Five things to consider when selecting a safety light curtain

Safety light curtains are very useful as they allow much safer operations for machine operators and maintenance personnel. That said, it is not enough to simply buy and install a light curtain to ensure the complete safety of the facility. It is important to ensure that the light curtain meets all the risk reduction requirements of your particular application.

Let’s look at five important considerations that must accompany any light curtain specification.

1. What are the specifications? 

Certain basic standards must be observed for all safety products, including ISO 13849-1, IEC 62061 and IEC 61508. These standards emphasize control reliability, diagnostic capabilities and safety system architecture.

In the case of light curtains, you should also look for additional safety information, such as the Performance Level (PL) provided by the safety device.

2. What is its detection capability? 

The resolution or detection capability of a light curtain refers to the separation between its laser beams. There are many different resolution options. For example, a resolution of 14mm is suitable for finger detection and is used when the curtain is placed very close to the source of hazardous movement. Hand detection is achieved with a resolution of 25mm to 30mm.

3. What is the minimum safety distance?

According to ISO 13855, the minimum distance must always be calculated to determine where to install a safety light curtain. This ensures that once a person activates the light curtain when crossing the detection area, the machine stops operating before the person reaches the source of danger.

4. What’s the resistance? 

Many manufacturing facilities present environmental challenges, such as temperature, excess humidity and other issues that can easily damage equipment. Light curtains must be resistant to these pressures. For example, Omron’s F3SG-SR series has a wide operating temperature and stands up well to food processing and steel applications.

5. What is control architecture? 

Light curtains are a measure specifically designed for machine safety, but in reality they simply represent a fraction of the overall safety system around a machine and an information point for that system. To develop a satisfactory solution, it is necessary to connect the light curtains to safety monitoring equipment, such as safety relays or safety controllers, that meet the mandatory specifications.

Fuente: https://automation.omron.com/es/mx/programacion-blog/how-to-select-a-safety-light-curtain