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Interface New Product Releases Winter 2023

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Interface continues to grow our total force measurement solutions. The following showcases new sensors and instrumentation products now available in our general catalog. You can also now find a new Summary Product Catalog, highlighting best-selling products online for download and quick reference.

If you have questions about these new additions or any other Interface products, please contact us. If you would like to order any of the new products, go to Request for Quote.

NEW INTERFACE PRODUCT RELEASES 

PILLOW BLOCK LOAD BEARING LOAD CELLS

The Interface PBLC1, PBLC2 and PBLC3 Pillow Block Load Cells series by design measures the force of a pillow block bearing. The force measurement is performed for this load cell between two supports. Learn more about this type of use case in our Feed Roller System Application Note.

Primary Pillow Block Load Cell features and benefits:

  • Capacities from 5 to 30 kN (1.1K to 6.7K lbf)
  • Compatible with INA pillow block bearings
  • IP65 moisture protection
  • Rugged electro-galvanized surface
  • Commonly used for measurement of axle weight in test stands for trains and vehicles

INF1 CANOPEN WEIGHT SINGLE SENSOR WEIGHT TRANSMITTER AND INDICATOR

Interface’s new INF1-CANopen Single Sensor Weight Transmitter and Indicator has a six-digit red LED display (8 mm height), space saving compact design, four buttons for the system calibration, and a six indicator led.

Primary INF1-CANopen features and benefits:

  • Baud rate: 10, 20, 25, 50, 100, 125, 250, 500, 800, 1000
  • Equipped with RS485 serial port
  • Three relay logic outputs controlled by setpoint values or via protocols
  • Two optoisolated PNP logic inputs: status reading via serial communication protocols
  • One load cell dedicated input
  • Back panel mounting on DIN rail
  • Six-digit red LED semi-alphanumeric display (8 mm height), seven segment
  • Four buttons for system calibration
  • Extractable screw terminal boards

INF4-CANOPEN TWO, THREE, AND FOUR SENSOR WEIGHT TRANSMITTER AND INDICATOR

The Interface INF4-CANopen Two, Three, and Four Sensor Weight Transmitter and Indicator has a six-digit red LED display (8 mm height), space saving compact design, four buttons for the system calibration, and a six indicator LED.

Primary INF4-CANopen features and benefits:

  • Baud rate: 10, 20, 25, 50, 100, 125, 250, 500, 800, 1000
  • Equipped with RS485 serial port
  • Three relay logic outputs controlled by setpoint values or via protocols
  • Two optoisolated PNP logic inputs: status reading via serial communication protocols
  • Four load cell dedicated input
  • Back panel mounting on DIN rail or front panel (except PROFIBUS DP version) with fixing kit
  • Six-digit red LED semi-alphanumeric display (8 mm height), seven segment
  • Four buttons for system calibration
  • Extractable screw terminal boards

The INF Weight Transmitter and Indicator Instrumentation solutions come in multiple communication protocols for single and multiple sensors. Be sure to visit our Interface Instrumentation Selection Guide for help in choosing the right instrumentation production for your exact requirements.

ITCA TENSION AND COMPRESSION LOAD CELL

Interface’s new ITCA series load cell is ideal for measuring both tensile and compressive forces. The standard metric threads at each end of the load cell are designed to accept standard spherical seating rod-end bearings. There is great flexibility in the ITCA design, allowing us to offer custom sizes to meet specific application requirements, or different end thread sizes and combinations. There are versions available with male threads at each end, or male threads at one end and female at the other. We also offer the ITCA series with imperial thread sizes.

Primary ITCA features and benefits:

  • Ranges from 1 to 150 metric tons (MT) (2.2K to 330.6K lbf)
  • Stainless steel construction
  • IP66 environmental protection with IP67 and submersible options available
  • Tension and compression
  • Typical applications are structural testing, jack load and cable tension monitoring, material test machine feedback and press load monitoring

ENCLOSURES

Interface has introduced a series of enclosures to protect your transducers and instrumentation investments. These enclosures are designed for single and multiple instrumentation products, along with combined instrumentation and transducers. Enclosures are available as standard products. We also offer customization and mobile device configurations. Contact our Application Engineers to determine which type of enclosure best fits your products and application requirements. Download Interface Enclosures Overview.

