Leuze sensors take the biscuit

Sesotec, based in Bavaria, is a business that specialises in product inspection and material sorting machinery and systems for the food processing sector. The company also helps food manufacturers reduce wastage and offers a variety of solutions centred around various parts of the food production process. Foreign object detection remains a high priority with much of Sesotec’s work in food processing applications. It has come to depend on sensors from Leuze for this and is currently in test operations using the Leuze DRT 25C switching sensor. This new device employs what is referred to by its maker as a completely new operating principle based on Contrast Adaptive Technology (CAT). 

Leuze says that the technology makes this sensor well suited to complex, customer-specific applications that cannot be solved with a standard detection method. Sesotec is currently putting the DRT 25C through its paces in the company's technical centre where a wide range of objects and packaging are being used for trials. The objects travel into the metal detector on the conveyor belt, and prior to entry into it, they are detected by the DRT 25C at the front edge and over the entire product length – all from above. Leuze states that the view from above is a big advantage because irregular shapes can more readily be detected. The sensor solutions currently on the market have so far only been able to perform this task to a limited extent it says, and the test experiences so far are proving very positive, even when the sensor is deployed in difficult work environments such as fast moving (and in some cases) strongly vibrating conveyor belts.