The EK1501 EtherCAT Coupler with multi-mode fiber optic connection is the link between the EtherCAT protocol at fieldbus level and the EtherCAT Terminals. The coupler converts the passing telegrams from Ethernet 100BASE-FX to E-bus signal representation. A station consists of a coupler and any number of EtherCAT Terminals that are automatically detected and individually displayed in the process image.

Special features:

Connection technology 2 x multi-mode fiber optic connection via SC duplex

Connection lengths up to 2 km

Three ID switches for implementing variable topologies

Number of EtherCAT Terminals in the overall system: up to 65535

The EK1501 has two SC duplex sockets and three hexadecimal ID switches. The coupler is connected to the network via the upper Ethernet connection. The lower SC duplex socket may be used to connect further EtherCAT devices in the same segment. The multimode glass fiber connection enables distances of up to 2 km between two couplers. A group of EtherCAT components can be assigned a unique ID via the hexadecimal ID switches. This group can then be located at any position within the EtherCAT network. Variable topologies are therefore easily implementable. In addition, an EtherCAT junction or an EtherCAT extension can be used for the extension or for setting up a line or star topology.

The system and field supply, each 24 V DC, is provided directly at the coupler. The attached EtherCAT Terminals are supplied with the current required for communication from the supplied system voltage. The coupler can supply a maximum of 5 V and 2 A. Power feed terminals (e.g. EL9410) must be integrated if more current is required. The field supply is forwarded to the individual I/O components via the power contacts with up to 10 A.