Primary Enclosure options and features:

  • Special Purpose Wireless Enclosure NEMA 4
  • Single Instrument Enclosure NEMA 4
  • Dual Instrument Enclosure NEMA 4
  • Single Channel Benchtop Enclosure
  • Dual Channel Benchtop Enclosure
  • Single Channel Internal Mount Enclosure NEMA 4
  • Dual Channel Internal Mount Enclosure NEMA 4
  • Stainless Steel Enclosures for Indicators and Controllers NEMA Type 4X, Type 12 and IP66
  • Special Purpose Portable Systems
  • Rack Mounts

9825-AI GENERAL PURPOSE ANALOG INPUT INDICATOR

Interface’s 9825-AI is a General Purpose Analog Input Indicator Instrument works with mV/V sensors. It has an easy to navigate menu structure and fast speed, up to 1kHz. This product has analog output, peak valley monitoring, USB connection, and two relay setpoints plus alarms. It has an IP54 rating. Another option of this model is the 9825 General Purpose Indicator,

Primary 9825-AI features and benefits:

  • Digital input for print, reset, or tare
  • Excitation sense and bipolar
  • ±999,999
  • Nonlinearity < ±0.01%
  • Analog output 0-5V, 0-10V, 4-20mA, 0-24mA
  • Calibration by live load or mV/V entry
  • High speed of 1200 readings per second
  • Digital filters

9325 PORTABLE SENSOR DISPLAY

The new Interface 9325 Portable Sensor Digital Display Instrumentation is handheld, battery and USB powered, plus is TEDS ready. It a allows simple display of load cells, torque transducers, and other mV/V output transducers with sensitivity up to +/-1 V/V. Up to six calibration ranges are available allowing for different loading modes, both tension and compression, or different sensors. There are also up to six display modes available, which determine what is visible on the LCD display and what actions are available from the set of three soft keys. Please inquire about our new 9325-NU Portable Sensor Display product as well, which offers easy to use menu structure for setup and for performing live calibration of instrument.

Primary 9325 features and benefits:

  • Superior linearity performance specifications
  • Measurement rates up to 2400 samples per second
  • High internal resolution (up to 500,000 counts)
  • IP64 environmentally protected enclosure
  • USB port providing configuration, calibration, save and restore, live logging
  • Multiple display modes
  • logging and graphing, software is included
  • Supports TEDS template 33, 40 and 41
  • Live calibration and multi-point calibration
  • Standard audio alarm

ADDITIONAL PRODUCT RESOURCES

Interface Catalog

Interface Product Line Brochures

Interface Summary Catalog

Interface Products Overview

Interface Applications

Interface Solutions by Industry

Interface Support Resources

 

Digital Instrumentation 101

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Digital instrumentation used for test and measurement provides faster data input and output, and more robust analytics. Interface offers several types of digital instrumentation devices that transform load cell and strain bridge input into digital data output in numerous protocols and bus formats.

Instrumentation that utilizes analog output has long been the standard in the industry. As new requirements for use cases and applications grow, test and measurement engineers and professionals find digital instrumentation advantageous because of the lower cost, easy integration and scalability. They also like the advantage of daisy-chaining multiple sensors together on a single cable run.

Advancements in sensor technologies coincide with growing demands to gather more testing data. This is seen through the use of multi-axis sensors, along with requirements for multi-channel instrumentation that can integrate into existing systems already designed with specific digital connections and protocols, as highlighted in using Interfaces BX8 with our 6-Axis sensors. Change is also coming with a strong desire to utilize instrumentation that can easily work within cable free environments or in remote locations.

In addition to improving speed of data output, digital instrumentation offers an abundance of benefits. This is primarily due to the digital signal, as they are less susceptible to noise and are more secure. Digital instrumentation typically has built in error detection. Digital signals are best for transmitting signals across longer distances or when you need to allow for simultaneous multi-directional transmissions. Many people like the ease of integration, both into existing networks as well as with other testing devices.

