We Are:
DGD Fluid Power develops cartridge flow meters for continuous hydraulic system monitoring, machine diagnostics and data acquisition. CFT flow meters install directly into hydraulic manifolds, allowing OEMs to continuously monitor critical hydraulic functions without externally mounted flow meters and associated plumbing.
Fluid Power (Hydraulic) systems are integral in mining, agriculture, manufacturing, energy and transportation systems around the world. The vast majority of these systems utilize integrated circuits consisting of cartridge valves and associated devices. The ongoing development of "Smart" machines (IoT, Industry 4.0) necessitates data acquisition of all critical operating conditions inherent in hydraulic systems including pressures, temperatures, and rates of flow. Collecting data on temperature and pressure has been available via transducers for many years. But gathering data on flow within an integrated circuit has been a challenge that until now has been unmet. Existing devices to measure flow in a hydraulic system need to be installed external to any valve manifolds and are both cumbersome and expensive to implement.
We realized that there is a gap in available diagnostic instrumentation used to monitor the performance of hydraulic systems and components. While there are many options to monitor and measure pressures and temperatures within a system, tracking fluid volume (flow) is limited to diagnostic equipment generally added to systems after a problem has occurred. We have designed and are producing a turbine flow sensor configured to fit industry standard cartridge valve cavities. This design is revolutionary and makes it easy to incorporate this device into a hydraulic system from both a design and a cost perspective. With the ever advancing and developing machine automation, Internet of Things (Iot) and Industry 4.0, closely monitoring fluid flow in a hydraulic system will enhance machine performance, lower operational costs, reduce downtime and enable improved predictive maintenance.
This invention (US Patents 11,614,351, 11,892,331; 12,535,344; 12,650,323) will impact Fluid Power systems worldwide. It would not be an overstatement to say that improved machine safety, increased productivity, reduced downtime and energy savings will directly or indirectly impact our world. Fluid Power Technology is one of the little recognized sciences that impact us all every day. From the transmissions in our vehicles, to the construction equipment building our roads and bridges; the equipment producing our food, the machines on every factory floor; to the safety devices utilized in energy production and distribution; the automation at Disney World and the stage movements in Las Vegas, Fluid Power is, as documented by John J. Pippenger in his 1992 book, Fluid Power - The Hidden Giant.
