If there is one thing you can say about our Thermal and Waterproof Switch product lines, it may be that they are not Johnny-come-lately technologies.

CPI has been researching, developing, tweaking, USA manufacturing, and cost reducing these products for over 70 years now. So when we say their durability and performance is unparalleled in the world of harsh duty switching and sensor components, well we have a good reason for that.

It turns out that the US military and friendly militaries across the globe, largely agree with us. Over the last half century, CPI switches have found their way into tanks and armored personnel carriers, jet aircraft, naval weapon systems, even submarines. We have over 100 National Stock Numbers (NSN), QPL, USATAC and MS items in our catalog. While our products are used in all kinds of harsh duty commercial applications too, variations of these products are in some cases the only or best solution for equipment exposed to the harsh realities of modern warfare.

• Standalone Operation – Many switching or thermal sensing applications have gone the way of cheap remote sensors with detection or switching actually provided by a remote computer. But it turns out that where no computer exists, of failsafe backup is needed, the local switching and hard to kill nature of our products is a perfect solution.
• MIL-Spec – Our switches meet or exceed MS 39058, MIL-STD-202, MIL-F-13927, MIL-S-13484 (waterproof); MIL-STD-810 (thermal)
• Extended Temperature Operation – We can achieve operational temperatures down to -65°F without contact freezing.
• All our products are manufactured in the USA, and 95% of our raw material is sourced from the USA. Extremely low risk of supply chain disruption.

Here’s just a few places our component solutions do their job inside military equipment.

CPI Switches In Military Vehicles

In everything from troop transports, to Humvee’s, to tanks, submarines, and aircraft avionics, you’ve find CPI switching products performing multiple different tasks.

Cab Down Sensor	Push-to-Talk (PTT) Switch
Engine Fan Control	Smoke Generator Temp Control·
Engine Kick Down	Weapon Light Switch
Engine Oil Over Temp Switch	Window Defrost

Another key factor in the selection of CPI switches for military and other non-automotive vehicles is their immunity to vibration. They are designed to maintain operational integrity under extreme and prolongated vibrational environments. 

CPI Switches In Weapon Systems

While many weapon system applications for the US military are classified, both thermal and waterproof switches find uses in safety and thermal detection applications on land, sea and air. One interesting niche for our products seems to be cold weather thermal detection and operation. In guns that are exposed to cold, potential thermal problems can be prevented by activating heaters using our thermal switches.

• CROWS System – The Army’s Common Remotely Operated Weapon Station (CROWS) rely’s on our K1005 waterproof rocker switch for PON control of the sensitive targeting electronics.
• Thaad Missile Launcher– The “Terminal High Altitude Area Defense System” is essentially a sophisticated rocket launcher made by Lockheed, mounted onto a truck frame made by Oshkosh Truck. While exact use of our switch is classified, we can tell you that applications like power on/off, and many other maintained contact military applications that require a robust waterproof switch, select CPI as their primary design-in.
• GP– 9 Gun Pod– This .50 caliber gun pod brings heavy firepower to helicopters. Our D1040 waterproof plunger switch was selected as the last round detection switch, critical for facilitating a fast re-load. This switch is essentially our stainless steel plunger mounting assembly used over our B9111 waterproof momentary switch.
• Navy Phalanx Gun – In this application our AC006-501 will trigger when ambient temperature in the electronics bay drops below This activation triggers heaters built into the gun to keep circuit boards in the bay from getting too cold!

CPI Switches Keeping America Safe for over 70 years.

It’s worth noting that our first switches were actually made for the military aircraft back during WWII, and we’ve been making high quality switch and sensor products ever since.

We are happy to discuss switching applications for the next generation of military hardware with friendly designers from around the world.

This blog was originally published at https://www.cpi-nj.com/us-military-using-cpi-switches-for-next-gen-vehicles-and-weapon-systems/

Actually CPI is not new to the recreational vehicle market. A long time ago, some smart engineer working for a boat manufacturer realized that a completely sealed waterproof switch with dozens of mounting options that was good enough for the US military, might be the perfect solution for that often abused start switch on a new Jet Ski Design, or a new powerboat, or a commercial tugboat etc.

From mountain bikes, to motorized Fishing Reels, to motorcycles, it seems that when recreational folks want their final solution to waterproof hand or mechanically actuated switching, they always seem to find us.

Still, the recreational vehicle market does find ever newer and more creative ways to implement our switches and these applications and products are always of keen interest to us.

Display Switching with CPI switches

Volcon Powersports is developing a line of completely electric off road powersports vehicles. Their mission statement says it all: “Building a Connected Outdoor Experience.” Their current line includes both motorcycles and ATV’s that have a range up to 150 miles.  They are meant to be used on the farm, or just for the complete joy of tooling around your favorite outdoor path.

And the best part is what you don’t hear. Without all that piston engine noise, your connection to the world around you is enhanced, allowing you to enjoy a richer more enjoyable work or leisure experience.

These vehicles are IP 67 rated, and so its important that their components meet or exceed that too. When it came time to source some switching for their display control panel, CPI was a logical choice.

“There is a multifunction display in the front, similar to what Tesla does in its electric cars..” notes Pete Gagliardi, CPI regional sales manager. “Our switch is a front panel mounted switch used to switch the display between various modes.”

