Since SMC’s ISE20 digital pressure sensor is replacing the ISE30 and ISE40 sensor series, it is a good reminder of the main reason to install a pressure sensor is to know that your plant and machines are working correctly and efficiently.  Sensors allow you to monitor the consumption, allow for diagnostic and remote access making maintenance much easier.  Sensors can connect to a PLC or other central controller via fieldbus or IO-Link to enhance troubleshooting by decreasing diagnostic time.  Digital pressure sensors can also become the data source for providing better predictive analytics integral to the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) or industry 4.0, all while potentially increasing working safety.

Why use a Magnetic Gripper?

If you have an application in which you are moving a material that made of a ferrous material, a magnetic gripper might be a better solution than a vacuum cup or mechanical gripper solution.  Magnetic grippers can handle a variety of material sizes, attach and release quickly, and allow easy grasping of a wide range of product shapes including items with holes.

A disadvantage of vacuum grippers is that they are susceptible to malfunction and subject to wearing out.  Vacuum grippers also must be placed exactly depending on the work piece.  If the work piece has holes or is not perfectly flat, the vacuum gripper may not be able to lift and move the work piece when a magnetic gripper can move the work piece. 

SMC announces Strategic Partnership with Soft Robotics Inc. The modular soft grippers complement the SMC product line and provide an innovative solution for delicate, variable workpieces in food processing & consumer goods automation.

PRESS RELEASE --- Noblesville, IN –December 8, 2020  (Link to Original Press Release)

SMC Corporation of America, a subsidiary of SMC Corporation (Tokyo, Japan), a leading global pneumatics and industrial automation components manufacturer located in Noblesville, Indiana, has become a master distributor of Soft Robotics Inc. (Bedford, MA) for strategic global markets. This strategic partnership will empower SMC Corporation’s global sales team to bring Soft Robotics’ groundbreaking robotic technology to its customers around the world.

Pneumatic machines can be finicky.  Pneumatic cylinders can sometimes be hard to control, may lunge or even more erratically.  Having the ability to control the speed and operation of your pneumatic actuators is a necessity to keeping your machine operating smoothly and efficiently.  If you can accomplish this, your machines will produce consistent results and last longer due to smooth, consistent, and efficient movement.

Speed controllers (also referred to as flow controls) are small valves used to reduce the flow rate from a pneumatic actuator.   Speed controllers decrease the operational speed of a pneumatic actuator in one direction – opposed to a needle valve that controls air flow in two directions (in and out of the actuator).  The benefit of a speed controller is that it enables the cylinder to have a controlled movement in one direction, but full flow and speed in the opposite direction.

Inventory maintenance is one of the most challenging issues facing machine builders.  Having hundreds of part numbers and multiple variations of the same or very similar parts add to the complexity of inventory maintenance.  Solving issues like this has been a major objective for SMC.

Maintaining the correct number of spare fittings on hand for thread types is complicated.  SMC has developed a unique solution to eliminate thread issues encountered by machine builders.  SMC’s Unifit fittings work on multiple thread types and allow you to stock fewer fittings while ensuring you have the correct fittings available to keep your machines working properly and efficiently.   SMC Unifit one-touch fittings have been designed to thread and seal properly into NPT, NPTF, Rc, R(PT), BSPT, G, or BSPP female threads.

Effective July 13th, 2020 - SMC Noblesville will expand the NCA1 series to include additional NFPA standard rod threads.  All NFPA standard rod ends were not initially released with NCA1 as a standard How to Order option and thus required a Simple Special/RFS for modification.  However, due to increased customer demand over the years and to benchmark the NFPA market offering, we have now standardized the rod thread modifications.

The new SMC JSXFA valve series is a high performance pulse valve for reverse jet dust collector applications.  The JSXFA valves have variable port sizes and are available in threaded and compression fitting connections.  The JSXFA valves are designed to reduce air consumption and increase peak pressure.  Designed and built with a heavy elastomer diaphram allows the JSXFA valve to achieve its 10 million cycle life.

One of the foremost causes of costly downtime and emergency maintenance is not oil or contaminants, which are easily removed with proper filtration, but water vapor and the resulting condensed water that is trapped in factory compressed air.

Lowering Dew Point to Protect Expensive Automation Equipment

Failure to remove water vapor from factory air can quickly become a costly maintenance headache.

Water vapor and the resulting water condensate are the foremost causes of costly downtime and maintenance, not the more visible culprit of oil or contaminants, which are easily removed with proper filtration.

SMC's MACM contributes to space saving on conveyor lines.  Heavy workpieces can now be aligned and positioned with small cylinders, resulting in compact conveyor lines.

Workpieces can be moved in any direction:  forward/backward, right/left, at an angle, and even rotated (360 degrees).  Ball bearings allow for smooth operation.  Table center has a moveable range of 100mm Max (MACM10-50) with a maximum allowable load weight of 2205 lbs.