Innovative wireless torque sensor range extension
Sensor Technology has launched its contactless torque Sensor by the end of 2020. The range is expanded to 13,000Nm, with the largest unit being 500Nm.
Sales manager Mark Ingham said: 'We are encouraged by the interest in the new sensors. "The initial rollout plan was to start with commodities-sized sensors and gradually move to larger ones, but the interest was so strong that we needed to meet demand almost immediately."
Its new sensor, called the SGR510/520 series, uses a complete four-element strain gauge bridge design.
Mark said:"The advantage of these new sensors is that they can accurately measure and record sudden spikes in torque load," "In the past, plant and machine operators typically did not need this data, but with the growth of automated continuous monitoring, it is becoming increasingly important. Any spike in torque can have an immediate impact on the operation, and a series of spikes can signal the start of a problem."
The new design also compensates for any external forces, such as bending moments inadvertently applied to the sensor, resulting in increased sensitivity and broad temperature tolerance.When torque is applied to the shaft, the two gauges are stretched into tension and the two gauges are compressed. The difference between the tension and compression values is proportional to the torque on the shaft. In use, four strain gauges are glued to the axis, arranged in a square form 45 degrees along the axis of rotation.
This setup provides high bandwidth, high range and overload tolerance. An ultra-small microcontroller mounted on the rotor and powered by an induction coil measures the difference of each strain gauge and digitally transmits them to the stator through the same coil. The raw real-time data are then converted into accurate torque value measurements using state-of-the-art strain gauge signal conditioning technology.
Overrange capacity means capturing true overrange values rather than "hitting the Max" at the technology's upper limit, and the 400% mechanical overload limit is unlikely to be breached in most applications. The TorqSense SGR510/520 has several significant advantages over conventional torque sensors. It eliminates noise and signal damage associated with slip rings and other analog methods for transferring torque data.
"Because the distance between the strain gauge and the rotor measuring circuit is very short, external noise is almost eliminated. In addition, multipoint calibration reduces any linear errors within the sensor."Mark further explained
Full range of sensors with +/-0.1% accuracy and +/-0.01% resolution for all cells. The series expands in sizes from 200mNm to 13000Nm.
Other features include an optional adjustable moving average filter, power supply range from 12VDC to 32VDC, user-configurable analog output voltage, RS232 communication options, CAN bus interface, USB interface, external Ethernet gateway, TorqView software and LabView virtual Instrument.
