WIKA has been an internationally recognised partner for all measurement tasks for many decades. The merchandise portfolio includes pressure, temperature, force and level measurement, and also flow measurement, calibration and SF6 gas solutions. In the following article, we would like to take a closer consider the measured variable of force. These five reasons show why force measurement is of particular importance.
Reason 1: Protection of individuals and machinery
Protecting folks from harm is the highest priority in any workplace. Likewise, the machinery should remain undamaged to be able to minimise downtime and repairs. In this context, force measurement ensures a safe working environment, especially through overload protection. In cranes, for example, this prevents heavy loads from falling. With construction machinery and robots, alternatively, uncontrolled machine movements are prevented. This can help you work safely, and completely harmlessly, close to and with machinery. In production lines, for example, the machinery is prevented from pulling, pushing or pressing unchecked, and thereby destroying both components and itself. Worthwhile is port logistics, that WIKA supplies a globally unique, certified system.
Added value: Safe working environment
Reason 2: Ensuring system stability and production safety
Just collecting data isn’t enough. The correct measured values may also be required to be able to monitor processes seamlessly. Using force measurement in linear drives, for instance, thus improves process control as well as automation, while simultaneously ensuring quality. Force measurement also provides the right data for the correct functioning of brakes and drives, conveyors, presses and weighing systems. A crucial point here is to reduce running costs. The higher the standard of the measured data, the higher the data analysis. The planning of a tool change is thus more precise, so that changing it too early doesn?t cause increased costs nor does unplanned maintenance cause longer downtimes. The savings in consequential costs alone pay for it many times over.
Added value: Full process control
Reason 3: Optimisation of production conditions
The savings potential, and thus the maximisation of profit, have been mentioned in the previous section. Only through the optimal use of materials and machinery can margins be increased. An integral issue in manufacturing plants is machine availability. Along with reducing downtime, the focus is on minimising maintenance costs. A good example of this are welding tongs. With these, the contact force of the electrodes could be precisely monitored through the use of tension/compression force transducers. In this manner, optimum quality is permanently guaranteed and, simultaneously, wear is minimised. Higher profits can also be achieved through saving time, for example, when containers are weighed ?on the fly?.
Added value: Maximum profits
Reason 4: Improving product quality and saving materials
The use of force measurement in welding tongs ? as explained in the section above ? is an extremely good example of improving product quality along with saving materials. Force measurement supplies the right data for probably the most accurate process control. Due to this fact, machine tool wear is only minimal. In addition, force measurement offers many other areas of application. For example, spreading fertiliser where this action is adapted to the soil conditions is one method to save material. This protects the environment. Furthermore, it is beneficial to know the (supporting) forces acting on mobile cranes. The automobile?s centre of gravity can thus be calculated exactly, meaning that the safety margin could be reduced. In cases like this, loads can be lifted further, yet accidents, e.g. because of slipping or tipping, could be avoided.
Added value: Lowering costs
Reason 5: Ensuring quality
Finally, the application of force measurement also offers many advantages in your community of quality assurance, which includes recently been touched upon. On the main one hand, the machinery could be optimally controlled by registering the force. Alternatively, by recording the values, live along with saving them for later use, conclusions can be drawn for specific batches. Furthermore, the most precise force measuring instruments meet up with the highest requirements, for example, in materials testing machinery or in medical engineering. Incidentally, WIKA also offers a DAkkS-accredited calibration service for force measuring instruments.
Added value: Exact measured values
Note
Further details on our portfolio of force measuring instruments are available on the WIKA website. There additionally, you will find info on our calibration service for force measuring instruments. In addition, our brochure on force measurement: ?Force measurement is really a matter of trust? is also available. Would you like to buy force transducers? Inside our WIKA online shop you?ll find some of our standard versions. When you have any questions about force measurement, please ask your contact person.
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Force measurement in linear drives