Proximity Switches Get With the Program

Sick recommends understanding the application and customer requirements thoroughly. This approach will evolve without providing additional effort to the customer while providing increased productivity, efficiency with fewer failures, fewer part numbers and lower cost.

Sick has designed a custom ASIC-based inductive proximity sensor called IME. The IME products are programmed in the factory and locked at the last step of our production line. As a result, we eliminate the production tolerances, which increase the performance of the inductive proximity sensor.  We can standardize sensors based on customer’s specified parameters and ship the programmed and tested sensors.

Standardization is basically choosing same barrel type sensors and using the same part numbers while avoiding unnecessary variations such as using NPN and PNP output sensors on the same application. Sick can program the IME sensor to customers’ requirements. Sick’s value-add process addresses the performance improvement for the machine while removing the burden from the customer to program and fine tune their own sensors.

The Future of Inductive Proximity Sensors: IO-Link

Once IO-Link is a more accepted communication protocol, the sensing nodes in the automation system can be programmed and monitored based on where they are installed. IO-Link can provide the optimal solution of all the benefits of performance improvement with fine tuning, inventory and cost reduction and also monitoring functionality. IO-link offers bi-directional point-to-point communication with standard sensor/ actuator cable, bi-directional serial communication of process and service data, such as switching status, sensing range, contamination level and hysteresis. A quick benefit summary of IO-Link is:

1. Reduction of variants
2. Reduction of machine downtime and changeover time
3. Higher line security by continuous documentation of the configuration
4. Reduction of maintenance costs by preventive and problem-oriented maintenance
5. Shorter machine downtimes due to sophisticated diagnostics
6. Backward compatibility to standard I/O.

Serdar Guvenc
Industrial Sensors Product Manager
Sick

June's Problem

I'm convinced that there's value to us using fiberoptic cabling for some of our long and noisy control signal connections between machine trains. But we have a degree of regular, routine reconfiguration of the machines that means making, breaking and changing control and signal wiring configurations. It looks like it's too hard, or is too much of an art, to dependably make these fiberoptic cable and connector connections ourselves, and we'd be forced to go outside for it each time. Advice please.

Send us a few focused paragraphs addressing the machine builder question, not a product plug. We'll include your response in the print issue and also post it on ControlDesign.com. Send visuals if you would like - a sketch is fine.

Please include your name, title, company name, website URL (or city and state if you don't have a URL) in your response. Please call me at 630/467-1300, x444 or e-mail me at mbacidore@putman.net with any questions.