Modular safety relay claimed to be world first

By using the new, intuitive online tool called myPNOZ Creator, Pilz users can assemble “their” myPNOZ safety relay. There is an official launch of the new product scheduled for 3rd February which MachineBuilding.net readers can attend by clicking here. Pilz says that the safety relay can be specified, pre-assembled, set up, tested and delivered within 24 hours and is a completely individualised system, ready to install. Pilz affirms that no specialist programming knowledge is required to use its new myPNOZ Creator, as the logic links for the safety functions are defined on myPNOZ via the modules that are selected and the sequence in which they are plugged in. 

In short, Pilz says that it has developed a digital, universal concept for its new modular safety relay myPNOZ, from selection through to order, and that myPNOZ Pilz provides safe solutions that are built in accordance with a customers’ specific individual batch size 1 requirements.

The new myPNOZ is a safety relay that monitors safety functions such as E-STOP, safety gates, light curtains, two-hand controls IIIA/C and also enabling switches. It consists of a head module with up to eight expansion modules which can be readily combined. With the online tool myPNOZ Creator machine builders can specify and assemble a bespoke, application-specific safety solution from a wide range of options. Users can switch between a logic view and a hardware view.  An option for visualisation and extensive documentation is also said to be available via simulation.

Logical, safe engineering

Depending on the safety requirement, users may interconnect safety functions such as E-STOP or safety gates using logic AND/OR connections. The online tool myPNOZ Creator uses a symbol to indicate any logic errors in the safety function sequence. Users can add any further safety functions at will and may also define details, for example the delay-on energisation and delay-on de-energisation. Further, users can check immediately whether a circuit or safety design meets their own requirements in the myPNOZ Creator just by using the simulation in the online tool. As a result, errors can be reduced and commissioning accelerated.

Safety: simply create, simulate safely and order with time to spare

In the myPNOZ Creator it is possible to define the number, type and logic connection between the safety functions, based on what machine builders or users need for their application. The Creator uses these details to automatically calculate which modules are needed and the sequence in which they must be inserted. The plug-in sequence results from the connection logic for the safety functions, and due to this internal combination logic, the process requires no programming knowledge. The product that is generated can be ordered directly via the online tool, and users can order a previously defined configuration of myPNOZ with just a click of the mouse. The safety relay is delivered pre-assembled and ready to install. Each myPNOZ is given a unique type code, so that if necessary the same system configuration can be re-ordered at any time.

Comprehensive modularity for greater flexibility

The safety relay myPNOZ consists of a head module with up to a maximum of eight expansion modules, which can be freely combined, but the modular myPNOZ offers up to 12 different expansion modules in total: four output modules, four input modules and four input/output modules. Each input module can monitor two safety functions, which not only minimises hardware costs but also reduces the wiring says Pilz.

Multiple safety sensors can be monitored without the need to wire multiple relays as was the case previously. With myPNOZ it is also possible to form multiple safety zones, which independently monitor plant sections that operate separately. This helps to increase the availability of the plant because sections or parts of the machine can be shut down independently from each other as required.

Pilz says that the slimline 17.5mm head module already has a higher-level safety function, working on all outputs regardless of any other potential safety zones. The output modules either switch immediately or with a time delay and are available with both relay and semiconductor outputs. 

Fast, simple assembly

The modules on myPNOZ are said to be easily connected using BUS connectors, and the whole system is supplied with power via the head module. As a result, only the head module needs to be connected to the power supply, which reduces wiring. So the plant can be commissioned more speedily and can also be optimised with a view to maintenance costs: if just one module needs to be swapped, individual modules can be exchanged immediately without dismantling the entire system.

To facilitate troubleshooting and reduce downtime myPNOZ also has expanded diagnostics via LED for each module and each safety input.The range of modules coupled with ease of handling mean that users can always assemble a solution that exactly matches the application. 

Wide ranging applicationsPilz says that its myPNOZ is an efficient, safe solution for mechanical engineering, and that the safety relay can be used in various industries. Users benefit with safety applications that range from simple to average complexity, when between 2 and a maximum of 16 safe input functions are to be monitored, without using engineering software.

Product launch 3rd February – you can attend by clicking here!