Month: June 2014

June 30, 2014

LVDT Position Sensors Can Survive Where Few Dare To Tread

Linear position sensing  in hydraulic cylinders becomes more complex when targeting applications where a rugged outdoor environment is the operational norm.

LVDT Position sensors solve one part of this problem by simplifying the support electronics  required for highly accurate position sensing, and allowing the encapsulation of the electronics in such a way as to provide excellent immunity to most environmental conditions.  CPI’s SL series sensors present a unique LVDT based implementation combined with a type of draw-wire sensor technology that has some highly attractive characteristics in the high reliability, high electromechanical endurance sector.

  1. Heat  -Because the LVDT solution contains fewer sensitive electronic parts operating temperature range is extended to 300F where magnetostrictive are limited to about 185F
  2. Vibration – With no rod or sensitive electronics, and a sealed LVDT, vibrational sensitivity is maximally reduced.
  3. Moisture – Our implementation can be completely sealed and is designed to mount on either the oil or the gas side of the cylinder.
  4. EMI – The nature of the LVDT sensor technology makes it more immune to EMI and the draw-wire sensor technology is mechanical and completely immune to any EMI environment.
  5. Field Replacement – Instead of needing to stock rod-type magnetostrictive sensors in many sizes, a single CPI SL series sensor can accommodate many different stroke lengths and can even fit perfectly into the existing center bore of a previous magnetostrictive sensor implementation.

For a discussion of all CPI sensor products for hydraulic cylinders and accumulators, contact CPI through our website at http://www.cpi-nj.com

June 30, 2014

What is a Limit Switch?

Applications for CPI limit switches are often safety related or critical to the performance of a machine where failure would be catastrophic. (or catastrophically expensive to fix…) Add requirements such as 5 million electro-mechanical cycles, precise actuation points, and a hostile operational environment and you’ve found a home for a CPI limit switch.

Typically customers seek us out for a difficult application where requirements could not be met by the existing suppliers. In some cases previous design opportunities that went to a cheaper offshore solution, return to us when it becomes clear that quality controls, and electromechanical performance will not meet requirements. How quickly the joy of low pricing is overtaken by the grief of high failure rates and poor performance..)-:

Extending the performance of electromechanical  limit switches.CPI engineering excels at extending the performance of limit switches by practicing one primary thing: a fanatic devotion to customer service. For limit switches this means discovering all of the parameters critical to the application, and testing the parts in the field. After 60 years of doing this, the CPI engineering team understands a few things about taking limit switches to the limit.

  • What is the complete picture of the electrical load on the switch (resistive, inductive, current, voltage, impulse current)
  • Circuit type (Normally open/closed, SPDT, DPDT etc…)
  • Electro-Mechanical endurance – how many full travel actuations, how many partial.
  • Electrical Endurance – how many cycles, typical duty cycle.
  • Travel parameters – specification of pretravel, overtravel, actuation point, differential.
  • Actuator Style – Plunger, lever, roller, ball, etc..
  • Mounting and packaging requirements.

Coupling our extensive knowledge of limit switch customization with a robust internal project management process affords CPI a competitive advantage when it comes to limit switch design. Add to that our commitment to USA based design and manufacturing, our small and nimble size, and our dedicated support and we firmly believe there is no better partner for your engineering team.

Make the switch to CPI today, call our engineering team to discuss your limit switch design requirements.  Visit our website’s limit switch product page for more information.

http://www.cpi-nj.com