General Description

The remarkable foto-captor is the leading hot product sensor throughout the world's steel industry. Its highly advanced infrared radiation technology and design concept serve sophisticated industrial systems in metal manufacturing, heat treatment and glass making.

With more than 50 years of experience, our foto-captors are produced for tough, demanding industries and guaranteed by our commitment to supply high accuracy, long-life reliability and dependable performance with each one of our maintenance-free sensors, even in the harshest environments.

Well respected throughout the industry as problem solvers in infrared detection, we developed a wide range of foto-captor types with various response temperatures, remote lens systems, fiber optic cables, cooling jackets, air purges and other smart accessories to accommodate many different applications in hot product detection. The foto-captors are compensated for high ambient temperatures and don't require adjustment. The highly selective viewing fields and temperature set-points prevent signaling outside these parameters.

Operating Principle

The infrared radiation, received through the lens system, is transmitted to an IR detector. When the radiation exceeds a trigger point, the electrical switching output is activated.

The special foto-captor electronic circuitry compensates for ambient temperature changes and component aging. Adjustment is therefore not necessary, thus providing higher operational safety and reliability. Three different set-point temperatures provide optimal temperature responses.

Typical Applications

The sketch above indicates a typical application in a slab mill. The viewing angle determines the scanned area. If a foto-captor type 1331.-- is installed at a viewing distance of 2m (6.5 ft.), the scanned area has a diameter of 28 cm (11 in.). foto-captor type 1331.-- has a set-point temperature of 450 °C (842 F). Therefore, hot steel at 450 °C (842 F) must cover the entire area before the foto-captor switches. If hot product exceeds 450 °C (842 F), less of the scanned area needs to be filled to get a switching signal, (see temperature response diagram).