Problem
Hydraulic cylinders are used in a variety of applications and industries to move heavy loads. To automate these machines the hydraulic cylinder is typically gun drilled and a linear position sensor is installed to provide positional feedback. To upgrade an existing hydraulic cylinder that does not currently have position feedback, the cylinder in question must be removed from the application and sent to a facility that is capable of gun drilling and prepping the cylinder for an LDT (Linear Displacement Transducer).
Faulty specification or “the cheap solution”, can lead to a catastrophic failure of the sensor or the complete hydraulic system. This can lead to unscheduled downtime, which means that the cheap solution often ends up being more costly when looking at the budget, the production time and the plant safety.
Two Solutions That Secure Longevity and Efficiency
The Gemco
950 Mill-Duty Housing Series (950MD) was designed for applications where mounting a stand-alone rod style linear displacement transducer (LDT) is prohibitive. Potential physical damage, environmental conditions or mounting limitations are elements that are involved in specifying a linear position feedback system that will perform flawlessly for many years to come.
The 950MD housing has been designed to eliminate all of the above problems by protecting the LDT from environmental factors such as temperature, corrosives, shock, vibration, or dust and debris. Additionally, the 950MD offers a simple two-point mounting scheme that can compensate for lateral and/or horizontal movement of the machine while in operation.
The 950MD housing is perfect for retrofitting existing cylinders with a
Gemco 953 VMax LDT providing a continuous position feedback signal. The 950MD allows for a convenient way to mount an internal position sensor outside the hydraulic cylinder. The linear displacement transducer will then measure the positioning mounted parallel to the hydraulics cylinder instead of inside the cylinder. This eliminates the need to tear down and gun drill the cylinder to accommodate a position sensor simply for providing position feedback that had not previously been available.
The housing may also be of benefit in this same configuration when you have an existing cylinder in operation that does not allow for easy removal of the LDT. Certain machines require that the entire cylinder is removed to replace the LDT. This means stopping the production line for a longer period of time.
To view the full application note including mounting options,
click here.