Load cells for agricultural applications.

VPG Transducers' Agribar™ 5330 series load cell is specially designed for use in challenging load measurement and control applications on mobile agricultural machinery and farm mixing, spreading and dispensing equipment. Its single-ended bending beam design is especially robust, load rated at 6150 Kg and a CANbus option is available that enables added operational analysis and increased efficiency for heavy-duty farm machinery applications.

The Agribar’s robust alloy steel housing has a dust and water tight IP67 rating (optionally IP69K) and is finished in a special electro-deposited organic coating for added corrosion and abrasion protection. Its robust design includes an impressive temperature tolerance and compensated range from 0 to +50 °C for high-accuracy temperature measurement in harsh conditions. With other load capacity options available on request, the Agribar is a compelling choice for OEMs and farm machinery manufacturers of feed and stationary mixers, manure spreaders, harvest trailers and grain carts as well as bins, tanks and other storage equipment.

These products receive full support from Variohm EuroSensor, the manufacturer’s distribution partner in Britain.

@Variohm #VPG_Transducers #Agriculture

Silo weighing system.

The recently launched  S-series by VPG Transducers and available in Britain through Variohm EuroSensor is a flexible and configurable load-cell based silo weighing system with optional temperature measurement. Featuring VPG’s 178 extensometer load cells, optional PT100 sensors and a choice of three display variants, including a remote PC monitoring version, the S-series allows users to utilise weight and temperature measurements to calculate accurate fluid density, fluid mass and actual volumetric levels in up to 24 silos. The flexible and configurable system is easily adapted for process measurement tasks across a diverse range of industries including cement and minerals production, water treatment plants, agricultural produce, and food & beverage bulk material storage.

Through its three display versions, the S-series features VPG Transducers’ model 178 strain gauge extensometer load cells that have pedigree of application success for weighing, level control, stress and fatigue monitoring across many industries. Its alloy steel and IP66 hermetically sealed construction combine with a generous overload capacity to ensure accurate and low uncertainty weight measurement. Each display version offers a fixed number of load cell measurements, optional relay interfaces and bus based communications. Optional PT100 temperature sensors for up to two temperature measurements per silo can also be specified.

The entry level ST1 features a panel mounted LCD display for up to 4 weight and temperature measurements per screen and up to 8 connected silos. ST1 system options include integration of up to 16 temperature measurements, up to 4 relay interface casings (16 relay outputs per casing) and a Modbus TCP/Ethernet IP connection. French and English language interfaces are included.
The ST3 system features an RGB display with resistive touch controls for up to 24 measurements per screen, set as 8 weighing measurements and 16 temperature measurements. As standard the ST3 includes a Modbus TCP interface and, through its powerful 32-bit x86 microprocessor, supports up to 24 silo weight measurements plus 48 temperature measurements in addition to a maximum of 4 relay interface casings (16 relay outputs per casing) and Ethernet IP connections. Language interfacing for English, French and Spanish is included

For users who require remote monitoring, the S-Box silo weighing system allows a wide choice of weight and temperature measurements to be displayed on desktop browsers or portable devices. An embedded web server allows the user to access measurements from any computer connected on the same network and with multi-language (English, French, German, and Spanish) capability, the system will suit global silo measurement markets. A powerful 32-bit x86 microprocessor supports up to 24 silo weight measurements, 48 temperature measurements, as well as up to 4 relay interface casings (16 relay outputs per casing) and Ethernet IP connections.

 #PAuto @Variohm @mepaxIntPR

Safe Strain Gauge Load Cell Product Families.

BLH Nobel has announced that four of its strain gage load cell product families are now available with EN ISO 13849 and IEC 61508 functional safety certifications.

The EN ISO 13849 functional safety standard incorporates statistical analysis to help better predict component, device and circuitry reliability within the safety-related parts of industrial machinery control systems. This determination represents the probability of failure to danger over time, expressed as a performance level (PL). The IEC 61508 standard for electrical/electronic/programmable electronic safety-related systems further defines methods to achieve product functional safety. This allows OEMs to demonstrate a certain overall safety integrity level (SIL) within their system designs.

The strain gage load cell product families from BLH Nobel now available with functional safety certifications include models with or without current loop output, as well as those featuring redundant configurations. Most families with functional safety certifications are further available with ATEX, CSA, FM, IECEx, cFMus and CE approvals. These certifications allow the BLH Nobel load cells to be specified within a wider range of critical applications, including crane weighing and overload monitoring; process industry weighing and monitoring; offshore tank weighing; machinery monitoring; and safety-critical weighing and force measurements.

