Omega Piezo Technologies Introduces New Damage Alert System

Omega Piezo Technologies Inc. has manufactured a damage reduction system for both tub and horizontal wood grinders. The Damage Alert System senses vibrations from unwanted metal objects that enter the wood grinder and reduces damage by shutting the grinder down and/or reversing the material feeding system, the press release says.

The Damage Alert System can help reduce repair bills and down-time. System sensitivity can be adjusted to allow pass through objects and reduce nuisance shut downs, the company says.

The Damage Alert System is installed using a magnetic clamping mechanism. The piezoelectric transducers are typically attached to the back side of the anvil and the mill bearing housing. The control box is attached to the grinder using four permanent magnets. The transducers are connected to the electronics box via a coaxial cable and housed in corrugated tubing.

Once installed, the sensitivity of the Damage Alert System is manually adjusted using the red and green LED indicators. As debris is moved through the machine, the sensitivity level is fine-tuned to detect damaging debris of a prescribed size; the system is then set to the ARM mode for continuous operation and protection.

In the ARM mode, any pulses which are intense enough to illuminate the red section of the bar graph display, however briefly, will trip the system relay, instantly powering down the grinder or reversing the in-feed. The tripped condition is indicated with the steady illumination of the LED bar at the top of the display.  If the grinder shuts down, the relay remains tripped, and the top LED remains illuminated until the obstruction is removed and the system is reset.