SELCOM SLS5000 SENSOR HAS BECOME ONE OF THE LARGEST SELLING MEASUREMENT SENSORS IN THE TYRE AND RUBBER INDUSTRY (EUR)

Phil Black - PII Editor 05/06/2008

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The Selcom™ SLS5000 series of in-process non-contact sensors from LMI Technologies, one of the largest selling measurement sensors for tyre and rubber applications, with over a thousand sensors now on-line worldwide.
Industrial proven and robust, the high performance Selcom™ SLS5000 sensor offers ultra high performance, even in hostile environments. With an extremely fast automatic light control circuit, this sensor measures on varying surfaces from mat topography to shiny black materials such as rubber.

The Selcom™ SLS5000 sensor provides high speed (16 kHz) data with real time control of laser intensity to provide accurate measurement data from most surfaces with varying degrees of texture, colour and reflectivity. Available in various models, the SLS5000 sensor is industry-proven and robust, has a measurement range of 1,250 mm and can provide resolutions down to 0.15 micron.

“The SLS5000 sensor is designed for high accuracy measurement of difficult target material commonly found in the tyre and rubber environment,” noted Martin Sanden, Market Manager Europe and Asia, LMI Technologies AB of Goteborg, Sweden. “Compared to older capacitive sensors and older triangulation devices, the 16 kHz SLS5000 provides the user with more data, has a higher sample rate, can measure smaller features due to a smaller spot size and is physically smaller.“

Frequently used for non-contact in-process thickness measurement of products such as calendered rubber, the SLS5000 controls and improves raw material costs and material use, reduces set up time and improves product quality and consistency.
Other in process rubber applications where the sensor is used include tyre profiling, splice monitoring on tire build drums, green tyre lateral and radial runout measurement and tread wear inspection of finished tyres for research and development product safety verifications.

According to Dr. Andrew Pryce, Managing Director of Sigmavision Ltd, a dedicated integrator of grey scale imaging and laser triangulation based industrial vision systems located in Oxon, United Kingdom, the SLS5000 is a cost efficient way to reduce rubber consumption during calendaring by replacing hand-held caliper gauges that are less accurate, provide only a ‘peak-to peak’ thickness measurement and suffer significant gauge R & R variations.

Smart Sensor Technology
The Selcom™ SLS5000 sensors uses “Smart Sensor” technology to interface the sensor outputs to the system control PLC, PC or other device. The internal processor inside the sensor head makes optical calculations. This allows programming unique application software components, which can be used to find seams and radial run-out. With the software, the sensor can also be used to apply texture adjustment as well as encoder triggered software to the profile data collected.

According to LMI Technologies, these unique software components provide the user with the flexibility to make adjustments to the sensor’s functionality to accommodate their specific needs.
Calculations include applying the triangulation equations, applying factory developed linearisation factors, applying the automatic gain control to ensure accurate readings independent of the rubber surface texture and colour and conversion of the measured values to the engineering units.

The durability of the sensor housing allows functioning in extreme temperature applications such as thickness measurement of calendaring rubber at the extruder head. Despite the application, the accuracy of the Selcom™ SLS5000 sensor is never jeopardised. This provides users with a high performing sensor that can measure difficult target materials in hot and humid plant conditions.

About LMI Technologies
LMI Technologies Inc. is located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. With its well-recognised brands, DynaVision™ and Selcom™, as well as two new additions, FireSync™ and HexSight™, LMI Technologies develops and manufactures scalable
vision sensor technology for OEM’s and systems integrators. Since 1975, LMI has applied its expertise in optical inspection to simplify complex automated vision, measurement, and control metrology around the world for thousands of machine vision applications.

For more information on the Selcom™ SLS 5000 sensor or the Selcom™ brand laser sensors for the tyre and rubber industry in Europe and Asia, please contact LMI Technologies AB, Box 250, Ogardesvagen 19A, SE433 25 Partille, Sweden. Telephone: +46 (0) 31-336-25-10, FAX: +31 45 574 2500 or e-mail info.rubber@lmitechnologies.com.

In North or South America, please contact LMI Technologies (USA), Inc., 562 Lakeland Plaza, Suite #126 Cumming, Georgia, USA 30040,

Telephone: +1 770 888 6586 or e-mail info.rubber@lmitechnologies.com.
LMI Technologies can also be found on the web at www.LMItechnologies.com.