Control Panels for control cabinet installation or for mounting arm installation

Beckhoff developed the first Panel PCs for direct integration in the machine as early as the 1980s, thus opening up the possibility of efficiently combining application operation and control in a single device.

This laid the foundation for today's comprehensive portfolio of Panel PCs, Industrial PCs and Control Panels. The objective is still the same now as it was then: modern Control Panel technology in a stand-alone device, combined with a Beckhoff Industrial PC or with integrated, high-performance PC technology to form a Panel PC.

Since the end of the 1990s Beckhoff has expanded its product portfolio with a large number of Control Panels. The spatial separation of display/operating unit and control computer offers the user maximum flexibility. Thanks to CP-Link (Control Panel Link) technology, distances of up to 100 m between Control Panel and PC were already possible in 1998. Appealing design, robustness and suitability for industrial applications were importantly criteria in the development of the Control Panel series, which comes with display sizes between 5.7 and 24 inches. The control panels are suitable for installation in the front of a control cabinet (CP29xx, CP69xx) or for mounting arm installation (CP39xx, CP79xx).

The Control Panel housings are made of solid aluminum and comply with IP65 protection rating, which is generally required in industrial environments. The meticulous development and integration of electronic parts, displays, touch screens and front laminates ensures high availability and reliability in operation. Advanced multi-touch technology meets tried and tested housing technology and perfectly tuned PC hardware.

Multi-touch technology

Beckhoff uses exclusively manufactured multi-touch sensors in order to meet the requirements with regard to mechanical stability in harsh industrial environments, precise operation and elegant design. All controller boards used are developed by Beckhoff and manufactured in-house. The result is a very robust overall system, which enables state-of-the-art operating comfort even in harsh machine environments.

Housing technology

As a pioneer in Control Panel and Panel PC technology, Beckhoff has always predominantly used high-quality aluminum as the base material for the housings. Aluminum is characterized by very high mechanical stability, excellent thermal conductivity, high functionality even in EMC-critical environments, flexible manufacturing options and, last but not least, perfect aesthetics. It is therefore the ideal basis for successful products. Furthermore, aluminum also facilitates flexible mechanical processing, which means that customer-specific projects can be realized in smaller quantities.

Perfectly matched connection technology

The link between the Control Panel and the Industrial PC represents a major challenge in industrial environments. EMC influences, mechanical stress, current carrying capacity, connections with guaranteed long-term availability and flexible cable lengths require profound expertise. Beckhoff has been meeting these challenges for many years and combines state-of-the-art cable and connector technology with its experience to form a comprehensive portfolio of connection cables:

• DVI and USB Extended cables
• data cables for IP20 and IP65 applications
• power supply cables
• CP-Link 4 cables – the One Cable Display Link, also suitable for drag chains
• connection cables for various fieldbus systems

Customer-specific solutions

As a specialist for PC-based control technology, Beckhoff has been offering a wide range of high-quality Control Panels for more than 20 years. The devices are also available as customer-specific solutions. The spectrum ranges from visual adaptations and logos in the customer's corporate design to individual equipment with special buttons, such as emergency stop buttons, scanners or RFID readers, right through to fully customized housing designs. In addition to the design, the functionality of the Control Panels is a key factor: As the central control element, the Panels must ensure perfect operation of the machine or system.

The high availability and reliability of Beckhoff Panel PCs and Control Panels in operation is based on meticulous, in-house development of electronic components, touch screens and housings and integration of displays. The devices can be operated in stand-alone mode, as DVI/USB Extended Control Panels or via CP-Link 4.

Thanks to a sophisticated modular principle, a push-button extension is available as standard for almost every multi-touch Control Panel of type CP29xx or CP39xx. This means that adaptations can be implemented based on customer requirements without a minimum order quantity. The push-button configurator facilitates the selection and customized arrangement of keys, their functionality, color, sequence or wiring type starting from quantity 1.

The resulting ordering options can be coordinated with the responsible sales representative.