For more than 40 years, the BLH Nobel brand of VPG has specialized in the design, development and manufacture of high-quality and high-accuracy process weighing and force measurement technologies and related control systems. BLH Nobel load cells maximize accuracy and minimize the effects of mixing, agitation, and temperature changes within critical process stages. BLH Nobel products and customized solutions are designed to comply with stringent requirements in the food and beverage, pulp and paper, pharmaceutical manufacturing, medical equipment, process, mining, steel, and offshore industries. The brand further offers a wide variety of communication protocols for seamless integration within complex production lines. It also supplies system solutions, products, and services in more than 100 countries worldwide. Each BLH Nobel custom solution is derived from more than 40 years of engineering expertise, gained from across thousands of successful applications.

@blhnobel #Pauto

Data acquisition software.

Simultaneous Recording and Analysis of Up to 48 Channels and 50,000 Samples Per Second with Fast, Easy Setup and Minimal-to-No Downtime

The global market launch of the Micro-Measurements® StrainSmart® 9000 dynamic data acquisition software has been announced. The software allows for the simultaneous sampling of up to 48 channels, at speeds of up to 50,000 samples per second, with fast, easy setup and minimal-to-no downtime.

Traditionally, the inherent complexities of dynamic test setups and programming, as well as repetitive manual measurement tasks, have created up to days, or weeks, of unwanted downtime. With StrainSmart 9000, it is now possible to perform accurate, real-time data recording, analysis, display and export within just minutes of software setup, with one-touch autobalance and post-processing data filtering. Designed for ease of use by students, engineers and scientists alike, StrainSmart 9000 offers an intuitive, complete turnkey Windows® based software platform for accurate, dynamic data acquisition, reduction, download, and display. The software easily translates end-user concepts into application-specific needs, with assured data accuracy through automatic error checking and calibration. A “verify” tool at setup allows the end-user to perform early error and omission pre-arm checks. Bridge excitation functions may be easily disabled for a complete pre-test noise evaluation scan. Visual representations provide instant access to hardware wiring and configuration validation data, with choice of either local or remote real-time display viewing.

Channel settings within StrainSmart 9000 are performed automatically from sensor properties, largely without manual intervention. Direct calculations of engineering units, including strain gage rosette principal and failure criteria stresses, along with input shunt calibration and user-defined assignments, are possible. Sensor-specific input assignments of strain gages, thermocouples, and other sensing types offer ease of mathematical data manipulation. Individual strain gage engineering data entry is also possible, with automatic error corrections for transverse sensitivity, Wheatstone bridge nonlinearity, and lead wire resistance. Parameters, such as thermal output, gage factor variation with temperature, and thermal coefficient of gage factor, are easily corrected via the assignment of a temperature sensor.

Unique signal visualization algorithms within StrainSmart 9000 provide in-depth insights, including full graphical representations of channel assignments, for reduced potential connection errors. Individual test setups and common parameters may be stored and saved by the end-user for later reuse. Larger data sets may be exported to multiple files automatically, as either ASCII text files, .csv files, or Microsoft® Excel documents.

StrainSmart 9000 is designed for seamless and direct compatibility with the Micro-Measurements System 9000 data acquisition system, as well as both Micro-Measurements and other industry strain gages (strain gauges), strain gage- based transducers, thermocouples, temperature sensors, high-level voltage sensors, and piezoelectric sensors. The software is now available as a no-charge upgrade for customers with legacy software versions. As it is site-licensed, StrainSmart 9000 may be installed on an unlimited number of PCs within the same facility or department. Typical applications include experimental stress analysis; electronics drop testing; printed circuit board (PCB) and finished product component reliability and subassembly testing; engine vibration monitoring; and fatigue life testing. The StrainSmart 9000 software system can further support virtually any dynamic data acquisition task, in which the simultaneous sampling of up to 48 channels, at speeds of up to 50,000 samples per second, is required.

@Strain_Gage #Pauto

Weight indicators upgrade!

The VPG Transducers brand of VPG has released a next-generation upgrade for its industry best-selling Intuition Series weight indicators.

Originally launched in 2016, the fully modular Intuition Series offers reliable, versatile general-purpose weight indication, in support of a variety of commercial and industrial requirements. The indicators combine large six-digit LED and LCD displays, weighing and counting modes, along with an array of advanced features and communication interfaces, including multiple hardware and software options. The result is a truly scalable, flexible and user-friendly weight indicator solution.

