Safety and technology advancements are always changing the landscape of mining, making it crucial to be adaptable as a supplier. We encountered a need to further develop our Australian designed and manufactured tilt switches and resulted in the launch of the VTS tilt switch.
Our dual contact mercury tilt switches (LP042) had been the switch of choice for the mining industry to monitor slack ropes in mine shaft winders and bucket elevators.
Changes in safety and functional performance requirements meant the switch was no longer the right solution. We took the opportunity to relook at the design of the switch, and the problem it was solving. Our engineers developed a new tilt switch which adhered to the functional requirements.
The purpose of the switch was to perform on a single axis while remaining robust and compact, and with extremely fast positive break switching and handling in high vibration environments.
The development process required Leveltec and the OEM to work together, sharing feedback and industry knowledge, to deliver the best possible solution.
Initial trials of a mercury solution performed extremely well in theory and bench tests but suffered from the high vibration environment and caused nuisance tripping – ruling mercury out as a long-term solution.
Further developments and designs lead to the use of positive brake contacts which allow rapid switching through mechanical drive mechanisms and great stability in the vertical state with magnets.
The result was the Leveltec VTS vertical tilt switch which is now in operation as a slack rope switch for shaft sinking winders and equipment. It can be applied on mine sites across Australia and abroad. It is available from our New South Wales head office, as well as wholesaler groups.
VTS Vertical Tilt Switch
The Leveltec VTS vertical tilt switch which is a slack rope switch for shaft sinking winders and equipment. It uses positive brake contacts which allow rapid switching through mechanical drive mechanisms and great stability.
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