Sick has unveiled a new type of LED technology for photoelectric switches and proximity sensors which, it says, represents a similar leap in performance to the change from incandescent bulbs to standard LEDs several years ago.

The new “pinpoint” LEDs concentrate light energy onto a smaller area, simplifying alignment, achieving longer ranges, and providing greater reserves to cope with contaminated optics. In some cases, sensors using the new LEDs will be able to replace costlier laser sensors, offering benefits such as a wider operating temperature range, longer service lives, and the avoidance of safety regulations associated with laser sources.

Conventional LEDs usually have a black dot in the middle of the light spot, caused by a bonding wire on the LED. The new devices have a different construction that avoids this wire, thus eliminating the dot and resulting in a homogenous light intensity and a better focussed spot without the halo usually associated with LED sources.

The smaller, more intense light spot makes alignment easier and increases the range or scanning