Akusense | Industrial Sensor Manufacturer – Laser, Vision, Radar, Photoelectric Sensors

5.5mm ultra-thin proximity switch, complete FOUP box detection

Capacitive proximity switches can detect any medium, including conductors, semiconductors, insulators, and even liquid and powdered materials. Proximity sensors are based on physical property changes and are hardly affected by surface color. Brown, white, black, transparent color... All stable detection, completely eliminate the uncertainty caused by color differences.

In the process of semiconductor manufacturing moving towards higher automation, every tiny perception link is worth carefully polishing.
Although the "presence or absence of detection" of the crystal box is small, it is the first hurdle for the intelligent operation of electronic shelves.

In the field of semiconductor manufacturing, the process flow of 6-inch and 8-inch wafer fabs (Fab fabs) requires extremely high environmental cleanliness and equipment accuracy. In order to optimize production management, an advanced Fab factory is equipped with an electronic shelf system next to each process, which is used to classify and store different colors of acrylic.FOUPBox (including brown, white, black and transparent).

Due to the compact shelf space and the need for non-contact inspection, the project team ultimately choseAkusense The flat capacitive proximity sensor CQ10 series, its 6mm ultra-thin design perfectly meets the needs of high-density production scenarios.

Site Difficulties

1, the installation space is very small

The electronic shelf storage is very compact, and the traditional cylindrical/square sensor cannot be plugged in at all.

2, a variety of colors(brown, white, black, transparent)

In actual production management,FOUPBoxes often use color management strategies-different colors represent different process states, batch types or quality levels (e. g. brown, white, black, transparent, etc.)

❌Why not traditional programs?

Inductive sensor → can only detect metal, completely invalid for acrylic
Photoelectric sensor → black light absorption, transparent light transmission, high misjudgment rate, need to adjust the sensitivity frequently
Environmental challenges → high requirements for cleanliness and corrosion resistance, difficult to debug

✅Conclusion: There is a need for a non-contact detection scheme that is not affected by the conductivity of the material and is not affected by color.

Recommended Selection

We recommend it to our customer engineers.Akusense Flat type capacitance sensor CQ series, in the photovoltaic industry has a wealth of practical experience, good stability.

✅Capacitance principle, special treatment of non-metal
Capacitive proximity switches can detect any medium, including conductors, semiconductors, insulators, and even liquid and powdered materials-. For non-metallic objects, the motion distance is determined by the dielectric constant of the material-the greater the dielectric constant of the material, the greater the motion distance that can be achieved. Acrylic, as a non-metallic material with moderate dielectric constant, can be stably sensed by capacitive sensors, which completely solves the dilemma that inductive sensors are "powerless" to non-metallic materials.

✅Ignore color, treat equally
Proximity sensors are based on physical property changes and are hardly affected by surface color. Brown, white, black, transparent color... all stable detection, completely eliminate the uncertainty caused by color differences.

✅6mm ultra-thin, easy to insert
The thickness of the sensor is only 6mm. This ultra-thin shape enables it to be easily embedded into the storage side wall or bottom of the electronic shelf, occupying almost no extra space, and perfectly adapts to the compact installation environment of the electronic shelf in FAB factory..

✅Adjustable sensitivity, anti-vibration
With sensitivity multi-turn adjustable function, engineers can accurately calibrate according to the actual detection distance and field environment. At the same time, the sensor has good anti-vibration performance (10~55Hz, double amplitude 1.5mm), can maintain stable detection in the vibration environment generated by the operation of the equipment, to avoid false trigger or missed detection.

Application effect

✅Full color stability detection
-- Brown, white, black, transparent, the same distance, the same sensitivity, no need to adjust frequently.

✅Non-contact and no pollution
-Fully comply with the stringent requirements of the FAB environment for cleanliness and particulate matter control.

✅Strong environmental resistance
-- Can withstand conventional chemicals and cleaning agents, long-term stable operation.

✅Convenient installation and debugging
-- Flat shape waist hole, suitable for all kinds of electronic shelf structure.

If you also face similar detection problems, welcome to communicate with us! We will provide you with solutions to help your production line achieve intelligent upgrades!