Colour sensor portfolio sees significant upgrade

SICK has announced a major advance in its colour sensor portfolio, with the launch of its CSS and CSX high resolution and high-speed devices. SICK’s newly developed flagship CSS colour sensor leads the way with best-in-class colour resolution and the ability to distinguish even the slightest nuances in shade. Its capability to identify subtle differences in surface structures and textures opens up wide-ranging applications.

The CSS Colour Sensor detects colours precisely, regardless of the distance from the object, at lengths of up to 500mm. Its unique distance regulation capability dispenses with the need for strict guidance of the target. It therefore accommodates changing sensing distances automatically on a production line, e.g. to account for differing orientations of a product on a conveyor, and to handle varying object sizes with ease.

Live L*A*B* or RGB colour values are displayed directly on the CSS’s on-sensor full-colour display. An innovative teach-in method enables the sensor to assess the similarity between the detected colour and expected colour in real time. Up to 15 colours can be output directly via the sensor’s four switching outputs. The IOLink enabled colour sensor also offers the unmatched capability to output up to 24 colours to a machine controller.

With a switching frequency of 13.8kHz, the SICK CSX High Speed sensor masters protection of the most diverse objects: as a padding mat, a padding wrap or for filling hollows. www.hsm.eu typical applications such as the detection of colour marks, labels and splices as well as high-speed production tasks such as rapid sorting of objects according to colour. www.sick.co.uk

Users benefit in two respects from the cardboard perforators: they no longer need to purchase packaging material, and disposal costs are reduced.

The CSS and CSX colour sensors help to achieve higher process speeds and higher throughputs with outstanding detection repeatability in wide-ranging applications, for example to distinguish metal parts by their temper colours, or to differentiate manufactured components or glued areas by colour.