A new family of load cells from Measurement Specialties will allow design engineers to use direct force measurement in many OEM applications where the technology had previously been too expensive. Microfused™ load cells are manufactured at a fraction of traditional cost, allowing pricing as low as US$5 each for high volume orders.
The new sensors are made by fusing silicon strain gages at high temperature with inorganic glass to the load-measuring member. The glass bonding process eliminates the instabilities associated with conventional epoxy bonded strain gages, creating a more durable and stable sensor. Long term drift totals only 1% over the first 12 months and another 1% over the life of the sensor. This stability enables their use in long-lasting consumer products without the need for recalibration.
Medical, Consumer, Automotive and Industrial Applications
Medical applications include physical therapy machines, hospital gas systems and detection of potentially dangerous occlusions in infusion tubes. Consumer applications include appliance load/unbalance sensing, food weighing and equipment controls. Automotive applications include seat occupancy detection and force-driven system controls. Industrial applications include hoist and winch loads, assembly line forces and robotics end effectors.
The load cells feature low deflection and inherently low mass, which enables optimized response time, superior low-end resolution and essentially unlimited fatigue life expectancy. Microfused load cells have been tested to greater than ten million cycles with no indication of fatigue failure.
Four standard compression packages can be used “off the shelf” or as templates from which to begin the customization process with worldwide support from Measurement Specialties engineers. Standard ranges from 750 gmf (1.5 lbf) to 10 KN (2,000 lbf) are offered with either unamplified millivolt or amplified outputs.
Measurement Specialties, Inc., designs and manufactures a wide variety of sensors and transducers that measure pressure, force, vibration, position, humidity and temperature.