Types of Interface Digital Instrumentation

  • Indicators and Bidirectional Indicators
  • Portable and Programmable Indicators
  • Battery Powered Indicators and Bidirectional Indicators
  • Single and Multi-Channel Transmitters
  • Controllers and Programmable Controllers
  • USB Output Modules
  • PC Interface Modules
  • Sensor to USB Output Converters
  • Data Acquisition Systems
  • Wireless Instrumentation

Connection options available for Interface Digital Instrumentation include, RS232, RS485, RS422, Wi-Fi, USB, Bluetooth, and Ethernet Protocols. The types of data output protocols available include ASCII, Modbus, CANopen, DeviceNet, Profibus DP Modbus/TCP, Ethernet TCP/IP, Ethernet/IP, EtherCAT and several others. See the complete list of connections and protocols in our Digital Instrumentation Overview.

Top selling digital instrumentation models from Interface, with many available in various protocols:

Do you have questions about the type of instrumentation that will support your application?  You can see more of the solutions by visiting our instrumentation selection guide.  Here are six questions begin evaluating your instrumentation options:

  • Where are you going to connect your sensor technology and how?
  • Do you need to store your data?
  • Do you prefer an analog or digital output device?
  • Are you going to plug-in your instrumentation or use hand-held, wireless or Bluetooth connectivity?
  • How will your data output be displayed?
  • How many channels do you need for your project or program?

For additional help with instrumentation, please contact our application engineers.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Digital Instrumentation for Force Measurement

Ultimate BlueDAQ Software Guide for Interface Instrumentation

Interface Instrumentation Definitions

Instrumentation Selection Guide

Advancements in Instrumentation Webinar

Interface Instructional on Instrumentation Event

Instrumentation

New Additions to Interface Product Catalog

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Every month our team at Interface adds new technologies and solutions to our extensive product catalog.  This year, we’ve added several new force measurement devices and supporting instrumentation to use in test & measurement projects, as well to create complete systems.  The following highlight some of these new additions.

NEW INTERFACE PRODUCTS

The following products are the latest additions to our robust line of standard load cells and torque transducers offerings, along with several new instrumentation options available for pairing with different sensor models.

TORQUE TRANSDUCERS

AT105 Contactless Force Torque Transducer

Highly accurate and maintenance free, contactless, rotating, torque force sensor with digital signal transmission from rotor to stator.

AT104 Compact Size Force/Torque TransducerAT104 Compact Size Force Torque Transducer

Reliable and durable reaction torque force sensor that is ideal for testing in small places, it is non-rotating, often used with a very short axial length.

LOAD CELLS

IPCD Pressure Compensated Downhole Load Cell

Superior to hydraulically compensated wet load cells provides high accuracy, is maintenance free and pressure compensated up to 20,000 PSI and temperature compensated up to 350°F.

MBS Parallelogram Load Cell

The mini load cell is made of lightweight aluminum construction is available is capacities from 2.2 to 100 lbf (9.8 to 445 N).

WSSB Welded Stainless Steel IP68 Environment Protected S-Beam

Ideal for measuring both tension and compressive forces has standard metric threads at each end of the load cell designed to accept standard spherical seating rod-end bearings.

INSTRUMENTATION

9840TQ mV/V Input Torque Transducer Indicator

Provides a TEDS template 33 & 40 (3-point linearization) and is plug and play ready. It is IEEE1451.4 compliant with read and write capability with lbf-ft, lbf-in, N-m and mV/V measurement units.

BSC1 Single Channel PC Interface Module & Bridge Amplifier

A single channel 2.5 analog output, up to 10 mV/V input, 15-pin connector and USB powered and has graphing and logging software.

BSC2 Dual Channel PC Interface Module

Model offers 2-channels USB output, up to 10 mV/V input with two M12 connectors. It is USB powered and incudes graphing and logging software.

BX6-BT Portable 6-Channel High Speed Bluetooth Data Logger

A multi-channel amplifier with Bluetooth connection and data logger functions, which offers exceptionally many features in the smallest dimensions.

INF1-Ethernet TCP IP Single Sensor Weight Transmitter and Indicator

INF1 has a six-digit red LED display (8 mm height), space-saving compact design and four buttons for the system calibration.

