The automotive industry is one of Sweden’s most important industries. It employs a large number of people directly in the manufacturing companies and even more at subcontractors and development companies. The latter often carry out production work or orders for foreign vehicle manufacturers as well. Development is moving towards ever more advanced systems for operation, control and inspection. The drive of electric vehicles or the electrification of previously mechanical subsystems requires components that can handle high power with low losses. In addition, the battery monitoring in modern vehicles requires components that measure small and large currents with a very high level of precision. The products we work with include those found in the drive system, battery charging, electrically powered four-wheel drive and interference suppression.
LCD screens are made up of liquid crystal molecules, hence the name “Liquid Crystal Display”. LCD technology is divided into the passive and active (TFT) subcategories. Passive LCD screens are available as pure graphic displays and are based on a matrix in the X and Y axes, e.g. 320×240 pixels, or only character based with 1×8 up to 4×40 characters, 4 rows of 40 characters per row and each character consisting of 5×7 pixels.
Emergency stops are used for machines and robots in industry and in the marine environment. Emergency stops are of course also essential for doors, escalators, transport vehicles, lifts and cranes. The criteria set for emergency stops are that they must always be ready for use and that their activation must result in the immediate shutdown of the machine. Resetting the emergency stop must not initiate a re-start and the colour is always red/yellow.
NEMA-standard stepper motors in a variety of different sizes ranging from 20 mm square (NEMA 8) to 110 mm square (NEMA 42). Hybrid stepper motors are built for a long service life and high torque. Choose from several different windings, both two-phase and three-phase.
The relationship between the magnetic flux and the current is called inductance. Inductance coils (also called “inductors”) are used to filter alternating and direct current and to store energy. An inductor transmits direct current, but more or less blocks alternating current, i.e. put simply an inductor has the opposite effect to a capacitor.
Silicone and membrane keypads can be designed well when you need a pushbutton or control panel that is to be customised to the application with a unique appearance and low mounting depth. Membrane and silicone keypads provide excellent opportunities for flexibility since they can have a PET/FPC flexible circuit for simple installation for a PCB. Combine them with switches and enclosures. You can also combine them with a membrane above the silicone panel for an integrated display and display window.
Control boxes can be permanently mounted, work as handheld units or be mounted on a DIN rail. The handheld units can be equipped with a magnet system for attachment to a vehicle, for example. The permanently mounted control boxes can work as a control box for doors or as a control unit for hydraulic systems for vehicles. The control boxes are often fully customised, where different types of selector switches, buttons and displays are included and it is of course the application that determines which enclosure class is required and which emergency stop works best in the box.
A solenoid is an electromagnet combined with a movable plunger which provides a rapid, short stroke movement. Since the force decreases exponentially with the distance between the winding and movable plunger, it is unusual for solenoids to have a stroke of more than a few centimetres. Solenoids can only shift between their end positions, and are therefore not suitable for use for careful positioning.
A current sensor is a device that detects electric current (AC or DC) in a conductor, and generates a signal that is proportional to this current. The signal generated can be an analogue voltage or current or even a digital output. The information can then be stored for further analysis or used for inspection purposes.