Pressure, level and temperature sensors with IO-LINK protocol

PVL launches a new range of IO-Link-equipped sensors for deploying in Industry 4.0. systems. The new sensors are manufactured by industrial sensor specialist Euroswitch Spa. Euroswitch are part of the PROFIBUS Consortium and PROFINET Italia, the Italian reference network for industrial communication, which brings together over seventy companies that share Profibus, Profinet and IO-Link technologies.

The new range of sensors with IO-LINK protocol was designed in Euroswitch’s R&D laboratories in Sale Marasino, Italy and include:

* 987 Differential Pressure Transmitter piston operated, 2-10 bar pressure range with 1O-Link and 2 PNP contacts

* ESL level/temperature sensor with 4-20 mA signal output and specifically designed to monitor the level of a fluid, featuring two settable PNP or NPN thresholds, for either level or temperature

* EST Temperature Sensor with standard operating temperature of -20 to +100°C (others on request), 4-20 mA signal output, two digital PNP/NPN

IO-Link is the world’s first standardised IO technology to communicate with sensors and actuators below the fieldbus communication layer. It can be integrated with Profibus and Profinet. Profibus is the first is a standardised and open digital communication system, usable in all areas of application, from manufacturing to process control. Profinet is the innovative and widely used open standard for Industrial Ethernet.

The common denominator of the new Euroswitch Sensors is the integration of the IO-Link protocol for point-to-point communication between a compatible IO system and a device in the field. Being an open standard, it allows the bidirectional exchange of data between sensors and the devices that support it. Each IO-Link sensor has an IO Device Description (IODD) file that describes the device and its IO-Link functions.

IO-Link communication offers many advantages, such as the possibility of using a standard unshielded 3-wire cable, advanced diagnostics and increased data availability, remote configuration and monitoring, and simplified device replacement. All advantages that translate into an improvement in machine management and an increase in process efficiency, with the consequent reduction of overall costs.

Steve Moorey, Managing Director of PVL, says: “The new IO-Link equipped sensors from Euroswitch provide short range bi-directional, digital, point-to-point, wired or wireless industrial communications to meet the growing demands of industry 4.0 in manufacturing, measuring, monitoring and process control. They can be deployed in systems to economically optimise industrial automated processes and operations.