Complex access guarding tasks made easy.
Safety components used to protect people in the workplace must offer flexibility without compromising on performance. With this in mind, the RotoScan RS4 Safety Laser Scanner has been designed to meet all the international OH&S requirements for safeguarding the working environment, and to be precisely adaptable for seamless integration into a variety of production procedures. RotoScan was designed to constantly scan the working area two-dimensionally with an angle radius of 190° and a range of several metres.
The advantages of configurability
Countapulse Controls’ managing director, Gerry Bryant, says that the primary advantage of the laser scanner is that it can be configured to deal with complex production parameters, while not comprising the safety of personnel in the workplace. Four independent protection and warning zones, which can be switched over at any time during operation, can be programmed within the working area via software. “This enables reliable detection of people entering the protection and warning zones, allowing switch-off and alarm commands for the machine to be generated as required,” he explains.
Optoelectronic protective devices for access guarding are used in the working environment to facilitate process-conditional obstruction-free access to designated hazardous areas. An especially efficient mode of operation is required when the material flow of the process must be channelled through these accesses. In order to enable rapid material flow the guarding must allow, for instance, access to a forklift. However, it must still retain the functionality to detect and warn of people entering the area.
Typical situations where this type of access guarding is required include automatic production processes, especially those that make use of robots, as these represent a significant danger for people in the area.
Protection across the entire width of the access area using light beam devices with muting function is not always feasible. An optimal solution will comprise a flexible, configurable safety device that minimises any gaps. Bryant says this is where RotoScan comes to the fore.
Principle of operation
The access area can be divided into a left half and a right half, precisely adjusted to the forklift’s approach routes. Instead of the complete deactivation of the laser scanner protective function, the monitoring of both access paths can be specifically controlled with protective field switchover.
The warning field of the laser scanner and a reflection light beam device, which detects a reflector on the roof of the forklift, serve as sensors for detecting the forklift approaching. Both signals are processed by the safety controller, which then activates the corresponding protective fields of the scanner.
The integrated AS-i Safety or PROFIsafe interfaces allow the efficient use of safety devices in cascaded systems. In addition to access guarding, RotoScan is also suitable for protecting people by safeguarding danger areas on stationary machines, as well as for vertical danger point safeguarding.
For more information contact Gerry Bryant, Countapulse Controls, +27 (0)11 615 7556, [email protected], www.countapulse.edx.co.za
| Tel: | +27 11 615 7556/7/8 |
| Email: | [email protected] |
| www: | www.countapulse.co.za |
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