Position sensors give feedback at TV screen plant

Philips Components has specified Penny and Giles SLS320 sensors to provide feedback on the position of a plunger and a press table during the screen moulding process

Philips Components, based at Simonstone near Burnley in Lancashire, manufactures TV screens at the rate of 600 an hour.

Following a recent rebuild of its two glass presses, the company specified Penny and Giles SLS320 sensors to provide feedback on the position of a plunger and a press table during the screen moulding process.

Explains engineer Nancy Richards: "A glass 'gob' is dropped from the furnace feeder into a mould, where a plunger is used to press the glass into shape.

One SLS320 is attached to the plunger to provide two position measurements - the first when it reaches the glass gob and the second when the mould is filled and the plunger has reached its dead point.

"Three other SLS320s are fixed to the underside of the press table, which carries eleven moulds.

They indicate where the table is in three pre-determined positions, enabling gobs to be placed precisely on the table.

Data from the sensors is fed into a computer which, as part of a new production control system, is providing accurate information to help monitor the screen making process.

Nancy Richards says the specification called for a sensor capable of withstanding the extremes of temperature experienced during the moulding process.

"Penny and Giles has supplied sensors for other process applications at Philips and, with standard IP66 sealing on the SLS320, were the natural choice for this one.

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