Access guarding at material transfer stations
The increasing automation of machines and systems places growing demands on safety concepts. Classic concepts such as muting are often pushed to their limits here. Our innovative safety solutions guarantee gapless safety, efficient material flow and high availability of your system, even with automatic processes.
One challenge at material transfer stations is the reliable differentiation between people and material - regardless of the shape and size of the conveyed goods. While consistent safety concepts can be found if the load is always the same, safety gaps can easily arise if the load changes or is incomplete. Often the safety concepts also require that the subsequent process must be stopped during the handover in order to guarantee the necessary protection of the operating personnel. This reduces the utilization and thus the effi ciency of the system. With its superior safety concept, the Leuze Safety Solution for material transfer stations offers the right solution for any load and guarantees best utilization of the safeguarded cell.
Requirement:
The robot cell is fed automatically. The material is loaded onto the conveyor line, e.g. using a forklift truck, and then transported into the cell. Access to the cell must be safeguarded. To guarantee optimum capacity utilization of the robot cell, the safety concept must also allow uninterrupted operation of the cell during loading.
Solution:
The loading area of the conveyor line is guarded at both the entry and exit side by multiple light beam safety devices. The area between the photoelectric sensors is monitored for the presence of persons by means of safety radar sensors.
Operating principle:
After the safety sensor on the entry side has been interrupted and released again, the loading area is checked. Safety radar sensors monitor this area for presence of people. Only if no person has been detected in the loading area, the system releases the safety sensor on the exit side and the conveyed goods can be transported into the cell. The safety-related correct processing is monitored by the system. All necessary release signals for the implementation of automated loading processes are provided by the system as well.
Advantages for you
- Higher capacity utilization of the system through interruptionfree operation of the robot cell, even during loading
- Infeed of transported goods of any shape or size thanks to an optimized safety concept
- Safe and reliable even under demanding conditions, e.g. with partly loaded or empty pallets
- Supports automatic starting of the conveyor line to improve efficiency and safety
- No operator action required
- No visual monitoring of the danger zone necessary
- The pre-developed safety solution is individually adapted to your application
System components and safety parameters
| Safety sensors: MLD 500 multiple light beam safety devices, LBK safety radar sensors with controller | |
| System control: MSI 400 safety control | |
| Leuze safety program | |
| PL d in accordance with ISO 13849-1, SILCL 2 in accordance with IEC 62061 | |
| 2-channel safety output, 2 signalling outputs |