The latest photoelectric sensing technology from Telemecanique, a brand of Schneider Electric, is ideal for challenging applications such as those found in packaging using clear containers.

The latest photoelectric sensing technology from Telemecanique, a brand of Schneider Electric, is ideal for challenging applications such as those found in packaging using clear containers and features automatic compensation for environments where the lens can become dirty. This increases uptime and provides for better planned maintenance - an essential benefit for high volume production lines where unplanned stoppages are extremely costly. The clever innovation in the XUY type is its ability to constantly monitor its surroundings and increase its gain to compensate for dusty or dirty environments.

This continues up to a user defined limit after which an alarm alerts the operator and maintenance can take place without interruption to the line.

Moreover, since the XUKT can read any transparent materials - not just glass or PET containers - it is ideal for the broadest range of bottling, bagging and wrapping applications.

Schneider Electric's designers recognised that proximity sensors operate perfectly on clear containers when they are first installed, but their performance deteriorates over time due to misting, dirt and other contaminants.

As the reflector gets dirty, the sensitivity drops and the chances of production interruptions increase.

Commonly, the gain of the sensor must then be manually raised to compensate, or, worse still, production must be interrupted to clean or maintain the sensor.

The sensors conform with relevant IEC, UL and CSA standards and are CE marked.

They offer up to IP68 protection depending on housing and connection type chosen.

Switching frequency is up to 5KHz depending on photoelectric type selected.

Input is 2,3 or 4 wire AC/DC from 12-230V while output is 100/200mA.

Connection options include pre-wired, plug-in and rewireable connectors.

Apart from the XUKT for transparent objects, there are four other sensors in the range, all of which are ideal for packaging applications among others.

The XUK9 polarised light version is for detecting shiny objects; XUKW liquid level detector that uses advanced aqueous optical detection; XUKR contrast mark for wrapping, sealing and quality control applications requiring full colour recognition; and the XUY fork sensors for applications such as bottle top detection, counting screws, label detection and so forth.