When cost, space and performance matters, a current part can be remade to run as a load cell or torque sensor in the current system or test setup requirement. There are many non-standard or fully custom load cells and torque sensors available, and since they are into work, it bears customized sensor designs for meeting the customer needs.
The advantages of a non-standard load cell or torque sensor approach are many. The need that usually a drives a non-standard or fully custom sensor is to have no change in the complete system geometry. When transitioning a current part into a force or torque sensor, there is no change in width, height, or thickness of the part. When you integrate the sensing features directly in the interested part, the customer gets the force or torque measurement at the exact location of interest.
There are no kind of losses to the friction or misalignment which can easily take place in the middle of an assembly of an off shelf at the shelf load cell in the line at the interested location. Besides, the overall complex nature of the system can be significantly brought down when it comes to using the fully custom load cell approach. The additional mounting or alignment features can always be kept at a minimum and are commonly no different than prior to any kind of addition of any kind of sensing features.
The upfront time and effort needed to design and make a non-standard or fully customized load cell don’t matter. But the approach will pay for itself with the long-term savings, considering the number of eliminated parts and assembly time. For a few particular needs, this extra effort is worth the expense, considering the correct and precise measurement at an impossible location.
The approach of implementing a non-standard or a fully customized load cell into the present assembly line or test setup has endless amount of applications. The experts have transitioned many machine parts into force or torque sensors. Everything is possible, ranging from complex customized rotating propeller shaft into a torque sensor and multi axis rotary force, to simple cylindrical rams being pressed into the load cells. Once the design of a fully customized load cell has been accomplished, it must always be integrated with the electronics bearing the measurement signals.