At present, a transformation is occurring, with linear drives taking the area of pneumatic and hydraulic drives. Here, there is Uncontrollable for measuring pressure. However, WIKA has another solution: Force measurement.
Hydraulic or pneumatic cylinders are increasingly being replaced by electrical propulsion technology. Because of this, however, it’s important to implement force measurement using force transducers/force sensors. Force measurement through pressure measurement in a hydraulic unit or pneumatics isn’t possible. A typical example because of this is linear drives.
Force measurement: the initial situation
A linear drive is a drive system that leads to a translational movement. Machine elements or system parts are accelerated in a straight line. It seems sensible to provide force measurement in such drives, since a transformational change happens to be happening: Hydraulically and pneumatically powered drive elements are getting replaced with a variety of electric motor and mechanical thrust units. These modern drive systems are kept simple via modular systems but can, nevertheless, be adapted to individual customer applications with little effort. In addition they feature a higher level of versatility. However, pressure measurement is not any longer possible here.
Force measurement: advantages
This change supplies the perfect opportunity to measure forces directly along the way. Force measurement may be used with practically any linear drive. For the precise measurement of the forces, it doesn?t matter where within the force flow the force transducer is integrated. This is often directly on the motor, on the actuator or at the point of force application. Force could be identified reliably at any point in the force flow.
The F2301 force transducers are suitable for force measurement in linear drives
Force measurement: WIKA products in application
For force measurement, thin-film sensors from WIKA?s volume production are used, which are welded onto the measuring tubes of the force transducers. That is also among the reasons why tecsis, as the force measurement specialist within the group, is renowned for innovative quality solutions in metrology and sensor technology. With Hack , from the standard to the miniature tension and compression force transducers, the optimum solution are available for every application. This might involve controlling joining forces on electrically powered spindle presses, or monitoring the overload protection in lifting cylinders. The robotic arms of gripping and clamping robots and also punches, presses and welding tongs may also be measured. With the successful application for the EU ?Clean Sky 2? project, the sensors also meet the extremely high safety requirements of the aviation industry.
Note
Our portfolio, our quality standards, our production sites: You can find more detailed info on the main topic of force measurement on the WIKA website and inside our flyer.