Posted to News on 19th May 2021, 09:05
What’s behind the curtain?
Machine uptime and plant efficiency is critical within modern production facilities, with manufacturers consistently seeking improvements
In recent times, light curtains have become a reliable method for process and personnel protection and offer greater flexibility, such as allowing easier operator access for semi-automated procedures, at the same time reducing the likelihood of strains caused by repetitive work – eg, opening and closing a guard door.
Euchner is expanding its industrial safety engineering product range through the addition of new non-contact safety guards. The industrially rated light grids and light curtains from the Euchner LCA series are used for access control and securing danger areas.
They are available as multi-beam light grids (two to four beams) or as light curtains with various resolutions from 14 to 50mm. Lower resolution light grids are ideally suited for access control, while the higher resolution light curtains are perfect for protecting fingers, hands, arms and full-body detection.
Protective variations
Depending on the requirements for the location to be secured, Euchner offers type-2 and type-4 light grids and light curtains with different protective field heights and ranges. “Simple set-up and parametrisation can be performed directly on the device, without the need for additional programming on a PC,” it says.
“An integrated LED indicator provides a quick overview of the device status and permits simple fault-finding to ensure the equipment continues to run efficiently. The narrow design and robust housing, suitable for industrial use, permit simple installation, even in confined spaces.”
Lighting the way
Light grid and light curtains from the Euchner LCA series meet all requirements in standards applicable to non-contact safety guards. Performance Level PLc or PLe can be met, depending on the selected type (2 or 4).
Various muting functions can be implemented in combination with the freely programmable small safe control system MSC. With the aid of additional sensors, the MSC monitors the proper bypassing procedure for an object and, for example, can differentiate between a person and an object moving through the protective field.
Up to three light curtains of type 4 can be connected in series for simple protection of dangerous areas. Master/slave versions with various resolutions and protective field heights are available for this purpose.