INF4-EtherCat Two, Three, and Four Sensor Weight Transmitter and Indicator

INF4has a six-digit display in a compact design with four buttons for the system calibration, and a six indicator LED.

JB1100 4-Channel Advanced Signal Conditioning Transmitter Indicator and Junction Box

This is a multi-functional, compact 4-channel instrumentation solution ideal for PLC systems requiring weight data from load cells.

VSC2 Rugged Compact Vehicle Powered Signal Conditioner

This new model is a high accuracy precision differential amplifier designed for use in harsh environments with low thermal error and an operating range from -40 to +125 C.

When reviewing your options for instrumentation based on features such as type of output, required channels, added software, programmability, speed, logging and graphing capabilities, TEDS ready, and enclosures, be sure to utilize our new Instrumentation Selection Guide.

If you have technical questions or need assistance in choosing the right load cell or instrumentation, please contact our experts.  We are here to assist you.

Interface Load Cell Indicators 101

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At Interface, our claim to fame is that we offer the most accurate and reliable force measurement devices on the market, from load cells to torque transducers and everything in-between. However, no test is complete without the system used to gather the data to evaluate performance results. That’s why we provide a wide variety of instrumentation solutions that include signal conditioners, output modules, high speed data loggers, portable load cell indicators, and weight indicators to complete any testing system.

Among the Interface instrumentation products, the most frequently purchased with a force measurement devices are our load cell indicators in various models including handheld, digital, wireless, multichannel, programmable, output modules, analog and bidirectional.

What is a load cell Indicator?

A load cell indicator is a high-accuracy device connected to the output of a load cell to amplify and display the value of the measured load force and weight. Load cell indicators are often needed where the force, load, or weight measurement needs to be visually displayed for the user and displaying the results on a PC is not feasible or desired in the testing environment. For example, testing in the field or confined spaces can make it impossible to connect directly to a PC. In these situations, indicators are used to quickly review and capture force data in real-time.

A few key benefits of load cell indicators include that they provide stable excitation voltage and converts force measurement sensor signals to a digital display. Commonly available features include analog or digital output, selectable digital filtering, peak and valley monitoring and set-point outputs. Additionally, each load cell indicator can be used to connect to four (or more) digital load cells and can display individual readings or the sum of all connected load cells.

Need a load cell indicator?

Interface offers a wide variety of load cell indicators in multiple configurations. Interface indicators come in single to multi-channel weight transmitters and can be found in handheld and portable designs. Things to consider when selecting an indicator are internal sample rate and update rate of the output. A few of our most popular indicators include:

9890 Strain Gage, Load Cell, & mV/V Indicator

Model 9890 is a powerful multipurpose digital load cell meter ideal for weight and force measurement applications. With a max current of 350 mA at 10 V, it can support up to 12 load cells making it perfect for multipoint weight measurement purposes. The dual-scale capability allows for displays in two different units of measure. See a demonstration video here.

9320 Battery Powered Portable Load Cell Indicator

Model 9320 is a bipolar 7-digit handheld meter featuring two independently scalable ranges, peak and valley monitoring, display hold, mV/V calibration, and a power save feature. Typical battery life exceeds 45 hours of continuous use and 450 in low power mode. IEEE1451.4 TEDS Plug and Play compliant.

482 Battery Powered Bidirectional Weight Indicator

Model 482 is battery powered, bidirectional, and comes in a NEMA 4X stainless enclosure. Standard options include 523,000 internal counts, 0.8-inch LCD 6-digit display and a measurement rate that goes up to 40 Hz. Available options include analog and relay outputs.

1280 Programmable Weight Indicator and Controller

The Interface 1280 Series programmable digital weight indicator with color touchscreen, web server view and multiple protocol types delivers uncompromising speed for today’s operations and expansive options for tomorrow’s requirements.

INF4-Ethernet IP Weight Transmitter and Indicator

The Interface INF4-Ethernet IP weight transmitter and indicator has a six-digit red LED display (8 mm height), space-saving compact design, four buttons for the system calibration, and a six-indicator LED.

See all the indicator options here.

Load Cell Indicator Application Note

The application note below provides an example of the benefit of a load cell indicator in real-world use within the medical industry.

