Backlog detection and safety at work in a sawmill

Description

In a system for sawing wooden boards, it is necessary to detect whether boards are already located on a certain section of the system. If no boards are yet on this section, infeed conveying belts are to be regulated in such a way that they more quickly supply new boards. In addition, access points to the saws must be monitored in the system to ensure safety at work. As is typical when sawing boards, this is an environment in which, in addition to particle loads from shavings and dust, high temperature differences may occur.

Solution

The ROD 4 Laser Distance Sensors with multiple measuring fields are used. These sensors detect whether boards are located in the monitored system section and supply signals for regulating the relevant conveying belt speeds. For access guarding of the dangerous sawing areas, Multiple Light Beam Safety Devices of type MLD with two-beam design are used. Like the ROD 4 Laser Distance Sensors, these are not sensitive to soiling and temperature fluctuations.