Oil level indication is a vital part of any system and requires a quick and simple checking procedure. Ideally a quick visual sight check during other regular maintenance 
Telescopic cover stays from EMKA are used for support of horizontal or vertical covers on control panels, e.g. rooftop air-conditioning cabinets, for support, or simply as a wind stay. Now their new 1097 variants incorporates a facility for manual pushbutton/pull cord operation. Use of a pull cord greatly facilitates operation of widely spaced multiple stays on very wide covers of one metre plus. It also enables simple operation and enhanced safety.
Quality Bearings & Components (QBC) announces a new line of 303 stainless steel solid precision ground shafting. Identified as the BBSHAF... Series, these shafts are stocked in 3 diameters, .1247", .1872", and .2497". 
An ideal application for the optoNCDT 2200-LL is therefore in structured surfaces, where the distance and not the structure itself need to be measured. The distance measurement should not be influenced by the structure of the surface, but instead should provide a constant, reliable value of the distance from the target.
Erich Winkler, Product Manager at Micro-Epsilon comments: “The speckle effect that is often associated with rough surfaces is filtered out by the new sensor’s optics and software algorithms. A component with a rough surface, when illuminated with light from a laser, exhibits a speckled appearance. This effect makes it very difficult for laser sensors to measure distances to surfaces, especially if the surface defects are very small.”
According to Winkler, the optoNCDT 2200-LL is already being used in a number of applications, including measuring the distance of lift cylinders on printing machines and for measuring the thickness of shiny, oily steel surfaces on textile machinery. The sensor is also being used to measure structured surfaces on grinding wheels and on CNC turned parts, including shafts and tubes. “These parts are cut from metal and are left with small machining tracks on the surface, which together, act like a small mirror to a laser light. In this case, most of the light is reflected back to the sensor at different angles rather than in a diffuse manner and so the sensor struggles to take accurate measurements. The optoNCDT 2200-LL has been designed specifically to solve measurement problems such as these,” explains Winkler.
Seven different versions of the optoNCDT 2200-LL sensor are available, with measuring ranges between 2mm and 200mm. The sensor is based on the company’s very successful optoNCDT 2200 and therefore benefits from all the other advantages of this series, such as fast measurement rates and automatic real-time exposure regulation.
For more information on Micro-Epsilon’s optoNCDT 2200-LL and 2220 sensors, please call the sales department on 0151 260 9800 or email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
By replacing standard solid bearings with split cylindrical or spherical roller bearings, process manufacturers can reduce repair and overhaul costs on complex drive units for heavy machinery, including steel rolling mills and extruders.
For process manufacturing companies, replacing worn or damaged bearings on drive units for heavy machinery is both time consuming and costly. Repair and overhaul of components soaks up valuable time and resources, often resulting in costly production downtime, while the equipment or machinery is offline being repaired. The harsh operating environment can also mean more regular maintenance being required on machinery.
In the steel industry, for example, split bearings can replace sliding bearings to support the heavy universal joint drive shafts on large rolling mills. For a typical rolling mill, the work rolls are driven by universal joint drive shafts. After every rolling cycle, the height of the rolls is adjusted. The drive shafts have to follow this adjusting movement and so are fitted with universal joints. Due to this height adjustment, the shaft length also varies, which must be compensated for in a coupling sleeve.
The new Cygnus 2 is a total redesign. It is far smaller, lighter (275 g inc. batteries), tougher and water resistant (IP65). Now with automatic gain control, automatic probe recognition and automatic display brightness, it is even simpler to use!
Either worn on the waist, around the neck or clipped to a harness, the tough new Cygnus 2 is supplied in a silicone sleeve to offer maximum protection, versatility and comfort.
Simple keypad operation facilitates calibration for the material under inspection – either against a known thickness or velocity of sound. Once set, calibration is stable with no zero adjustment.
Designed and built under the new BS EN 15317 2007, the new Cygnus 2 is also RoHs compliant (free of environmentally hazardous substances).
Cygnus offers a 3 year warranty on all its gauges and 6 months warranty on probes and leads.
Cygnus’ commitment to supply reliable, high quality products is stronger than ever.
For more information and other products, please visit: www.cygnus-instruments.com
If you have any enquiries, please do not hesitate to contact us via email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or telephone on +44 (0) 1305 265 533.
The COMBI 75 combines dry ice pellet production and dry ice blasting
SPM Instrument, Sweden, leading worldwide provider of condition monitoring technology and products, today announced the launch of its new high-performance online system for condition monitoring of critical industrial equipment.
The system, named Intellinova
Monitran, a world leader in the development and manufacture of sensors for the measurement of vibration and displacement, has launched the VS0004, a complete condition monitoring and alarm module.
Fixed to a piece of plant machinery, the VS0004 can respond to a rise in vibration levels in a number of user-definable ways. The unit has two alarm levels, with the user able to set Alarm 1 between 1 and 50mm/s and with Alarm 2 capable of being set as a multiple of Alarm 1, either 1.5, 2, 3 or 5x.
Bob Pickard, Monitran
One of the UK