General Industrial

SPECTEC designs and manufactures standard as well as custom speed and position sensors together with optional signal conditioners for all industrial applications covering all areas of process automation. These sensors are used typically to detect drive shaft speeds (and occasionally direction) of electric motors and all rotary machinery. Two different sensor technologies are used depending on application and environment.

Variable Reluctance Sensors (VRS, magnetic pickups) are used for low to very highspeed applications. Depending on selection, they also offer the widest temperature range from cryogenics to very high 1000°F(540°C) environments. An optional signal amplifier or converter can be remotely mounted to convert to a digital signal.

Hall Effect Zero Speed Sensors are fully digital, cover most typical speed ranges, and are capable of reading at zero speed. However, they are limited to a -40 to 300°F (-40 to 150°C) service and typically up to 20kHz operating range. These sensors can also be used as position sensors (Proximity Sensors / Transducers).

Engine Speed and Cam position Sensors

Sensors for measuring engine RPM are typically installed on the flywheel of an internal combustion engine and used as an input to a governor or other controls for over-speed and under-speed protection. Cam position sensors are used to precisely determine the angular position of the cam to adjust spark timing, important for the combustion efficiency of an engine. Temperature permitting, Hall Effect sensors are typically used for most late model engines on both speed and cam position sensors, otherwise VRS sensors are employed.

Vehicle Speed Sensors

Either VRS or Hall sensors are used to sense the rotational speed of drive shafts on trucks, agricultural implements, or other equipment and vehicles. By using a calculated factor with a scaler type signal conditioner (e.g. 4057 digital scaler) the signal can be converted directly to MPH or KPH vehicle surface speed.

Electric Motor Speed Sensors

Both VRS and Hall sensors can be used for measurement of constant speed and variable drive electric motors. The signal provided can be used for speed indication and feedback control on conveyors, chemical mixers, and blending equipment. Custom sensors can also be developed as OEM replacement.

Timing and Synchronization Sensors

With the appropriate instrumentation, the timing and timing offsets between the zero-crossover points of two VRS or the rising edge between two Hall Effect sensors can be used for torque measurement devices and other special set-ups.