Each new standard feature of the next-generation Intuition Series is derived from direct customer feedback. Increases in onboard ALIBI memory capacity now allow for the paperless storage of up 100K individual weighing records, from the previous 10K. Units are available with CE mark, as well as with International Organization of Legal Metrology (OIML)/EN45501:2015 compliant “legal for trade” certification. The Series now offers seamless compatibility with most industry standard digital load cell interfaces. A seven-function keyboard with 12 numeric keys has been added, as well as a digital I/O, consisting of four dry relay outputs and two opto-isolated inputs. These improvements allow for greater ease of operation, with simplified calibration and instrumentation setups. Two series ports (RS232) have been added for enhanced printing and networking functionality, as well as a full RS485 duplex interface. A plug-and-play setup now allow for various option cards to be easily added or removed, facilitating increased “on demand” customization capabilities. Both a battery housing and charger board, as well as a mounting bracket, have been added. With these and other new features, Intuition Series weight indicators can effectively support process weighing batch functions of up to eight steps, with choice of local or remote display capabilities. Other additional new features include piece counting mode, time and date stamp, and user and operator password protection.

Intuition Series weight indicators are expressly designed for ease of field service. To ensure their survivability in harsh environments, their full modular hardware and software infrastructure underwent two full years of rigorous field testing prior to release. Nearly every module or component within the Intuition Series, whether electronic or mechanical, is easily field replaceable. This includes, among others, the power supply, A/D, CPU, and communication interface. In addition to their durability and long service life, Intuition Series weight indicators include full diagnostic capabilities, 100% customizable hardware and software, and custom labeling capabilities. Typical applications include process weighing, bulk weighing, batching, and weighbridges. They may be specified within virtually any commercial or industrial weighing application where visual indication accuracy is of concern, and particularly, those with “legal for trade” certification requirements.

 @VishayIndust #PAuto

High-reliability load pins.

VPG Transducers has introduced the Model 5113 and Model 5117 load pins.

Model 5113 and Model 5117 load pins provide reliable and repeatable measurements of force, tension, load, and overload parameters, with an industry best-in-class safe overload capacity of up to ±250 kN. Their robust design incorporates VPG’s own proprietary foil strain gage sensing technology, bonded onto a zinc-plated hardened alloy steel body. Units are highly compact, with the Model 5113 measuring 38 millimeters, and the Model 5117 measuring just 25 millimeters, facilitating their ease of installation within space constrained environments.

The load pins are offered in choices of three unique rated capacities from ±25 to ±60 kN. They further incorporate an embedded ratiometric voltage output converter and IP66 environmental protection. Alternate connector types, cable lengths and other customization options are available upon request. Please consult VPG Transducers for details.

The long-term stability and reliability of Models 5113 and 5117 make them an ideal choice for the support of virtually any control or safety system, including those operating under severe load and environmental conditions. Both models may be used as direct drop-in replacements for legacy load pin solutions, including those installed within typical off-highway and agricultural vehicle trailer hitch systems. In this instance, the Model 5117 is typically mounted onto the top arm, while the Model 5113 is installed onto the bottom arm. Other applications include off-road vehicles, plowing vehicles, cranes, hoisting gear, pulley shafts, winches, chain and brake anchors, bearing blocks, tensioning systems, elevators, floor conveyors, commercial and civil aircraft, chemical processing and R&D.

#VPG  #PAuto

Preventing deadly accidents

Systems from VPG Transducers help prevent deadly construction and heavy equipment accidents

VPG Transducers is working with heavy equipment manufacturers to create highly accurate and reliable systems that dynamically measure stresses in key vehicle components caused by such factors as overloading, vehicle tilt, and high winds.

Deadly and costly accidents occur each year worldwide involving cranes, telescopic handlers, and forklift equipment. Many of these accidents are the result of improper loading of the vehicle, driving on uneven or sloped surfaces, or environmental factors such as high winds. Now industry-leading companies who manufacture heavy lifting and construction equipment are turning to VPG Transducers for custom force-sensing solutions that help alert the driver when unsafe operating conditions exist on the vehicle.

VPG Transducers has partnered with equipment manufacturers to develop load moment indicators (LMIs), which are integrated into the vehicle design assembly, to dynamically measure the forces imparted on key components of the vehicle such as the rear axle. The signal from a VPG Transducers force sensor is sent to the LMI, which calculates and displays the current load seen on the vehicle and sets off an alarm if the vehicle is operating at an unsafe level. These levels are set in close coordination with the vehicle manufacturer. This system is also applicable for crane applications as well.

The sensors and LMI system are designed and manufactured by VPG Transducers to survive in the harshest of environments and have exceptional reliability and longevity, which are very important factors for equipment used in the agricultural industry.