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9 Routing
The EPLAN Cabinet Routing module allows you to determine the following informa-
tion:
Wire lengths
Routing
Preparation of wire ends
Duct fill levels
Wire parts data and connection information is adopted into the project database
from the central parts management.
The wiring information is transferred during the data import from EPLAN when a
project is created. The information is updated when the project parts list is updated.
Note: Wire connections and jumpers are adopted and routed from EPLAN elect-
ric P8 into the connection lists. If jumpers are not to be routed, then these can be
deleted from the wiring list before routing takes place.
Routing toolbar
The routing commands are on the EPLAN Cabinet Routing toolbar:
As with all parts information, the connection data is stored in the central parts ma-
nagement and read into the project database from there. If the connection data in
the EPLAN planning has been changed, then it is necessary to synchronize this in-
formation with the project database.
Routing Toolbar
The VDR_ECD_TRIGA4.txt file is automatically read from the same directory as the
project-based parts list file.
The basic data for wires are taken from the parts management database where
possible. This applies to these data fields:
Part number (General tab)
Designation 1 (General tab)
Designation 2 (General tab)
Core cross section (Cable Data tab)
External diameter (Cable Data tab) (value is squared and stored in space re-
quirement for cable)
The parts management database normally contains cables (with multiple conduc-
tors) that are not used for routing. Wires are only taken from the database if their
number of conductors (Cable Data tab) is given as 1. For this reason, it is not pos-
sible to take the colour from the parts management database because this must be
assigned to individual cores.
Besides the colour, routing also needs data for allowed material, priority and CAD-
Cabel cable code. It is therefore useful to store wires master additionally for all pro-
jects in the NC parts database. To make the data stored here editable, it can be
saved for all projects in the edit dialogue for wire master data. If this option is not
selected, clicking OK only saves the data for the current project; if it is, clicking OK
additionally saves the data in the NC parts database.
An update to the routing master data involves the following in the background:
1) The wire master data in the NC database is compared with the parts manage-
ment database. If a wire in the NC database is not yet known, the fields listed abo-
ve are copied and a fixed value is assigned to the "allowed material" field so that
the wire can be used for routing. If a wire is known, only the listed fields are over-
written; changes in the other fields are retained.
2) The wire master data table in the project is deleted, a new one is created and all
wire data from the NC database is copied into it.
3) All contact data is updated.
Routing toolbar
The routing control centre is the command centre for routing input and output. The
dialogue covers:
Selecting a range
Select range to be routed (selection, mounting panel, enclosure, project)
Perform routing
Cable bunching
Cables are grouped and numbered in bunches
Display
List of routing errors
Wires
Duct fill levels
Connecting, wire and remaining parts lists
Actions
Activate parts
Insert and delete blocking lines
Assign material to wires
Display routing in drawings
Optimize connections
The routing range settings in the routing control centre determine the scope of rout-
ing.
Click inside or next to the box to confirm your selection. Clicking inside selects all
parts inside the box. Clicking next to it selects all parts inside or touching it.
The selected parts are highlighted and you can confirm your selection or use [Ele-
ments] to add or remove parts from it. Wires are only routed for the selected parts.
Once the area has been selected, routing starts automatically and all routing infor-
mation is determined for the selection.
The fill level is shown by a circular symbol on each duct segment free of crossings.
In the middle of the channel, wires entering and leaving the duct segment are ad-
ded.
Size of fill level markings
Circle spans width of duct: Duct is full
Circle wider than duct: Duct is overfull
Circle half width of duct: Duct is half full
Colour of fill level markings
Less than 80% fill level: Green
Over 80% fill level: Red
The wires parts list contains information on connections between devices, the wires
used, their routing and their length.
Wire number (which wire?)
From Device 1 with unique device tag
From Connection Point n on Device 1
To Device 2 with unique device tag
To Connection Point 2 on Device 2
Connection part number
Wire length
Starting direction from the connection point on Device 1
End direction to the connection point on Device 2
Bunch number
Remarks
[Delete]
This deletes one or more selected items from the list and hence from the database.
The wire will no longer be included in the printed wires parts list.
For example, you might want to delete a wire to stop it from being exported to and
made up by a wiring centre.
[Display]
This displays one or more selected wires in the drawing. The selected wire is
graphically displayed in the layout and you can see its path.
The remaining parts list contains all items in the connections list for which lengths
have not yet been calculated.
[Delete]
Removes a selected item from the remaining parts list.
[Route]
Recalculates the routing data for the selected connection and adds it to the wires
parts list.
Note:
As with the wires parts list, it is useful to issue the remaining parts list together with
the made-up wires. The wiring technician can see what is theoretically left to do in
order to finish the control panel, and has the full set of information generated from
EPLAN.
