Proportional valve for pressure control uses requiring a constant flow: these include glue and lacquer dosing, pressure control of welding equipment, and flow control over nozzles.

Asco Joucomatic's Pulstronic proportional valve is designed for pressure control applications requiring a constant flow: these include turbine speed control, glue and lacquer dosing, pressure control of welding equipment, and flow control over nozzles. Pulstronic is a self-contained, electro-pneumatic proportional valve with an integrated control loop that provides precise regulation of pressure. Designed for operation on normal filtered air (50 micron), Pulstronic employs Asco Joucomatic's innovative poppet technology - proven on the market leading Sentronic proportional valve - to provide good rates of response with minimum hysteresis (<1% of maximum output pressure (PMR), when increasing or decreasing pressure.

In addition, repeatability is excellent at 0.5% of PMR (10bar).

The IP 65- rated Pulstronic is available in four versions: the DN4 with G 1/8 ports, the DN7 with G1/4, the DN12 with G 1/2 and the DN05 with instant fittings to accept 4mm flexible hose.

The latter version is particularly adapted for piloting pneumatically operated valves or boosters.

All the valves operate with analogue set points of 0-10V, 0-20mA or 4 - 20mA, and offer operational security in the form of a 'pressure held at power failure function'.

Typical applications where the Pulstronic provides an optimised control solution include: compensation of thickness on pinch rollers; spot welding; turbo-supercharging and materials testing.

In pinch roller applications, Pulstronic controls the pressure acting against the top roller (in a series of two), ensuring that the thickness of the processed material remains constant.

Similarly, in spot welding the Pulstronic valve controls the pinching force of the welding head depending on the material to be welded and its thickness.

In turbo and supercharging applications the Pulstronic adjusts exhaust gas flow to the turbo-supercharger, depending on the engine speed, to maintain the charging pressure at a constant level.

Finally, in material testing the Pulstronic continuously increases the force acting against a test piece until the latter is destroyed.

* Free Proportional Technology Catalogue - further information regarding the Pulstronic, Sentronic D, Piezotronic and Asco Joucomatic's complete range of proportional valve products is contained within a new 25- page catalogue produced by the company.

The publication provides all relevant information regarding proportional technology and devotes four pages to application examples, each with its own accompanying graphic.

Free copies of the catalogue are available from Asco Joucomatic's marketing department.

One centralised lubrication system can provide superior lubrication to all air tools or valves and cylinders within 100ft for long periods - and maintaining productivity.

Applied Pneumatic Controls announced another bold step forward in centralised lubrication with their latest Oil Smoke generator that mounts directly onto a bulk reservoir. Oil Smoke systems are available with reservoirs in all sizes from 1 to 30 gallons. The most common and practical reservoir sizes range from 3 to 15 gallons.

Approximately two thirds of the reservoir may be filled with oil while the other third is space for the smoke to accumulate.

These reservoirs provide enough lubricant for weeks or months before a refill.

Veneer Stackers for example with over 60 air cylinders operating in asynchronous groups from an 80ft long manifold are served by one centralized Oil Smoke system per manifold.

The oil reservoir might be topped up a few quarts each week.

The larger reservoir will easily last until a convenient time to refill it.

This permits flexible maintenance planning and accommodates emergencies and short handed periods.

One centralised system that provides superior lubrication to all air tools or valves and cylinders within 100ft is an idea who's time has come.

Oil Smoke centralised lubrication can increase productivity to keep our factories competitive.

For a free video of Oil Smoke in action, questions or for more information contact Tom Kreher at Applied Pneumatic Controls.

Pneumatic cylinders feature a patented SS band, rigid extruded aluminum tube and internal air cushioning and the load is supported through the entire stroke, minimising seal wear.

Tol-O-Matic announces Endurance TechnologySM innovations for their BC Series of pneumatic band cylinders. Endurance Technology assures that every Tol-O-Matic Band Cylinder is designed for long life in the most demanding applications. Four complete lines of rodless band cylinders, including the BC4, BC2, BC3 and BC3D, deliver peak performance for a range of industrial load requirements.

'BC Series cylinders are built for durability.

Only the highest quality materials are used for a more cost effective and longer lasting solution,' said Cory Danks, Tol-O-Matic product manager.

BC Series cylinders feature a patented stainless steel band, rigid extruded aluminum tube and internal air cushioning.

In addition, the load is supported through the entire stroke, keeping seal wear to a minimum.

Endurance Technology makes BC Series cylinders ideal for a variety of demanding applications.

For example, the BC4 features a patented floating bearing system that is self-lubricating and runs the entire length of the carrier for maximum bearing surface.

