Sensors solve short stroke cylinder problems

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Apr 15, 2003

Balluff reckons it has the ideal solution for sensing on compact short stroke pneumatic cylinders.

The quest for size reduction in automation has led to new classes of compact, short-stroke pneumatic cylinders.

End-of-stroke sensing in these cylinders can be especially challenging since it is difficult or impossible to install two Hall-effect or reed switches close together in a single channel.

Tight mounting conditions at the ends of cylinders further restrict access to the mounting channel for cable routing.

Balluff reckons it has the ideal solution for sensing on compact short stroke pneumatic cylinders.

The new BMF 103K universal cylinder sensors can be mounted back to back to detect very close end of stroke positions.

Following the Balluff "one sensor - many cylinders" concept a single sensor housing adapts to a variety of cylinder styles and manufacturers with interchangeable brackets.

To create the compact BMF 103K magnetic field sensor, Balluff engineers turned to the latest GMR (giant magnetoresistive) technology to dramatically shrink the length of the sensor housing.

The term "giant" refers to the large change in electrical resistance of the sensing element in the presence of a magnetic field.

This strong response allows the sensing element itself to be very small.

The footprint of the Balluff BMF 103K is only 9mm wide including sensor and bracket.

When mounted back to back, the centrelines of the active surfaces are only 5mm apart.