Balluff Mechanical cam switches

Balluff Mechanical cam switches

For positioning and limit switch tasks

Position and row-position counters are classics in the metal-working industry and world-wide automotive production. They have proven their worth in automation for decades.

Mechanical sensors are used for positioning and limit switch tasks on machine tools and presses, flexible production centres, robots, assembly and conveying equipment, and in machine and plant construction. For decades, they have proven their worth as the traditional strongmen of automation.

Benefits

  • Reliable and robust, even in harsh environments
  • Flawless functionality in the event of vibrations, shock loads, temperature swings, aggressive cooling lubricants and heavy chip accumulation
  • Maintenance-free, self-lubricating ram guide with plain bearing bush
  • High-end Viton® seals
  • Protection type IP67
  • Also with inductive switching points

Product families

Increased sensing distance and area monitoring for robots

Inductive position- and row-position counter

An in­creased sens­ing dis­tance of 4 mm can be achieved with these po­si­tion and row-po­tion coun­ters. Mu­tual in­flu­ence is pre­vented up to a pitch of 12 mm.

The po­si­tion and row-po­si­tion coun­ters with in­creased sens­ing dis­tance are es­pe­cially suited to robot ap­pli­ca­tions. If two phys­i­cal chan­nels (one open­ing and one clos­ing) are op­er­ated with one switched sup­ply volt­age, a cross-wire mon­i­tor can be achieved. In this sys­tem, dif­fer­ent sig­nals must be de­liv­ered to the con­trol. If a fault oc­curs, both sig­nals are iden­ti­cal and are rec­og­nized by the con­trol as a cross-wire fault con­di­tion.

Mon­i­tor­ing can take place via a safety con­trol or with a safety switch­ing de­vice.

The fea­tures

  • In­creased switch­ing dis­tance of 4 mm – up to 12 mm switch­ing point dis­tance can be re­al­ized with­out mu­tual in­ter­fer­ence
  • Area mon­i­tor­ing for ro­bots: Cross-wire recog­ni­tion can be achieved

Movement-less and wear free operation

Inductive position- and row-position counter

Our in­duc­tive po­si­tion and row-po­si­tion coun­ters com­bine the ad­van­tages of an in­duc­tive sen­sor with those of our me­chan­i­cal hous­ing-based line of prod­ucts: While we use the same ro­bust hous­ings as for the me­chan­i­cal con­fig­u­ra­tion, a re­li­able in­duc­tive switch­ing el­e­ment as­sumes the switch­ing func­tion.

Com­pact con­fig­u­ra­tion and high switch­ing dis­tances are sig­nif­i­cant for in­duc­tive po­si­tion and row-po­si­tion coun­ters. These char­ac­ter­is­tics allow for con­tact­less and thus wear-free op­er­a­tion.

The co­or­di­nated trans­mis­sion fre­quen­cies of the in­duc­tive switch­ing el­e­ments allow for a tight se­quen­tial arrange­ment. The switch­ing el­e­ments are gen­er­ally equipped with LEDs. The switch­ing func­tion is thus rec­og­niz­able on the hous­ing cover.

The fea­tures

  • Re­li­able in­duc­tive ac­tive prin­ci­ple
  • LED func­tion dis­play for each switch­ing point
  • Com­pact hous­ing
  • Me­chan­i­cal hous­ing aligned to the fix­ing mass can be used
  • High sens­ing dis­tance
  • Con­tact-free and there­fore wear-free
  • Tight se­quen­tial arrange­ment pos­si­ble by co­or­di­nated trans­mis­sion of switch­ing fre­quen­cies
  • Pro­tec­tion de­gree IP67: Re­sis­tant to ag­gres­sive cool­ing lu­bri­cants

Counter with robust housing for extreme applications

Mechanical position- and row-position counter

In me­chan­i­cal po­si­tion and row-po­si­tion coun­ters with­out forcible sep­a­ra­tion, a tele­scopic ram ex­e­cutes the switch­ing pro­ce­dure. With its help, a me­chan­i­cal switch­ing el­e­ment is con­nected in a sep­a­rate sealed cham­ber. The op­ti­mal choice of ram shape for the ap­pli­ca­tion in com­bi­na­tion with our cams guar­an­tees a long op­er­a­tion life.