Between them, the wires parts list and the remaining parts list contain all connec-
tions within a given control panel.
duct | Information
In the dialogue that opens, select Do not use for routing and click OK.
The duct is then excluded from wiring, length calculation and routing display.
Routing toolbar
An outlet can only be placed on a duct. Select the command and then click the duct
you want to create an outlet in. The outlet moves with the cursor until you click a-
gain to set it down at the precise location you want.
You are then asked to name the outlet:
For each outlet, two inlets - two branching points - can be specified and assigned.
Note: All these objects are included in global length calculation. If any routing fields
are specified, they are only included if the outlets and matching inlets are in the
specified fields.
Routing toolbar
Click the first and second outlet on an edge. This dialogue is displayed:
Deleting a connection
To delete an existing connection between two outlets, click the connection in the
bottom dialogue region and press [Delete].
[OK] / [Cancel]
All operations in the dialogue are finally done.in the data structure by pressing
[OK].
[Cancel] closes the dialogue without creating or deleting a connection.
In the bottom region of the dialogue, click an outlet connection. Its wire length is
displayed in the "Wire length" field and you can modify it there.
Enter a different value and press [Change length]. The connection will be created
on base of the new wire length thereafter. [OK] will perform the changes.
A dialogue displays the shortest distance and the actual wire length between the
two outlet points. Enter the wire length you want and press [OK].
Routing toolbar
Example 1: Layout without blocking line
Routing toolbar
This removes a blocking line from the layout and releases the route for use.
Voltage types
When you select "Show paths", the text labels specified as parameters are dis-
played in a dialogue. Select the voltage type you want and click [Display].
All paths that can be used for the selected voltage type are displayed in the layout.
As the EPLAN wiring list can be imported without material assigned, the routing
control centre provides a command for assigning material at any time. This assigns
to each connection the form it will take, comprising colour, cross-section, material,
etc., and a unique part number.
Automatic
If you are going to use the automatic assignment option, you do not need to select
any connections on the left of the dialogue or any wires on the right.
Click [Auto-assign]. The program looks for matching connection-wire pairs and
assigns any that it finds. The colour code and cross-section properties are taken in-
to account.
The wire specification includes a "Preferred" option. What you specify here deter-
mines the wire to be assigned by preference if none is selected.
Manual
To assign a connection to an existing wire, select a connection on the left of the
Connection-Wire Assignment dialogue and a suitable wire on the right. You can al-
so select multiple connections and assign them all to the same wire. [Ctrl][A] se-
lects all connections.
Click [<=>] to create the assignment and move it as a part to list of parts at the bot-
tom of the dialogue. The connection is no longer shown in the connections list.
Unassign
The [Unassign] button removes the assignment from connections selected at the
bottom of the dialogue and moves the connections back to the list at the top left. It
can be used with both manually and automatically created assignments.
Add wiring
Delete wiring
Clicking [Delete wiring] removes wiring selected in the list from the database and
the list.
The following data relevant to Cabinet is assigned to wire parts in the parts mana-
gement:
More wire master data refer to the machine that is used to produce the wires. Enter
these values in the 'Wire make-up configuration' dialog on the machine's tab.
WireKey: Identifier for the wire"s cross-section and colour, e.g. 2.5 SW = 2.5
mm black.
StrippingLength (mm): Default 7 mm
PullOffLength (mm): Default 4 mm
FontKey: Identifier for the font definition passed to the machine; the default is
WireKey. The typeface, font size and colour actually used to print the wire
based on this identifier are passed to the Komax machine as a parameter set
with the same name.
Distance from first/second end: Distance from each end of the wire to where
printing starts/ends; default 27 mm.
Spacing between repeated text: Spacing between text printed repeatedly
along the length of the wire; default 40 mm.
Edit wire
Select a wire in the list.
The ability to group wires that are to be laid one after another or in parallel for la-
belling and routing accelerates the wiring process and rationalizes enclosure pro-
duction as a whole. Assignment of wires to bunches is done using the Wire Bun-
dling dialogue.
Bundling wires
Fiter by
The three selections under 'Filter by' determine which devices belonging to wires
that have been routed but not yet grouped are listed underneath under 'Filtered
devices'.
Material: Shows the part data for wires that have not yet been grouped; the
number of wires of the same type that are still to be processed is shown in
brackets.
Field 1: This allows you to select a field containing devices (such as a mount-
ing panel or a door). All wires whose start and target devices are on the se-
lected field are filtered and their device tags shown, along with the number of
wires in brackets. Twice as many wires as expected will be listed because
each wire is counted at both the start and the target device.