Chosen by Volcon is the CPI B7151-18, our waterproof high button momentary switch, suitable for panel mounting. “Since this is an ATV the cab and display are exposed to the elements so its important that everything be robust and waterproof,” says Pete. Volocon uses our dash 18 variation which is a panel mount assembly suitable for any custom panel.

Rediscover CPI Switches

Both Commercial and Military equipment OEM’s can face challenging outdoor environmental conditions. Whatever they may be, you won’t find a better, more reliable partner than CPI and CPI switches.

This blog was originally published at https://www.cpi-nj.com/recreational-vehicles-discover-cpi/

Hydraulic Position Sensing for Oil & Gas Recovery Applications

Hydraulic cylinders deployed into drilling platforms such as land-based mast raiser systems are used for oil and gas recovery in a wide variety of fixed and mobile configurations. The hydraulic cylinders used in these systems are going to endure extremely challenging operational environments including temperature extremes, physical abuse, chemical contamination and corrosive airborne elements.

The stakes are high given that these systems are often responsible for raising masts and other equipment weighing hundreds of tons, and failures can be catastrophic to both man and equipment. Requirements for vendors are demanding to say the least. These stringent environmental requirements, plus the long stroke of these hydraulic cylinders and accumulators, and the need for durability conspire to eliminate most position sensor technologies from consideration.

CPI’s SL series of hardened draw-wire sensors is proving to be the technology of choice for linear position sensing in these high power, long-stroke hydraulic systems.

CPI Linear Position Sensors in Mast Raiser Applications.

 In a recent project, CPI partnered with a major Hydraulic Cylinder Manufacturer to provide 6 of its SL2000 Linear Position Sensors into an oil industry mast raiser application for a land-based drilling platform.  In this application, the CPI sensor replaces another company’s draw-wire sensor that could not operate reliably in the application.

In this particular mast-raiser system, double-acting telescopic cylinders are used which start out horizontally and move to a vertical orientation during operation. When considering a replacement sensor technology, our client initially considered rod type sensors but quickly eliminated this technology owing to a few important limitations.

1. Rod type sensors will have to be very long (> 10 meters) and rod sag and deformation is often a concern in strokes over 1 meter especially in a vibrational environment.
2. Rod type sensors are fixed length and problematic for telescoping cylinders.
3. Rod type sensors require extremely accurate core drilling of the piston to insert internally and field replacement is almost impossible.

What Makes the CPI SL Series of Linear Position Sensors So Unique?

 Introduced almost 15 years ago, the SL-2000 has evolved to be an affordable solution for the worlds most challenging position sensing applications. It’s deployment flexibility, hardened construction, and high accuracy make it perfect for oil platform or rig raiser applications

One of the biggest reasons for this is the fact that the sensor’s assembly and electronics are completely immersion-proof. The draw-wire mechanism is designed to operate completely submerged in any kind of fluid or oil. The fluid literally floods the mechanism and allows our system to be deployed internal or external to the hydraulic cylinder without issue even at extreme depths underwater. Our patented draw wire mechanism is a marvel of material science and mechanical engineering which together yield a mechanism that is all but impervious to pressure effects and the degradation of sea water or hydraulic fluid. In the field, we have sensors deployed that are completely submerged in both. Our sensor has been deployed in the Gulf as a charge monitor for hydraulic accumulators almost 5000 meters below the sea. It can be deployed inside your hydraulic cylinder or externally mounted, fully exposed to seawater.

Our sensor is also ATEX/IECEX rated, making it perfect for deck based hydraulic drilling applications both here and in Europe, on both land and at sea.

Perhaps most extraordinary is the measurement capability of the SL series and the stroke lengths it can handle.  While CPI sensors like our SL0390 have lengths of one to three meters, CPI has engineered the basic SL sensor to operate with varying stroke lengths of up to 30 meters (SL6000) and everything in-between.

Two transducer technologies can be specified around our core draw wire mechanism, either LVDT based, or using a very short magnetostrictive sensor (ATEX/IECEX certified). These transducers read the linear position of the hydraulic cylinder through a patented linear to rotary to linear mechanism. The long motion of the draw wire is translated into a small but highly accurate local displacement that can easily be read by our transducer technology. With either technology, the electronic part of the sensors are entirely sealed, and can be configured for deep submersion inside or outside most hydraulic cylinders.

Don’t Forget About Telescoping Cylinders

In gas and oil recovery operations, the use of large hydraulic cylinders is common. One common variation is the telescoping cylinder, used in a wide variety of situations to reduce the overall footprint of the cylinder when retracted or to facilitate rotational or lifting dynamics. Because the cylinder has no fixed length, most other linear position sensing technologies can’t be used. In these deployments, draw wire sensors are one of the few classes of sensors that can handle position detection accurately.

And if your telescoping cylinders are on a drilling platform, a walking rig, or offshore, or deep under the sea, then the only reliable choice in the world for you is CPI.

Contact our engineering team today to discuss your hydraulic position sensing application. https://www.cpi-nj.com

This blog was originally published at https://www.cpi-nj.com/rig-mast-raiser-hydraulics/