Curtiss-Wright Launches First COTS High-Pressure Valve-Position Sensor

New VPT351 enables added safety features for critical vehicle hydraulic systems

Curtiss-Wright’s Industrial division today announced the launch of its first ever commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) valve-position sensor, which offers an optimal combination of performance, safety and cost for OEMs of vehicle hydraulic valves and systems intended for safety critical applications.

The all-new VPT351 valve-position sensor, from the brand family of Penny & Giles, features a measurement range of 0-10mm (±5mm) to 0-25mm (±12.5mm) in 1mm increments and, with its rugged design, is ideal for off-highway, specialty-vehicle applications including mobile cranes and construction vehicles, which require a feedback system for hydraulically-driven mechanisms.

Providing electronic feedback, the VPT351 fitted to a spool-valve system allows for the accurate monitoring of valve safe positions. The VPT351 provides a proportional electrical signal relative to the spool position – whether it is centrally positioned, at the valve stroke limits, or anywhere in between. Its features allow system designers to comply with the regulations established in the EN13849 machinery directive.

In addition to providing an increased level of safety, the feedback signal can be used by the machine’s electronic control unit to enhance the performance of the system, improving flow rate and efficiency and benefitting the machine overall, such as slowing down the hydraulic fluid flow as an actuator approaches it’s end-of-stroke.

Other key features of the VPT351 include:

~ Working pressure up to 420bar (5880psi)

~ Burst pressure up to 600bar (8400psi)

~ Supply voltage – 5Vdc and 9-32Vdc

~ Analog output – 0.5-4.5V or 0.2-4.8V

~ 4-20mA output option

~ Logic-level PWM output option

~ Choice of output polarities

~ ISO 6149/2 compliant pressure port

~ Operating temperature -40°C to 85°C