New high speed fibre-optic amp from Contrinex

This very fast response makes it ideal for sensing small parts moving at high lateral speeds. Although manufactured in Switzerland to high quality standards, this new potentiometer version is very competitively priced at about half that of other amplifiers with a similar speed performance.

The twelve-turn potentiometer provides simple and accurate setting of the amplifier that is displayed clearly through a magnifying lens-window and enables extremely precise tuning over the full sensing range. Unlike most conventional systems, there is no sensing blind spot and so the sensing distance can be set over the full range of 0 to 140mm in increments of less than 1mm.

The amplifier monitors the received light level and, if this deteriorates due to dirt build-up, fibre damage or misalignment of the fibre position by a preset margin, a fourth wire output is activated that can alert an operator and so help avoid inconvenient and expensive process failures.

Supply voltage range is 10 – 30VDC and all units are sealed to IP64 and include short circuit, overload and inverse polarity protection. Both ‘light-on’ and ‘dark-on’ setting are available as are PNP or NPN variants with cable or plug options. Screw mounting is also possible with the same housing design.

The body width of only 10mm is ideal for stacking large numbers side by side where space is at a premium and the unit can be removed from the front of the rail without disturbing other amplifier or fibre components.