SICK Extends Ultrasonic Sensor Range with Powerful Small Devices

The sensors extend SICK’s ultrasonic range,  providing faster response speeds and detection of a wide range of shapes, independent of gloss, colour, transparency, reflectivity or ambient light and climatic conditions.

Ideal for a wide range of duties from presence/absence and rip detection to level and diameter control, the sensors find applications in positioning and safety, packaging and finished goods handling storage and warehousing, conveying and bulk handling duties.

“SICK has drawn from wide customer experience to expand the potential industry applications for its ultrasonic sensor family significantly.  The three compact models now cover virtually every requirement and at competitive prices,” comments Darren Pratt, SICK (UK) distance sensor specialist. 

“As well as performing to the same high standard, the UM12, UC30-2 and the UC4-Fast complement each other, offering a broad applications capability, based on the same robust sensing technology with IP67 protection and a -25^oC to +70^oC temperature range.”

The 12mm diameter SICK UM12 ultrasonic sensor is the smallest on the market, enabling it to be sited in the tightest of spaces. The UM12 is available in two lengths, 55mm and 60mm, depending on whether the digital switch or analogue model is selected. There is a choice of PNP/NPN switching and the sensor is taught via a signal wire.

The UM12 offers the versatility of three switching modes: distance to object, distance window and object between sensor and background (DTO/Window/OBSB)*.  with a range of up to 360mm and repeatability to 0.15%. Typical duties include level sensing, diameter winding control, presence and rip detection in sheet-fed or conveyor processes.

The compact SICK UC30-2 has a rugged rectangular housing which, at 62mm square is the smallest for its range type in the market. With a sensing range up to 8,000mm, the UC30-2 offers class-leading performance.

Easy to teach with on-housing buttons or via IO-Link, the UC30-2 offers a range of analogue, switch output (DTO/Window/ OBSB) and two PNP/NPN push-pull outputs.  The cube design provides an alternative mounting for difficult/small spaces.

The UC4-Fast, based on the well proven UC4 family, has an uprated switching frequency of 100Hz, four times that previously available, to ensure highly consistent results even with rapidly moving objects. These compact sensors weigh just 10g but have an operating range up to 250mm; to reduce the sonic cone width, a tube accessory is available which can be fitted to the emitter to concentrate the signal and provide high-performance sensing of small objects.

The rugged ABS housing ensures the UC4-Fast will work under arduous conditions and includes precise background suppression to minimise interference. It has three operating modes, DTO /Window / OBSB, as well as new analogue output options, and teach-in is simple with the on-housing buttons.