WIKA has been an internationally recognised partner for several measurement tasks for most decades. The product portfolio includes pressure, temperature, force and level measurement, and flow measurement, calibration and SF6 gas solutions. In the next article, we wish to have a closer look at the measured variable of force. These five reasons show why force measurement is of particular importance.
Reason 1: Protection of people and machinery
Protecting people from harm may be the highest priority in virtually any workplace. Likewise, the machinery should remain undamaged in order to minimise downtime and repairs. In this context, force measurement ensures a safe working environment, especially through overload protection. In cranes, for instance, this prevents heavy loads from falling. With construction machinery and robots, alternatively, uncontrolled machine movements are prevented. This can help you work safely, and completely harmlessly, close to sufficient reason for machinery. In production lines, for instance, the machinery is prevented from pulling, pushing or pressing unchecked, and thereby destroying both components and itself. Should is port logistics, for which WIKA supplies a globally unique, certified system.
Added value: Safe working environment
Reason 2: Ensuring system stability and production safety
Just collecting data is not enough. The right measured values are also required to have the ability to monitor processes seamlessly. Using Security in linear drives, for example, thus improves process control and automation, while simultaneously ensuring quality. Force measurement also provides the right data for the correct functioning of brakes and drives, conveyors, presses and weighing systems. A crucial point here is to lessen running costs. The bigger the standard of the measured data, the higher the data analysis. The look of an instrument change is thus more precise, so that changing it prematurily . doesn?t cause increased costs nor does unplanned maintenance cause longer downtimes. The savings in consequential costs alone shell out the dough many times over.
Added value: Full process control
Reason 3: Optimisation of production conditions
The savings potential, and thus the maximisation of profit, have been completely mentioned in the previous section. Only through the optimal usage of materials and machinery can margins be increased. An integral issue in manufacturing plants is machine availability. As well as reducing downtime, the focus is on minimising maintenance costs. A good example of this are welding tongs. With these, the contact force of the electrodes could be precisely monitored by using tension/compression force transducers. In this way, optimum quality is permanently guaranteed and, at the same time, wear is minimised. Higher profits can also be achieved through saving time, for instance, when containers are weighed ?on the fly?.
Added value: Maximum profits
Reason 4: Improving product quality and saving materials
Using force measurement in welding tongs ? as explained in the section above ? is a very good example of improving product quality in addition to saving materials. Force measurement supplies the right data for probably the most accurate process control. Subsequently, machine tool wear is only minimal. In addition, force measurement offers many other areas of application. For example, spreading fertiliser where this action is adapted to the soil conditions is one method to save material. This also protects the surroundings. Furthermore, it is beneficial to know the (supporting) forces functioning on mobile cranes. The vehicle? Spotlight of gravity can thus be calculated exactly, meaning that the safety margin could be reduced. In this case, loads could be lifted further, yet accidents, e.g. because of slipping or tipping, can be avoided.
Added value: Lowering costs
Reason 5: Ensuring quality
Finally, using force measurement also offers many advantages in your community of quality assurance, which has already been touched upon. On the main one hand, the machinery can be optimally controlled by registering the force. Alternatively, by recording the values, live in addition to saving them for later use, conclusions can be drawn for specific batches. Furthermore, the most precise force measuring instruments meet up with the highest requirements, for example, in materials testing machinery or in medical engineering. Incidentally, WIKA offers a DAkkS-accredited calibration service for force measuring instruments.
Added value: Exact measured values
Note
Further information on our portfolio of force measuring instruments are available on the WIKA website. There additionally, you will find info on our calibration service for force measuring instruments. In addition, our brochure on force measurement: ?Force measurement is really a matter of trust? can be available. Would you like to buy force transducers? Inside our WIKA online store you?ll find a few of our standard versions. Assuming you have any questions about force measurement, please ask your contact person.
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Force measurement in linear drives