An Overview Of Cylinder Position Sensor

By Author: Control Products
Total Articles: 33
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The magnetic field control in cylinder position sensors senses the internal magnet that is in a fixed position in the moving piston. In most cases, magnetic controls give end-of-stroke recognition in both directions. A widely used technique is to attach the magnetically actuated sensors or controls to the cylinders sides, or to a forced slot in the cylinder's body.

Cylinder position sensors are often used in hydraulic or pneumatic cylinders. The sensor establishes the end and home stroke on the head of the piston within the cylinder. The problems arise in detecting the piston position in the cylindrical housing. It is crucial to supply signals to the controller showing the cylinder position status in order to incorporate a hydraulic cylinder into a programmed system. Hydraulic cylinder manufactures, end users, and machine builders have come up with techniques to sense retraction or extension of pneumatic cylinders and give signal to a control system. A Hydraulic cylinder is the most widely used device in the automation field. It’s benefits include low cost, high durability and easy to use.

One of the position ...
... sensing methods is to install inductive propinquity controls or external electromechanical limit controls that sense metal flags on the moving machine parts. The down falls of this technique include the difficulty in making modifications, high prices, the complexity of related hardware and brackets and it increases the general size of the entire assembly. In addition, external hardware is more at risk to damage and misalignment from accidental contact.

The most popular and widely used technique is to fix magnetically actuated sensors or controls to the cylinders sides, or a forced slot in the cylinder's body. The magnetic field control senses the internal magnet fixed in the moving piston. In most cases, magnetic controls give end-of-stroke recognition in both directions. However, the installation of several sensors along the cylinder length enables many distinct position detections.

The most popular design is the axially magnetized magnet, which is used for activating most reed controls. The second type is the radial magnetized magnet, which works best with the Hall Effect sensor. Magnetic sensor types include:

Reed switches: it is the simplest magnetic field sensor. It is comprised of iron reed tools and two trampled ferromagnetic nickels, enclosed in a hermetically potted glass tube. To reduce impact arcing, the glass tube evacuates to high vacuum. The reed components attract the magnetic flux lines and become arranged by magnetic force when the axially aligned magnet draws near. Once this happens the electrical circuit is completed. To overcome the spring memory or return force of the reed component, the gauss rating of the magnet should be strong. The advantages of reed controls include low cost, ability to run with both DC and AC loads, and no needed standby power. However, they are quite slow to run and may not respond quickly enough for particular high-speed application. They have a specified number of working cycles before they finally fail. This is due to the fact that they are mechanical machines with moving elements.

Hall Effect sensors: they are electronic components in solid states. They are made up of a comparator and voltage amplifier circuit that runs a switching load. A stable DC current passes through the slim Hall Effect chip. The electron distribution in the component is uniform and the current is unidirectional with no EMF generated at the output. The magnetic field is orthogonal to the flow of current via the Hall Effect component. The available vertical magnet drives the electrons out of their straight path and towards one side of the chip.

It is highly recommended to buy cylinder position sensors from reliable suppliers. It will ensure your operations flawless performance and expert support.

The author of the article is associated with Control Products Inc. Whether you need to procure temperature limit switches, bilge switches or waterproof switches, they have the ability to fulfill specific requests.