SENSORS & SENSING SYSTEMS CONTRINEX
Contrinex background suppression photoelectric sensors are ‘Brie’-lliant for ‘grate’ cheese packaging
B
ackground Suppression Diffuse sensing to detect portions of cheese as they approach a packaging station. The high-speed
packaging machines, use in-line buffering stations to regulate the movement of the cheese portions so that it arrives at the packaging machine at the perfect time to optimise the packaging machine’s throughput.
CUSTOMER APPLICATION To increase the capacity of a packaging line for individually packaged cheese portions, robust reliable detection was required to detect the presence of each cheese portion to control the speed of in-line buffering units. These feed a packaging machine, in a high-volume, hygienic production facility. Once cut to size, cheese portions travel on a
food-grade conveyor to a packaging station; the duration of the packaging cycle is dependent on the type of cheese and the portion size. Prior to end-of-line packaging, a buffering station a predetermined spacing to optimise the packaging machine’s throughput. The two operations must be synchronised, so the manufacturer requires a sensor system that detects the presence of each cheese portion as it leaves the buffering station, triggering the packaging cycle. Detection sensitivity parameters for each
portion type and size are sent to the sensor for each production batch using IO-Link. This remote
the sensor after a manual adjustment of the sensor. withstand the aggressive cleaning agents used during washdown routines. They must also accommodate the full range of portion sizes without the need for manual adjustment to minimise the changeover time between product batches.
CUSTOMER SOLUTION Diffuse-mode photoelectric sensors with Background Suppression from Contrinex’s C23PA family of sensors where selected as being ideal for this application. The tiny cubic sensors are mounted above product conveyors immediately before a buffering station to detect the presence of cheese portions as they pass underneath. The Background Suppression feature enables the sensor to measure the distance to the fast-moving conveyor and ignore or suppress it so that the sensor is not falsely triggered by movements in the conveyor, for example, if it jumps upwards slightly. were made by using Contrinex’s range of stainless
steel mounting brackets specially designed for this family of sensors. The sensor’s industry-standard PNP normally-open output and M8 connector made installation and integration easy. IO-Link the standardised point-to-point serial connection protocol for sensors and actuators, which is enabled on PNP versions at no additional cost, provides the advantages of digital communication without the need for special cabling. A second output provides a stability alarm in the preventative maintenance before any performance degradation occurs.
The small (20mm x 30mm x 10mm) robust
sensors provide reliable operation in the demanding washdown environment. They are rated to IP67 15mm and 250mm, adjustable via a teach button or via IO-Link, accommodates the range of portion sizes without compromise. A brief one- or two-step teach procedure portion size is introduced, process engineers can teach the target object and, optionally, the background. Once taught, sensitivity parameters are stored on the sensor’s inbuilt memory and may be retrieved or updated remotely via IO-Link, eliminating the need for manual adjustment. The C23PA family of photoelectric sensors,
plus transparent object detection using either conventional visible-light or uniquely, ultra-violet illumination. The sensors are available with choices of PNP/
NPN, light-on/dark-on, cable or socket, and can be adjusted using a teach button or IO-Link. They exceeded the customer’s need for reliable operation with little or no manual intervention and so were highly cost-effective. The choice of four different low-cost stainless-steel mounting and
26 February 2025 Irish Manufacturing
www.irish-manufacturing.com
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