Huge industrial potential for new Keyence laser sensors

Citation

(2000), "Huge industrial potential for new Keyence laser sensors", Sensor Review, Vol. 20 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/sr.2000.08720bad.012

Huge industrial potential for new Keyence laser sensors

Huge industrial potential for new Keyence laser sensors

Keyword: Laser sensors

A new series of digital display controllers from Keyence is ideal for applications which demand high levels of differentiation and wide detection areas.

The LX2-V Series comes with a number of ground-breaking features, including a detection distance of up to two metres, ultra high repeatability from 5um and a sampling speed of 80ums. The controllers are also extremely cost-effective (see Plate 11).

One important advantage of the new controllers is a large, built-in two-colour digital display. The numeric value can be displayed in either red or green and the LED's 11mm character height allows for a quick check of measurements even at a distance. Another advantage is the ease of optical axis alignment. The quantity of received light can be displayed as a percentage. So the optical axis can be perfectly aligned by simply positioning the transmitter and receiver until the highest reading is displayed. There is also a manual scaling function which allows the gain and offset values to be adjusted manually. Three independent outputs are ideal for differentiation of HIGH, GO and LOW situations.

Plate 11 Keyence LX2 - V10 series

Because of its flexibility the LX2-V Series is ideal for a huge range of customer applications, such as detection of tablet position. Here, a parallel light beam above a blister pack is interrupted if any of the tablets are projecting incorrectly. Coloured bottles can be differentiated by the laser thrubeam sensor which distinguishes between transparent, brown and green bottles. In electronics, the thrubeam sensors can be positioned above and below resistors. Double-fed or incorrectly-positioned resistors are detected according to the change in the interrupted laser beam area. In the automotive industry damaged valve components can also be detected by non-contact inspection - a process that does away with the need for traditional cylinder-actuated probes.

The LX2-V Series comes with a selection of four different sensor heads. The high accuracy type head, LX2-110W, can detect an object as small as 8um in diameter, and the wide area type head can detect any target of 0.2mm diameter or larger in the laser beam area of 30mm wide.

The Series includes Ladder Builder for KV software which ensures fast, easy programming and efficient desktop debugging. Ladder Builder can simulate program executions even without being connected to a PLC. It can easily identify complex operation problems, while simultaneously displaying multiple timing charts of any devices. Editing is also simple, using Windows functions to enter data entry from a keyboard or mouse. A built-in autosave function backs up the program at pre-determined intervals, protecting data against any power losses or system crashes.

All fully-equipped with Access Windows, 12 types of base unit are available for the KV Series. They range from the KV-IOAR AC relay unit with six inputs and four outputs, to the KV-40DT DC transistor with 24 inputs and 16 outputs. Expansion is also simple, with eight types of I/O unit available, all of which can be mounted up to 300mm away from the adjacent unit.

To find out more about the KV Series, contact: Shinji Furuta, Keyence UK Ltd, 504-510 Elder House, Station Square, Elder Gate, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire MK9 1LR, UK. Tel: +44 (0) 1908 696900; Fax: +44 (0) 1908 696777; E-mail: ukinfo@keyence.co.uk