Electricity + Control May 2015

COVER ARTICLE

Countapulse Controls offers top of the range sensors for modern processes and instrumentation

FEATURES: • Analytical information

• Control systems and automation • Drives,motors and switchgear • Sensors, switches and transducers • Standby and back-up • Energy and enviroFiciency

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T he speed and complexity associated with modern manufacturing and processing environments has meant that more and more processes are incorporating sophisticated instrumentation to ensure that manufacturing processes run at designed efficiencies. It is with the selection and replacement of such equipment that the experience and expertise of Countapulse Controls comes to the fore, Gerry Bryant, Managing Director, says. Countapulse Controls is the leading south- ern African supplier of sensing, measurement, counting, switching, monitoring and positioning instrumentation. “It is not only the machinery that is more complex, but also the materials of construction of products being made that have created challenges of their own,” Bryant notes. For example, in the packaging industry, specialised sensors are required to perform functions such as detecting objects on or through shrink-wrapped pallets. Both the Leuze PRK 25B and Leuze PRK 46B ranges of opto-elec- tronic sensors from Countapulse Controls are suited to challenging operations like those with reflective surfaces. The top of the range Leuze PRK 46B sensor, designated as a ‘power package’, offers a particularly high degree of functional reliability. It has a long sensing range of 18 m as well as extremely high performance reserves.This long-sensing range makes these devices particularly suitable for ap- plications such as monitoring gaps in high-bay warehouses. Bryant says the rate at which development in sensors in the manu- facturing process has taken place has also contributed to making it difficult for non-specialists in this field to keep up with technology. Developments in shaft encoders over the last few years have seen a new standard being set in terms of accuracy and performance. A typical example is the ACURO absolute shaft encoder, which offers a

viable, future-oriented solution for industrial control engineering and integrated motor feedback applications. The heart of the ACURO is a sensor unit incorporating a new Op- toASIC design. It is designed for long term operational safety, and incorporates highly integrated motor feedback systems. Compact in design, this encoder can be used in applications where there are space restrictions. Single and multi turn versions are accommodated in the same housing, allowing greater flexibility, and the encoder can operate in temperatures from minus 40 °C to plus 100 °C. Bryant adds that it is not always about incorporating new products into the manufacturing process. “When a machine goes down and an existing piece of instrumentation has to be replaced, this is when we get the most requests for assistance,” he says. It is often difficult for customers to source the requisite replacement sensor as gener- ally this would have been supplied with the machine from the OEM and the maintenance personnel may not even be aware of the actual function or requirement of the sensor itself. “This is where Countapulse Controls plays an important role in be- ing able to identify the function of the sensor and assist in selection of an appropriate replacement. Sensors have always played an important role in automation and control, and this will continue unabated as technological development continues apace. Specialisation in the field of sensors by Countapulse Controls as well as our development of close relations with recognised international partners places us in the ideal position to provide appropriate solutions for industry,” Bryant concludes. Enquiries: Gerry Bryant, Countapulse Controls (Pty) Ltd.Tel. 011 615 7556 or email bryant@countapulse.co.za.Visit www.countapulse.co.za

Right: Technology and flexibility are the key characteristics of the Hengstler ACURO series range of incremental and absolute rotary encoders distributed locally by Countapulse Controls.

Left: The Leuze 18B series is an example of the extensive range of sensor technology available from Countapulse Controls.

May ‘15 Electricity+Control

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