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Force Measurement Accessories 101

When purchasing a new piece of force measurement technology, it is equally important to consider how you will accessorize it to optimize its utility.  Just like whether you’re wrapping your brand-new smartphone in a protective case to protect your asset or outfitting your new vehicle with top of the line wheels or smart devices to personalize it for your exact needs, accessories are essential to getting the most value out of your investment. This is no different in test and measurement applications.

Accessories ensure you get fully functional and accurate use of your force measuring equipment.

Interface provides the most accurate and reliable force measurement load cells and torque transducers on the market. We also supply vital accessories to pair with our products, including cables, adapters, load buttons, mating connectors, rod end bearings, and TEDS. Our accessories are high-quality components and utilize our stringent processes to ensure your Interface products perform to meet their published specifications utilizing Interface accessories.

Here is a quick overview of why you should consider certain accessories based on your application, along with some of the products we offer to properly accessorize and optimize the performance of your force measurement components.

Why Would You Need Force Measurement Accessories?

Accessories assist with the reliability and performance of load cells and torque transducers. They can also help certain products adapt to various applications. There are a few questions we ask our customers to consider when purchasing a load cell, transducer or other Interface test and measurement products.

  1. How and where is the Interface product connecting to your application?
  2. Are adapters necessary to make the product fit your application?
  3. Are you mounting the device to a hardened flat surface?
  4. How will you be monitoring the performance of your application?

These type of questions are an important step to determine the right accessories for each application, or if a custom accessory is necessary for your testing program. Our experienced Application Engineers can work with you to determine which accessories you need.

Interface Accessories

Cable Assemblies – We provide high-grade cables and connectors to ensure the maximum performance of force and torque systems. This includes standard and custom length shielded cables for connecting transducers to instrumentation.

Calibration Adapters – Our off-the-shelf and custom calibration adapters greatly improve and maintain transducer accuracy. Interface uses high-grade alloy and stainless steel, heat treatments and quality machining practices to ensure our adapters meet your performance needs.

Clevises – We provide high-grade clevises that will perform in your application as needed while maintaining the level of performance you expect from our products. Our clevises are precision machined to ensure performance, reliability, and durability.

Jam Nuts – In order to ensure strength and performance, jam nuts are utilized to maintain a tight bond between the application. We manufacture our own high-performance jam nuts for flat, parallel surfaces in multiple thread sizes.

Load Buttons – Load buttons are used for Interface LowProfile™, S-Type and Mini Beam Load Cells to convert a universal cell to compression only.

Mating Connectors – To match interconnects between load cells and instruments we provide high-grade, off-the-shelf and custom mating connectors to guarantee the performance of your readings are not compromised by a defunct connection.

Mounting Plates – Mounting is a critical factor in the accuracy and durability of force measurement tools. Our mounting plates are made from the best grade alloy and stainless steel and are machined to the tightest specifications. This ensures the load is properly distributed over the foundation of the supporting structure and provides a prepared surface for the load cell. Mounting plates eliminate the requirement for expansion assemblies in most installations.

RCAL Resistors – Interface RCAL Resistors are high precision components that provide an effective method for checking the calibration of a load cell system in the field or when a means of applying actual forces are unavailable.

Rod End Bearings To reduce alignment errors in tension applications, Interface provides high-grade Rod End Bearings that help couple your load cell to your application solution while maintaining performance.

Thread Adapters – Thread adapters provide flexibility to users when workings with male and female threads of differing sizes. Our thread adapters are manufactured with the best practices to ensure the performance of your transducer is maintained when attached to your force transducer application.

Transducer Electronic Data Sheet (TEDS) – Interface’s TEDS option provides a force or torque transducer with electronic identification, allows a sensor or an instrument to be “Plug and Play Ready”, meets IEEE 1451.4 Standard for Smart Transducer Interface and is available on new or existing sensors.

From top to bottom, Interface’s goal is enabling our customers to get the most out of their force measurement device. By combining our industry-leading products with our top-of-the-line accessories, you are certain to get the greatest value in your precision-based application test. For more information on our wide variety of standard and custom accessories, click here.

For additional information about the range of accessories available along with valuable tips about cables, TEDs, and mounting plates read or download the brochure below.
Accessories Brochure

Mini Load Cells 101

With the miniaturization and compact size of many products and technologies used in today’s market, it is critical that sensors are designed to fit all types of applications both big and small. This is especially true in the medical, aerospace, industrial automation, and automotive industries.

Interface customer’s requirements for miniature load cells has rapidly expanded the diversification of load cell products that are “mini” in capacities as low as 0.11 lbf / 0.5 N and as high as 100 kN. Interface Mini Load Cell solutions include miniature beam load cells, miniature sensors, load buttons, load washers, tension force mini load cells, S-type load cells, and sealed stainless steel load cells.

Interface’s mini load cells are used for customers who are looking for smaller cells, or for those designing for light touch or lightweight products. Our miniature load cells provide exceedingly accurate measurements similar to our full-size load cells, all with proprietary alloy strain gages. Mini’s are available standard and can be modified, as well as completely customized depending on the exact requirements of the client’s project or embedding into original equipment. Decreased size should never equal less accurate measurements. Our customers can expect Interface miniature load cells perform with the exact quality and accuracy as all our larger load cells.

To provide you with more insight, here is a quick overview of some of Interface’s most popular mini load cells and their unique capabilities. You can download the full Interface Mini Load Cell brochure here.

Load Buttons

Interface’s load button cells are designed for customers who require the measurement of forces in a very confined space. They are designed to provide the most accuracy in as little space as possible. The smaller LBM or LBS can fulfill the need for force measurements at a very respectable precision level that is enough for most applications. Diameters range from 1 inch to 3 inches, with heights from 0.39 inch to 1.5 inches. The shaped load button has a spherical radius to help confine misaligned loads to the primary axis of the cell.

S-Beam Cells

This line is designed for customers looking for extremely compact load cells that still offer great accuracy. The SM (Super-Mini) series load cells are a low-cost, yet accurate, cell with a straight-through loading design. The SSM (Sealed Super-Mini) series offers the same benefits as the SM series with a rugged S-Cell with a splash-proof cover. Both series give exceptional results in applications that can be designed to operate the cell in tension. Some caution should be exercised when using these cells if they will be compressed to ensure that the loading does not introduce side loads into the cell.

Bending Beam Cell

With Interface’s bending beam cell, the cell is bolted to support through the two mount holes. The cell is designed to concentrate the forces into the area where the gages are mounted on the top and bottom faces of the beam. Our line of bending beam cells also have a splash-proof sealing cover.

Double Bending Beam Cell

The double bending beam cell from Interface is a useful variation on the traditional bending beam. In general, this configuration is much more user-friendly because of its short vertical dimension and compact design. It is especially useful for applications where the cells could easily be damaged by tension/compression overload. The variation is achieved by forming two bending beams into one cell. This allows the loading fixtures to be attached at the threaded holes on the centerline, between the beams, which makes the sensitive axis pass through the cell on a single line of action.

Interface mini load cells can be ordered in different sizes, with a wide range of capacities. Many of the minis can be used in off-the-shelf applications. We are also happy to work with customers to custom design load cells to fit their exact needs for size, weight, and accuracy.

For more information on Interface’s Mini Load Cells, visit our web product page or review our product brochure below for detailed specifications on every product.

Mini Load Cell Brochure_6-Page

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD