PLUS+1TM Compliant bi-directional rocker pedal offers outstanding performance, durability, functional safety, ease of integration
AMES, Iowa, USA, March 7, 2012 – Sauer-Danfoss Inc. (NYSE:SHS)
Sauer-Danfoss is pleased to introduce the new PLUS+1TM Compliant KEP3 electronic foot pedal, a bi-directional, over-center rocker pedal used to drive vehicles equipped with hydrostatic transmissions and/or electronically controlled engines. Designed for superior performance, durability, functional safety and ease of control system integration, the KEP3 model expands the Sauer-Danfoss foot pedal product offering, joining the existing uni-directional KEP foot pedal.
“Sauer-Danfoss foot pedals provide OEMs with robust solutions for controlling vehicles in harsh mobile equipment environments,” said Joseph P. Maher, Product Marketing Manager for Sauer-Danfoss. “Smooth operation, precision performance and durability make the KEP3 model ideal for vehicle applications with a high duty cycle of direction changes, such as warehouse trucks, piggyback fork trucks and other material handling equipment. Along with our high-performing products, we offer comprehensive application expertise enabling our customers to design vehicle control systems more easily and reduce time to market.”
Outstanding Performance, Durability
The KEP3 electronic foot pedal typically delivers commands to the electronic transmission or the engine controller, where the output signal of the foot pedal is proportional to the angle of the foot pedal actuation. The KEP3 model has 14 degrees angular rotation fore and aft and features a sensor — specifically designed for heavy equipment applications — that uses Hall Effect technology. This special sensor provides two different types of redundant signals to fit a variety of control strategies. The redundant sensors feature independent isolated circuits and protection against electrical misconnection.
“Besides outstanding performance, the KEP3 product also offers the durability of a 3 million full actuation cycle life with a wide operating temperature, IP-66 sealed electronics and the ability to withstand high static loads,” Maher said.
Functional Safety, Ease of Integration
The KEP3 foot pedal features redundant outputs that are designed specifically to integrate into safety functions to SIL 2 (Safety Integrity Level 2 according to IEC 61508) Performance Level d (per ISO 13849-1), including the Sauer-Danfoss H1 Automotive Control system. The pedal is also compliant to Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards FMVSS 124 and 302.
Part of the flexible, powerful, expandable and growing PLUS+1 family of mobile machine management products, both the KEP3 bi-directional and KEP uni-directional foot pedals integrate seamlessly with other Sauer-Danfoss PLUS+1 products. This synergy among components enables accelerated mobile machinery development and ultimately maximizes machine productivity and operator comfort via a smooth, highly responsive control system.
PLUS+1 compliance blocks enable Sauer-Danfoss foot pedals to be easily entered into the GUIDE programming environment for maximum efficiency of control system integration. All calibrations are pre-programmed into the compliance blocks for optimum performance, eliminating the need for OEMs to invest resources in the trial-and-error process required to optimize performance.
“Our KEP3 foot pedal is supported by the best and most renowned application engineering teams in the industry,” Maher said. “With premier hardware products, software function and subsystem application blocks designed specifically to be integrated together, we continue to help customers design vehicle control systems efficiently and minimize time to market.”
About Sauer-Danfoss
Sauer-Danfoss Inc. is a worldwide leader in the design, manufacture, and sale of engineered hydraulic and electronic systems and components for use primarily in applications of mobile equipment. Sauer-Danfoss, with 2011 revenues of approximately $2.1 billion, has sales, manufacturing, and engineering capabilities in Europe, the Americas, and the Asia-Pacific region.
More details online at www.sauer-danfoss.com
