Parker Hannifin has introduced a new integrated absolute position sensor that can provide improved application productivity while offering low installation and maintenance costs. Intellinder equipped cylinders provide a rugged, damage resistant solution for use in OEM equipment that requires precise linear feedback of the cylinder position.
Intellinder equipped Parker cylinders are able to support a wide range of functions in many diverse applications: including electronic cushioning, load monitoring, auto-level, steer by wire and return to position. By marking the piston rod with a unique non-repeating pattern and integrating a highly engineered opto-electronic sensor into the cylinder head, this unique virtual plug-and-play technology provides continuous feedback of the cylinder linear position.
Intellinder cylinders are offered with rod diameters ranging from 25 mm to 127 mm combined with suitable bore sizes and stroke lengths up to 2.4 m. Double-rod configurations are especially suitable for this new technology.
The sensor, mounted in the head of the cylinder, reads the pattern on the cylinder rod. Positional values and system health conditions are reported on a serial bus. This CAN bus (Controller Area Network) allows for multiple cylinders with Intellinder to be networked together over a single cable providing precise position and system health information.
Intellinder is a suited to mobile applications with a direct connect to Parker IQAN, using CAN J1939 or CAN Open Safety. Forindustrial applications, Intellinder offers multiple voltage and current outputs, with 0-10V and 4-20 mA standard for connection to common controllers.
The benefits of the design are particularly evident in vehicle steering applications where Intellinder is available on a double rod cylinder, providing absolute position monitoring in safety-critical applications.
Safety can be further enhanced by multiple redundancy—utilizing two or more sensors mounted around the rod.
Because absolute position monitoring—as used on Intellinder cylinders—does not need to measure from a reference point on start-up, it is faster and delivers higher performance compare to incremental techniques
Intellinder equipped Parker cylinders are supplied fully assembled and tested. Once the cylinder is mounted and connected to the hydraulic system, installation can be completed quickly and easily by making a single electrical connection to the controller. The fully integrated design, which employs a rugged, die-cast zinc alloy housing rated to IP68 for the sensor and electronics, contributes to extreme durability, minimal downtime and low maintenance requirements.
Unlike many competing technologies where the sensor is stroke specific, the Intellinder sensor is a “One size” fits all solution so for spares coverage only one simple to install sensor needs to be stocked to cover all cylinder variants.
The simplified machine design and enhanced performance made possible when using Parker Intellinder cylinders improve reliability, offers gains in productivity and can reduce the overall weight and cost of the application.
Parker Hannifin
www.parker.com
Filed Under: Mobile Hydraulic Tips, Sensors, Sensors & Gauges