And a durable, engineered resin piston offers 50% greater bearing area.

The engineered resin load bearings and independent piston featured in the BC2 offer consistently low friction for longer wear and seal life.

The BC3 also offers a longer seal life and less friction - even with changing load orientation - and a recirculating ball bearing system supports the load for consistent performance.

The BC3D includes a heavy-duty 180 deg carrier that wraps around the housing for higher moment load capacity and a larger load-mounting surface Tol-O-Matic Band Cylinders are used in a wide variety of applications in the packaging, automotive, food and beverage, material handling and conveying, plastics injection molding, metal processing, paper and textiles, medical, electronics and printing industries.

An advanced valve positioner is a digital valve control device that controls valve pneumatic actuators in response to commands from a Fieldbus control system using FOUNDATION protocol.

The Yokogawa YVP110 advanced valve positioner is a digital valve control device that controls valve pneumatic actuators in response to commands from a fieldbus control system. It communicates using the foundation fieldbus protocol. The YVP110 is a versatile component that minimises transmission lag, improves valve characteristics and response, and reduces flow-pressure variation effects.

It is designed for use in conjunction with Yokogawa's ValveNavi: a software tool that greatly facilitates the process of setting up, tuning, and maintaining the YVP110.

Today's field devices incorporate various self-diagnostic features, allowing external conditions to be diagnosed by the devices themselves.

This could include diagnostics of a valve by a valve positioner or checks for clogging in the pressure impulse line by a differential pressure transmitter.

To use these diagnostics effectively, mere transmission of simple process values and status is not enough: more information needs to be acquired from the field devices and presented to the user in a form that is easier to interpret and use.

An example of such an approach is the diagnostic functionality of the YVP110 valve positioner including the ValveNavi utility.

ValveNavi runs on a PC or as a plug-in for the plant resource management package to facilitate initial adjustment and parameter tuning, display trend graphs and diagnose the valves.

The YVP110 valve positioner features both online and offline diagnostics.

The online diagnostics include the device's own self-diagnostic functions plus online monitoring and integration of the valve operation information.

The offline diagnostics, also known as 'signature functions', include measurement of the input/output characteristics of the valve (input pressure versus valve position); measurement of the step responses of the positioner; and measurement of the input/output characteristics of the positioner.

The YVP110 contains a compact pressure sensor, and in operation scans the output pressure and measures the valve position.

After scanning and measurement, the software acquires the measured data via the Fieldbus, and displays the results as a graph.

The data can be saved in the computer and overlaid on past measurements for comparison to check changes in hysteresis and the slope of the curve.

As a result, anomalies such as looseness of the gland packing, damage to the return spring, clogging or erosion can be detected.

Input/output characteristics are measured at the various points in 10% increments as standard, but high-resolution signature measurement at more than 1000 points is available as an option.

Up to two sets of measured signature data can be saved to the device's non-volatile memory.

A typical example of a ValveNavi application is in displaying the step response of a valve/positioner system.

The step width and measurement period are set prior to measurement, and the response data measured in the positioner is displayed after measurement.

As with the input/output characteristics, the step response can be compared with past response data, allowing detection of excessive overshoot and limit cycle due to an anomaly in the actuator or positioner.

Up to 600 measurements can be sampled at variable intervals from 20 to 1000, so that various patterns of response can be obtained as required.

* About Yokogawa Electric Corporation - Yokogawa's global network of 18 manufacturing facilities, 83 affiliate companies, and over 650 sales and engineering offices spans 28 countries.

Since its founding in 1915, the US$4 billion company has been engaged in cutting-edge research and innovation, securing more than 7,000 patents and registrations, including the world's first digital sensors for flow and pressure measurement.

Industrial automation and control, test and measurement, information systems and industry support are the core businesses of Yokogawa.

* About Yokogawa Europe - the European headquarters were founded in Amersfoort, the Netherlands, in 1982.

Throughout Europe Yokogawa has its own sales, service and engineering operations.

This dedicated network has been extended to Central and East Europe and Southern Africa to further enhance the coverage and support associated with serving the process control and automation market place.

We develop and produce flowmeters at Rota Yokogawa in Germany, liquid analysers and industrial safety systems in the Netherlands.

In addition to this dedicated network of Yokogawa subsidiaries a select organisation of Test and Measurement (T and M) subsidiaries and distributors is established in certain areas to support the specific customer needs of this continuously developing and specific market of T and M instrumentation.

* About Yokogawa UK - Yokogawa UK, part of the global Yokogawa Corporation, is a supplier of enterprise technology solutions to the process, manufacturing and utility sectors.

The company is a technology and market leader in instrumentation and control, and holds many key patents and national and international approvals.