The fea­tures

  • Long ser­vice life
  • Ro­bust hous­ing for ex­treme ap­pli­ca­tions
  • IO-Link adapt­able
  • Nine se­ries
  • Up to 16 in­ter­faces, de­pend­ing upon the se­ries
  • Op­tional: Func­tion dis­play
  • Two-cham­ber sys­tem with IP67 pro­tec­tion: Wear-free mem­brane with her­metic sep­a­ra­tion of the ram mech­a­nism and the switch in­te­rior
  • Main­te­nance-free, self-lu­bri­cat­ing ram guide with plain bear­ing bush

Mixed connections and individual solutions tailored for your requirements

For ap­pli­ca­tions in which dif­fer­ent re­quire­ments must be met, our mixed-con­nec­tion switches are ideal. We offer you in­di­vid­ual so­lu­tions – suited to your re­quire­ments.

Con­tact us if you need a row-po­si­tion counter with dif­fer­ent ram de­signs, switch­ing el­e­ments, plug con­nec­tions or spe­cial wiring. Al­most any­thing can be achieved.

The fea­tures

  • Dif­fer­ent needs can be met
  • In­di­vid­ual so­lu­tions suited to your re­quire­ments

Reliable forcible opening even with welded contacts

Mechanical position and row-position counters with safety switching point

Equip your safety func­tions such as emer­gency off or end-of-travel lim­i­ta­tion with safety switches from Bal­luff.

The switch­ing op­er­a­tion is trig­gered in our switches by a rigid ram which is ac­tu­ated by a me­chan­i­cal switch­ing el­e­ment with pos­i­tive open­ing. When the ram moves, the con­tact is in­ter­rupted. This as­sures re­li­able switch­ing even with welded con­tacts.The num­ber of safety switch­ing points in a row-po­si­tion counter is un­lim­ited and can be com­bined with stan­dard switch­ing el­e­ments.

The fea­tures

  • Safe pos­i­tive open­ing even with welded con­tacts
  • Safety func­tions in ac­cor­dance with DIN EN 60204-1/VDE 0113 and DIN EN 60947-5-1
  • Five se­ries
  • Up to 16 switch­ing points, de­pend­ing upon the se­ries
  • A freely se­lec­table num­ber of safety switch­ing points in one row-po­si­tion counter
  • Safety switch­ing points and stan­dard switch­ing points can be com­bined

Stays cool, even when things get hot

Ultra-high temperature-resistant mechanical position and row-position counters

The ultra-high tem­per­a­ture-re­sis­tant sin­gle and mul­ti­ple po­si­tion switches are suit­able for tem­per­a­tures of up to 180 ºC. The do not re­quire much space and have a ro­bust die cast hous­ing. They are there­fore per­fect for harsh en­vi­ron­ments in mould con­struc­tion and in the plas­tics and steel in­dus­tries.

The fea­tures

  • Re­li­able switch­ing be­hav­ior
  • Tem­per­a­ture range –5…180 °C
  • Avail­able with high-tem­per­a­ture cable
  • Up to twelve switch­ing points
  • Four se­ries

Exchange unit for quick and easy ram replacement

Mechanical position and row-position counters with exchange plate

Me­chan­i­cal row-po­si­tion counter with ex­change unit for stan­dard ap­pli­ca­tions as well as with safety switch­ing points for in­creased re­quire­ments avail­able.

The whole ram unit can be dis­mounted using two bolts in order to ex­change the in­di­vid­ual ram. It saves time and money, since the whole switch does not have to be re­moved.

The fea­tures

  • Short ser­vic­ing time thanks to sim­ply mounted re­place­ment unit
  • Fast ex­change of in­di­vid­ual ram or the en­tire unit di­rectly on the ma­chine
  • Low re­pair costs
  • No wiring er­rors
  • Up to six switch­ing points
  • Two se­ries

Secured switching even with welded contacts

Mechanical position and row-position counters with forcible separation

With smaller con­fig­u­ra­tions of the me­chan­i­cal po­si­tion and row-po­si­tions coun­ters, es­pe­cially, forcible sep­a­ra­tion comes into use. This is be­cause the con­fig­u­ra­tion does not per­mit safety switch­ing el­e­ments to be vi­able here.

The switch­ing process is trig­gered by a rigid ram that op­er­ates a me­chan­i­cal switch­ing el­e­ment. When the ram moves, the con­tact is in­ter­rupted. This as­sures re­li­able switch­ing even with welded con­tacts.

The fea­tures

  • Re­li­able switch­ing even with welded con­tacts
  • Four se­ries
  • Up to twelve in­ter­faces, de­pend­ing upon the se­ries
  • Freely se­lec­table num­ber of switch­ing points with forcible sep­a­ra­tion
  • Two-cham­ber sys­tem with IP67 pro­tec­tion: Wear-free mem­brane with her­metic sep­a­ra­tion of the ram mech­a­nism and the switch in­te­rior
  • Main­te­nance-free, self-lu­bri­cat­ing ram guide with plain bear­ing bush
  • Rigid ram

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