A pharmaceutical tablet producer wanted to monitor the forces applied by the tablet forming machine to understand the relationship between raw material, die set, forming force, and motor-cycle speed. The goal was to improve productivity and efficiency of the tablet forming process while reducing losses, such as cracked tablets or voids, by adding a dimension of feedback that could be used to assign specific press adjustment criteria for given inputs.

An Interface Model WMC Sealed Stainless Steel Mini Load Cell (10K lbf Capacity) was mounted in the section of the downward press bar. The machine was modified to accomplish this. The load cell was then connected to a Model 9320 Portable Load Cell Indicator to collect the needed data.

The indicator was selected as the data collection device because a laptop could have interfered with the test cycle due to space restrictions. The output of the load cell was connected to the 9320 Portable Load Cell Indicator and set aside so that the cable did not interfere with the cycle and no snagging would occur. A cable tie was used to stow aside the cable and to ensure there was enough clearance for the entire cycle.

After analyzing the data, the tablet producer was able to quantify adjustment levels by monitoring which forces produced the most optimal results for a given cycle speed, die set, and raw material. Productivity and efficiency were greatly improved by the enhancement of the data feedback.

To learn more about Interface load cell indicators and for a complete list of products, you can download our instrumentation brochure here. You can also read more about instrumentation options in test and measurement in this post.

Digital Instrumentation for Force Measurement

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The age of IoT (Internet of Things), where almost every vehicle, machine, and piece of equipment is connected and shares information rapidly, is also greatly impacting the world of engineering and manufacturing for the better.  Data is more accessible, which allows for improved decision-making and more efficient product development cycles and design testing.

The demands from customers to go digital is something that Interface has paid close attention too. Digital instruments are becoming more popular because of their advantages over analog devices, such as greater speed, increased accuracy, better resolution, reduction in operator errors and the ability to provide automatic measurements in the system application.

Interface provides a wide range of digital instruments that take load cell and strain bridge input and provides data output in a variety of protocol and bus formats, including many industry standards requirements. This combination allows our customers to transform their test and measurement programs and force measurement applications into the digital age. The results are faster data input and outputs, along with more robust analytics.

In addition to improved efficiency, accuracy and speed, digital instrumentation and more specifically, digital signals, provides a plethora of benefits for test and measurement engineers.

These benefits include:

  • Digital signals are less susceptible to noise
  • Digital signals are more secure
  • Digital signals can travel a long distance
  • Digital signals allow multi-directional transmission simultaneously
  • Digital instrumentation can connect to other devices and networks more easily
  • Digital instrumentation can connect with protocols that they are already using in their facility

Another key reason our customers are demanding digital instrumentation is because of the push for Industry 4.0 facilities. Industry 4.0 involves the process of connecting various machines, smart and conventional, to the cloud with sensors to create a powerful sensor network.

The Industry 4.0 network will be fast and stable enough to relay data to people or other machines in real-time. This data is rapidly turned into insight and the information ultimately allows engineers and manufacturers to automate more processes to create a more efficient factory. The digital instrumentation devices that Interface provides play a significant role in helping our customers create Industry 4.0 manufacturing for OEM products and compete in the fourth industrial revolution using digital technologies.

Some of the most popular digital instrumentation devices that Interface provides include:

  • INF1 Modbus TCP Weight Transmitter Indicator  – The Interface Modbus/TCP indicator has a 6-digit red LED display (8 mm height), space-saving compact design, 4 buttons for the system calibration for a single channel weight transmitter.
  • 480 Bidirectional Weight Indicator480 Bidirectional Weight Indicator – The 480 Bidirectional Weight Indicator comes in a NEMA 4X stainless enclosure. The standard options include 523,000 internal counts, 0.8 in. LED 6-digit display and a measurement rate that goes up to 40 Hz.
  • INF4-Ethernet TCP/IP Weight Transmitter Indicator – This 4-channel weight transmitter instrument works in an Ethernet TCP/IP network and it is accessible via a web browser. It has a 6-digit red LED semi-alphanumeric display (8 mm height) and 7 segments with a compact design, 4 buttons for the system calibration, and a 6 indicator LED.

For more information on Interface’s growing lineup up of digital instrumentation, please visit /product-category/digital-instrumentation/.