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Flange Style Load Cells and Torque Transducers 101

Interface offers several flange type load cells and torque transducers for easy mounting and installation. Interface provides the complete solutions for a flange mount including the adapters, bases, bolts, connector options and cables.

Standard flange designs mount directly to cylinders for stability and accuracy in measurement. We also offer mounting plates for more complex testing systems that use one or more sensors.

The primary advantage of the Interface Flange Load Cell is that the hub of the transducer is mounted using several smaller screws instead of one large central thread. It is easier to preload multiple smaller screws (bolts) than a single central thread. In certain applications it may not be possible to properly preload a central thread due to the torque limits of the load cell. There’s also the important benefit of clocking a load cell fixtures alignment.

The most popular low profile flange mount load cell is the 12X8 Flange Load Cell. This load cell is similar in design to our Interface 1200 series.  Instead of a center hole, the 12X8 has multiple smaller holes making installation easier for certain types of cylinders. The 12X8 is for tension and compression measurement. It is fatigue rated with the ability to survive 100 million fully reversed cycles. The load cell has proprietary Interface temperature compensated strain gages and performance to 0.05%. It is eccentric load compensated with low deflection. The 12X8 is ideal for long-term cycle testing.

Watch How to Mount a Flange Style Load Cell

Interface offers a variety of flange style products including load cells, miniature load cells, torque transducers and multi-axis sensors. Here are a few of the flange offerings available from Interface:

12X8 Flange Standard Precision LowProfile® Load Cell

2300 High Capacity Flange Mount Column Load Cell

1700 Flange LowProfile® Load Cell

MRT Miniature Flange Style Reaction Torque Transducer

MRT2 Miniature Flange Style Reaction Torque Transducer

MRT2P Miniature Overload Protected Flange Style Reaction Torque Transducer

5400 Series Flange Style Reaction Torque Transducer

TS18 Shaft to Flange Style Reaction Torque Transducer

TS16 Male Square Drive to Flange Style Reaction Torque Transducer

TSCF C-Face Flange Torque Transducer

6ADF Series 6-Axis DIN Flange-Type Load Cells

Flange style load cells are commonly used in a wide range of applications, from automotive testing to agriculture equipment tests. The variety of flange style solutions are ideal for specialized product designs, including robotics, medical devices, OEM products and equipment requiring secure mounting with sensor capabilities.

TRACTOR POWER TAKE OFF SYSTEM TESTING

In this example you can see how a tractor manufacturer needed to measure the torque and speed of the tractor’s PTO (power takeoff test) system. The purpose of the applied sensor solution was to ensure the PTO was working properly when an implement is attached to the tractor. It also provides ongoing maintenance monitoring for optimum performance. Interface provided a T27 Bearingless Hollow Flange Style Rotary Torque Transducer to measure the tractor’s torque and speed of their tractor’s PTO system.

ROBOTIC SURVEY FORCE FEEDBACK SYSTEM

Robotic Surgery Force Feedback App Note

Additional flange style models can be found in our extensive product catalog, which defines the specifications, capacities and design features.

Torque Transducers 101

Torque is defined as the rotational equivalent of linear force. It’s a measure of how much a force acting on an object causes that object to rotate. This is one of the key measurements for engineers doing design, test, and manufacturing. It’s critical to understand how to identify torque if you’re doing product development with rotating systems such as engines, crankshafts, gearboxes, transmissions, and rotors.

Interface develops more than 50 different kinds of reaction and rotary torque transducers, as well as custom transducers for our customers. All our torque transducers also referred to as torque sensors, are precision-machined and use our proprietary torque sensors for the most accurate data possible, quality and reliability.

Here are some frequently asked questions and details about torque transducers, including key terms and descriptions of reaction versus rotary, shaft and flange style torque, couplings, and floating and fixed mounts.

What is a torque sensor (transducer)?

A torque sensor is a transducer that converts a torsional mechanical input into an electrical output signal.

Reaction versus Rotary

There are two types of transducers that Interface sells, reaction and rotary transducers. Reaction torque transducers measure static torque, or torque without rotating, and are widely used in process control and testing. Rotary torque transducers like AxialTQ measure dynamic force and are used in applications where the torque transducer must rotate when attached to a spinning shaft. A rotary torque transducer provides a method of getting the signal off of the rotating element without an attached cable, while a reaction transducer uses an attached cable.

Shaft and Flange Style Torque

The shaft or flange is the component taking the torque measurement. Shaft style torque offers convenient mounting and has a longer installed length than flange style. It comes in two different versions, smooth and keyed shafts. A smooth shaft provides ease of assembly and disassembly, with zero backlash. Keyed style shafts are simple and less expensive; however, they can suffer from wear due to backlash. The flange style is typically shorter than the shaft style and has pilots on its flange face as a centering feature. This style has better resistance to overhung moments and can be more convenient to mount.

Coupling

Couplings are a critical component to the torque transducer that ensures the isolation of torque loads. Couplings should be used in all applications, and the selection of the coupling type is based on the speed of the application. For higher speed applications, you will want to look for high-quality couplings. The coupling helps to prevent error and/or damage from extraneous loads.

Floating and Fixed Mounts

Floating Style

There are two common types of torque transducer mounts, floating and fixed mounts. For high-speed applications, fixed and supporting mounting is mandatory. For safety reasons, floating mounts should only be used for low-speed applications. In floating mounts, the sensor is supported only by the drive and load side connectors, and a flexible strap keeps the sensor from rotating. Fixed mounts apply only to sensors with bearings, and it involves attaching the sensor housing to fixed support for added stability.

For more information on Interface’s wide selection of torque transducers, please visit www.interfaceforce.com/product-category/torque-transducers/.