Sensor specialist and networking provider Balluff has re-engineered their BOS 18M red light sensor with background sup-pression, introducing the 2nd generation while retaining the series designation. This sensor in a rugged metal housing uses the newest LED technology, offers an especially bright spot and op-erates at a switching frequency of 500 Hz.

The device stands out with an unusually generous scanning range for this size of up to 300 mm, switches with extreme precision, and pro-vides a push-pull PNP output. A 10-turn potentiometer allows the user to precisely set the background suppression. The gray value shift is extremely low. This means that small, flat or thin objects within the switching range are reliably detected virtually unaffected by a reflective background and regardless of the surface composition or color of the object. A highly visible stability and function indicator and additional contamination output further enhance the versatility and reliability.

The sensor features the same standard housing as the 18M inductive proximity switches and uses a 4-pin M12 connector, making it fully compatible both mechanically and electrically. If needed the designer can easily change over to a different sensing principle, which also results in increased flexibility and simplified inventory keeping.