Sensor applications in monitoring dc motor operation, tracking aircraft tire pressure, and for use in smaller spaces.

Here are some of the most recent examples of how sensor technology brings efficiency and safety to new application areas.

Right-angle LVDTs take less space
Here’s one way to shorten a linear-variable-differential transformer (LVDT): Put the connector on the side instead of on the end. That’s the idea behind new LVDTs from Macro Sensors in Pennsauken, N. J. The company offers what it calls a right-angle configuration for its spring-loaded and through-bore LVDT position sensors. Besides making the LVDT shorter, the right-angle connection stops debris from accumulating inside the sensor body. Moreover, the bending radius of the mating cable does not add to the length when there’s a side connection. As a result, the installed length of the LVDT position sensors is at least 2 in. shorter than comparable units with an axially mounted connector.

Another advantage of this configuration: When open at both ends, it’s easy to clean dirt, grit, and dust out of the LVDT.

The sensors are rated to operate up to 220°F (105°C). Hermetically sealed versions, constructed entirely of stainless steel with coil windings sealed against hostile environments to IEC standard IP-68, can withstand pressures up to 1,000 psi. The LVDTs come in both ac and dc configurations. Dc-operated units use built-in electronics to provide such features as frictionless operation and dynamic response, with the added convenience and simplicity of dc input and precalibrated dc output.

Targeted applications include hostile environments containing caustic/corrosive materials or with extreme temperature variations. Many such LVDTs can be found providing displacement measurement in applications for automotive factories, forges and foundries, metal-fabricating machinery, paper and plastic-film plants, sawmills, process-automation applications, hydraulic cylinder, and all types of motion-control systems.