hopper Gate

Set the height of the Supply Hopper Gate to something that will restrict the material flowing from the Supply Hopper to the Feed Pan so that it will flow smoothly. You may have to adjust this later on.
 
• Put some material in the Hopper

Put your material in the Hopper. It should flow down into the Feed Pan/Vibrator. You may have to push some material down into the Feed Pan to get things started.
 
• Press the Foot Switch

Press the Foot Switch to start the fill cycle. The “Drop Gate” will open and close and the vibrator will start. If you have the optional Feed Pan Gate, it will open. The Controller will very slowly increase the power to the vibrator as it “learns” or tries to judge how to best fill this container with the given material. During the first cycle the Controller operates very slowly while it is trying to figure things out. When the container has been filled the display will indicate the weight of the material in the Accumulation Hopper. You will notice that after the “Learn Cycle” each subsequent container will fill a bit more quickly. This is because the controller is continuously trying to optimize the fill accuracy and speed.

• Fine Tuning Material Flow

If you find the vibrator is running very fast and/or it takes a long time for the container to fill, you may have the Supply Hopper Gate too restrictive for the material in the Supply Hopper. On the other hand, if the container fills quickly but is not very accurate, the Supply Hopper Gate may not be restrictive enough and should be lowered. Generally the Feed Pan should contain one layer of material when the container is filling. For example, if you are filling a container with beans, you should observe a continuous flow of beans in the Feed Pan, one bean deep that flows smoothly and evenly. If there are gaps or open spots where you can see the bottom of the Feed Pan, you should open up the Supply Hopper Gate.
 
• Re-entering the Learn Cycle

If you make a major adjustment to the Supply Hopper Gate, you should force the S-4 Controller to start the “Learn Cycle” from the beginning. To do this, simply press “Home 3,3” to toggle the learn cycle on. You can usually make small adjustments to the Supply Hopper Gate without re-entering the “Learn Cycle”.
 
• Save the Job

After operating several cycle, you should notice that the S-4 has figured out how to fill your containers quickly and accurately. You should now save the job so that the next time you turn the machine on, all the current operating parameters are saved. The S-4 does not automatically save jobs. You must save the job. To do this simply press “Home 2,4” (fig. 25.) This will save all of the current parameters so that the next time you load this job from the controllers memory, it will operate just as it did the last time you saved the job. 

7. Calibrating your S-4

• Tare the Scale

With nothing on the scale, press the “Home 1” to “tare” or zero out the scale. After doing this, the display should read “0.000” (fig. 26).
 
• Put a known weight on the Scale

Place a known weight on the scale and see if it is accurate. If it is not, you must “calibrate the scale”. To calibrate the scale, first tare the scale (see above), then put an object of known weight on the scale. Press “Home 3,1” to get to the calibrate screen. You will be prompted to enter the weight of the object you put on the scale (fig. 27). Enter the weight of the object and press “Enter”. You will be returned to the main screen where you should see the correct weight for the object on the scale.

*What’s a “known weight”? A known weight can be any object—a book, a shoe, your watch—as long as you know how much it weighs. The scale uses this weight as a base reference for calibration. The accuracy of the S-3 depends on how accurate your known weight is. If you know the weight of your known weight within a few thousanths of a pound, the S-3 will be much more accurate in its measurements!
 

• Setting the Scale to use Metric weight

To set the S-4 to use metric weights, simply use a known weight of metric value to calibrate the scale. In other words, if you have a known weight object that weighs 1.000 kilogram (exactly!) then place that on the scale during calibration (see section above) and enter “1.000” as the calibration value. The weight reading on the scale is now in kilos and grams