At present, a transformation is taking place, with linear drives taking the area of pneumatic and hydraulic drives. Here, there is no longer any scope for measuring pressure. However, WIKA has another solution: Force measurement.
Hydraulic or pneumatic cylinders are increasingly being replaced by electrical propulsion technology. For this, however, it is necessary to implement force measurement using force transducers/force sensors. Force measurement through pressure measurement in a hydraulic unit or pneumatics is not possible. A typical example because of this is linear drives.
Force measurement: the original situation
A linear drive is really a drive system leading 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 is currently 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. They also feature a higher level of versatility. However, pressure measurement is no longer possible here.
Force measurement: the advantages
This change supplies the perfect possibility to measure forces directly in the process. Force measurement can be utilized 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 idea 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 employed, which are welded onto the measuring tubes of the force transducers. That is also one of the reasons why tecsis, as the force measurement specialist within the group, is renowned for innovative quality solutions in metrology and sensor technology. With the various force transducer solutions, from the standard to the miniature tension and compression force transducers, the optimum solution are available for every application. This may involve controlling joining forces on electrically powered spindle presses, or monitoring the overload protection in lifting cylinders. Gravity of gripping and clamping robots and also punches, presses and welding tongs can 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 could find more detailed info on the subject of force measurement on the WIKA website and inside our flyer.