Assessing Wear in Plain Bearings via Rugged Inductive Sensors

Straddle carriers, purpose-designed container-handling machines, work in highly hostile seaport surroundings. Consequently, frequent preventative maintenance of these machines is critical. Specific sensors are needed for estimating corrosion of parts, minimizing the danger of premature failure.

Inductive sensors with Analog Outputs are designed for this application. They are M30-diameter metal-bodied tools and are IP67-rated and offer an analog voltage (0- to 10-volt) or current (4- to 20-mA) outputs. These sensors have a length of less than 50mm long and 40mm detection ranges, exceeding the desired demand. As a container passes over the front face of the bearing, the sensor computes the distance to the metal container wall, and accordingly the bearing thickness. Data is accumulated in real time with high precision and resolution in the micron range.

Data passes to on-board computer systems hooked up on every carrier; connection is through a bendy cable with a simply removable M12 connector. At intervals, carriers transmit data wirelessly to a processor for detailed analysis.