C-More® Operator Interface Touch Panels

New Drivers now available

C-more is our next generation of operator interface touch panels. C-more is all new, including its circuits, touch screen displays, enclosures and all software and firmware. As a next generation product line, C-more has a host of hardware improvements and software enhancements, and offers better data transfer and increased productivity over our previous touch screen monitor products. C-more is designed and manufactured by our parent company, Koyo Electronics, part of the multi-billion dollar Seiko group.

With the C-more series, featuring STN and TFT touch screen monitors, AutomationDirect now provides the best combination of reliability, ease of use, and features at the lowest possible prices. The C-more line of operator interface touch panels is one of the most powerful and easy to use in the industry. With C-more flat panel touch screens, you can virtually replace almost all mechanical pushbuttons, switches, meters, and other peripheral devices.

C-more is programmed with easy-to-use configuration software that provides a powerful set of tools for developing simple or very complex applications. The configuration software makes touchscreen panel setup and programming quick and simple, and all C-more touch panels use the same programming package.

Why switch if you're satisfied with your current operator touch screens?

In addition to all of the new features and improvements, C-more offers, right out of the box, even better reliability, a higher temperature rating on most sizes, longer lasting backlights that are replaceable on 8”, 10”, 12”, and 15” displays, brighter displays with higher resolution, more user memory and a 2 year warranty.

If you have an existing EZTouch* touch panel, C-more has the same mounting cutout so replacement installation is a breeze. In addition, C-more can convert and run existing EZTouch projects**. Point, click and convert EZTouch projects to C-more and you are ready to go.

*All mentions of EZTouch refer to units sold by AutomationDirect
**If project was created with EZTouch Edit 3.1a sold by AutomationDirect

Highlights

C-more touch panels include many important new features engineered into the product design to provide outstanding hardware and software.

• Analog touch sensing to eliminate touch cell boundaries
• More memory and methods to get data in/out of the panel
• Overlapping active devices on the touch screen
• 65,368 colors for enhanced pictures on 6, 8, 10, 12 and 15” TFT panels (256 colors or 15 shades of gray on 6” STN touch screen panels)
• Higher screen resolutions, 12” and 15” panels
• Built-in project simulation, test on PC while developing
• Serial RS232, RS422/485 and Ethernet 10/100BaseT communications
• Programming via USB or Ethernet
• Optional AC power adapter
• Bright backlight bulbs
• 50,000 hour backlight life on all displays
• User replaceable bulbs on 8, 10, 12 & 15” panels
• Animation of bitmaps
• 4,000 built-in symbols and 10 typefaces with hundreds of font sizes
• PID faceplate, trending, alarming and recipe abilities
• Background screen option for each created screen
• Data logging
• Built-in FTP server, e-mail client, Web server
• Event Manager to trigger actions based on assigned state changes, schedules, PLC tag names or other events set up in a database environment. The event can also trigger a sound bite, initiate a screen capture, send a data file (FTP), send an e-mail, and more.
• Audio output port

NOTE: Some features are not available on the base panels.

Compatibility

A great feature of the C-more panels is their connectivity to many different PLC types. In addition to Direct LOGIC PLCs, you can connect to certain Allen-Bradley, GE, Mitsubishi, Omron, or Modicon PLCs (see list below).

C-More can also connect to multiple PLCs and different brands of PLCs simultaneously!  C-more can act as an interpreter or "protocol bridge", passing PLC tag values back-and-forth between separate PLC protocols.

We have added several new protocols for the Allen Bradley PLC brand. The new AB Ethernet drivers allow the simple connectivity of multiple panels and/or multiple Allen-Bradley PLCs. We have also added ControlLogixฎ Ethernet/IP Tag Messaging support. This new feature helps increase productivity by reducing the time often required to map your PLC tag database into the HMI. You can import the RSLogix 5000 L5K file directly or with just a few clicks of the mouse you can directly enter your ControlLogix/ CompactLogix tags from the PLC into C-more. No mapping or translation required!

Networking

Full featured C-more panels can communicate via various types of networking protocols using the Ethernet network interface. The Ethernet port can be used for downloading a project to the panel, for communication with multiple PLCs (and multiple brands of PLCs), and for advanced features such as e-mail and FTP access and allowing the panel to act as a Web server.

DirectLogic ECOM Ethernet enables your full featured C-more panel to connect to your AutomationDirect PLC Ethernet network. For the high-speed Ethernet LAN 10/100BaseT network connection, the following PLC modules can be used.

The other Ethernet drivers included with all full featured C-more panels are:
EtherNet/IP™ [see note]           MODBUS TCP          Entivity (Think & Do) MODBUS TCP/IP

Getting started

Installing the software and configuring the C-more panel is simple. You will need only the following items to successfully connect and configure a project for the panel:

• C-more operator panel – 6”, 8”, 10”, 12” or 15” model
• 24 VDC power supply (min. 1.5A, switching) or the optional C-more AC Power Adapter
• PLC controller
• PLC communications cable – serial or Ethernet
• Programming cable – USB or Ethernet
• C-more Programming Software – p/n EA-PGMSW
• Desktop or laptop PC

Easy installation

There are three basic steps to installing a C-more touch panel:

1. Mounting
   C-more is a front panel-mount unit. Mounting requires a panel cutout and installation of the mounting brackets to secure the panel to the mounting area. Refer to the dimensions and installation section of the catalog pages for complete information.
2. Connections and wiring
   Once the panel is mounted, you can select the PLC protocol type and connect the unit. Please refer to the wiring and connections section for a complete description of the panel ports and all available cables.
3. Communications setup
   The C-more panel has user-defined communication settings and is shipped with default parameters. Verify that the settings match your needs.

C-more Connections

• RS-232C/422/485 serial interfaces are provided in one 15-pin D-Sub (female) connector for C-more to PLC connections.
• USB port A used for connections to various devices such as a USB memory device.
• USB port B is the standard programming interface. You can also program C-more via the Ethernet port.
• Status LEDs on the C-more backplane provide visual indication of CPU run state, memory error, operating system failure, backlight failure and serial send/receive data.
• Optional AC Power Adapter Unit is an AC to DC converter that supplies 24 VDC power to the C-more panel from the AC voltage line input. It provides an AC power loss signal when AC voltage drops below 85 VAC. This creates an interrupt to the C-more system CPU to allow orderly shutdown of data logging functions. C-more also logs the date and time of the power loss in SRAM memory for analysis of the plant AC power.
• Ethernet 10/100 BaseT connector (not available in Base units) allows FTP and SMTP server connections via an Ethernet local area network (LAN). Logged data in C-more can be transferred to a production information management server using software applications such as Lookout Direct. C-more can be connected by Ethernet to the plant intranet or external Internet as an HTTP and FTP server to provide access to C-more internal logging data, recipe data, alarm history data and remote screen monitor. You can also program C-more via the Ethernet port, either peer-to-peer (from a single PC) or over a network.
• Compact Flash (CF) slot (not available in Base units) allows storage of logging data, alarm history, recipe data and Main Project files on a CF card. Also permits loading of system setup and Windows CE files from a CF card into internal flash memory. C-more screen configurations can be copied to the CF card and transferred to another C-more panel.
• Audio Output interface (not available in Base units) provides an interface to amplified speakers for sound output and microphone input for future applications.
• Expansion Assembly Unit (not available on Base units) provides a second Compact Flash slot and an I/O expansion slot for future applications.

C-More Part Numbering System

C-more model numbers are defined as:

Example:
EA7-S6C-R   6” C-more Touch Panel with 5.7” STN Color display and Base features