Increasing regulatory emphasis on food safety in plants means that more and more machinery and instruments are being made to resist bacterial buildup and help manufacturers maintain a hygienic environment.

Inductive proximity sensors are non-contact devices that use a radio frequency field to detect metals or measure the proximity, position and displacement of objects. They are used in many differentapplications such as determining valve position, liquid levels, process control, machine control and security.

Omron says its anti-microbial E2F-D series of inductive proximity sensors are now housed in special plastic cases developed in cooperation with plastics specialist Ensinger. The housing activelyreduces the number of bacteria and germs on its housing through a regulatory approved additive.

The additive is effective against a broad range of micro-organisms, such as bacteria, fungi, algae and viruses.

"The microbe-reducing performance of the material has been thoroughly tested, but can be most easily demonstrated by looking at the effects of simply touching the housing with anunprotected finger," Omron stated. "The multitude of germs and bacteria that are instantly transferred to the housing are almost completely removed after 12 hours."

Omron, based in Kyoto, Japan, makes millions of cylindrical inductive sensors every year.