Field 2: If a field is selected under 'Field 1', selecting a second field under
'Field 2' causes only those wires (or their devices) to be displayed which con-
nect the two fields.
The wires parts list can be exported to various file formats for use in cutting and
stripping machines and in wiring centres.
Separator
The character specified here is used as the separator for labelling options if you
specify other labelling options in addition to the source and target, e.g. the routing
direction.
Example: Separator _, output: Source/target and routing direction
Output: <Source>_bottom left / <Target>_top right
Machine tabs
Each machine specified in the machine definition has a separate tab in the dia-
logue, containing the identification for the conductor end treatment for that ma-
chine. The available operations depend on the machine type.
Routing toolbar
The wiring list is output to a printer. You may first select an existing production sta-
tus. Printing the wiring list does not create a new production status.
Production processes
See: "Choice of manufacturing stage for export"
Routing toolbar
Routing toolbar
A file is generated in the project directory. with a .TRI file name extension. This file
contains all the information needed to make up the wires.
All other parameters relating to the material to be processed are taken from the
materials database.
Note: Although projects are usually modified many times before production, the full
current data is always exported to the machine. The decision whether to treat the
data as an entirely new parts list or as an update is made on the machine.
Routing toolbar
All calculated wires in the project are written to a file CADCABEL<Manufacturing
level>.csv in the project directory. This is a comma-separated text file. It controls
the wiring machine at CADCabel.
Manufacturing stages
A manufacturing stage can be selected before starting the export.
Export parameters
The parameters are machine-specific and are pre-set to values matching the
CadCabel machine.
Minimum wire length: Minimum length that the machine needs to process a wire
as specified (230 mm). Shorter wires are specified in the data passed to the ma-
chine as having this minimum length.
Maximum wire length: Wires longer than the specified length cannot be proc-
essed on the machine (15,000 mm).
Maximum conductor cross-section: Maximum wire cross-section that the ma-
2
chine is able to process (6 mm ).
Maximum number of wires per bundle: Maximum number of wires that can be
combined in a bundle (32).
Maximum sum total cross-section: Maximum figure for the sum total cross-
2
section of all wires (80 mm ).
Exporting data
The [Export] button exports the data to a file, CADCABEL.csv, in the project direc-
tory.
Machine configuration
Before exporting data to Komax for the first time, the Komax machine must be
specified in the Wire Make-Up Configuration dialogue and an export directory
must be chosen for the generated files. You can also specify multiple Komax ma-
chines and select one when exporting.
Export
Once all Komax machines are specified, you can open the Export to Komax dia-
logue.
Export parameters
The parameters are machine-specific and are pre-set to values matching the Ko-
max machine.
Minimum wire length: Minimum length that the machine needs to process a wire
as specified (240 mm). Shorter wires are specified in the data passed to the ma-
chine as having this minimum length.
Maximum wire length: Wires longer than the specified length cannot be proc-
essed on the machine (3,000 mm).
Maximum conductor cross-section: Maximum wire cross-section that the ma-
2
chine is able to process (6 mm ).
Maximum number of wires per bundle: Maximum number of wires that can be
combined in a bundle (50).
Maximum sum total cross-section: Maximum figure for the sum total cross-
2
section of all wires (80 mm ).
Exporting data
The [Export] button exports the data to two files in the selected export directory:
Job.dds: Job data
Article.dds: Wire data
How terminals are dealt with is a key factor in calculating the lengths of wiring in
the enclosure layout. This section describes aspects relating to terminals and the
associated user input.
Connections on terminals
Connections on terminals are not always fully specified in EPLAN projects. For e-
xact routing, however, the physical connections to each terminal must be exactly
known.
A general distinction is made in EPLAN projects between "internal" and "external"
connections on terminals. On multi-layer terminals, it is also possible to label the
different layers.
Connection Internal/external
a External
b Internal
c External
d Internal
e External
... ...
In the device browser, a multi-level terminal"s device tag is made up of all terminal
numbers assigned to the multi-level terminal, separated by commas.
Example: =A+O-X11:4,5,6
Level Terminal no.:
0 First (example: 4)
1 Second (example: 5)
2 Third (example: 6)
Initiator/actuator terminals
Initiator terminals can be dealt with in the same way as multi-level terminals, by as-
signing a new level for each "potential".
Example:
Terminal with PE (one, pointing down);
(one, pointing down),
+24V (one, pointing down),
Normal connection point with two connections, one pointing up and one down:
This could be solved as follows: 0@a, 1@a, 2@a, 3@a and 3@b
The assignment of potentials to levels is a secondary issue and may need to be
checked and modified by the user.
Note: On complex terminals like this, the contacts must be specified exactly by the
user. This cannot be done automatically.