Castelli launches fail-safe pressure edges and bumpers

Citation

(2001), "Castelli launches fail-safe pressure edges and bumpers", Industrial Robot, Vol. 28 No. 6. https://doi.org/10.1108/ir.2001.04928fad.010

Castelli launches fail-safe pressure edges and bumpers

Castelli launches fail-safe pressure edges and bumpers

Keywords: Safety

Industrial safety specialist Castell has launched a range of fail-safe pressure edges and bumpers. Unlike conventional safety edges, which rely on a "contact-make" system, Castell's operate on a more direct "contact-break" principle that guarantees safety (see Plate 8).

Typical applications for pressure edges include:

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  sliding doors on machining centres;

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  bus and train doors;

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  powered rotating doors and lifting platforms.

Power-operated devices with longer stopping times, such as hangar doors, automatic-guided vehicles and theatre stages, require the added security provided by bumpers. A pressure mat, incorporating the same technology, is also available to safeguard robot cells and presses.

Traditional pressure edges need a separate control unit to convert the signal produced when their contacts meet into a suitable form for the emergency stop circuit. Castell's safety products, on the other hand, use exerted pressure to force their contacts apart and break the output signal. This feature allows them to be wired directly into the emergency stop circuit, thereby both avoiding reliance on a potentially defective control unit, and reducing cost and installation time.

Plate 8 Castell launches fail-safe pressure edges and bumpers

The positioning of the sensor in the edges and bumpers offers another major advantage. Owing to its location in the front portion of the rubber, it permits an actuation range of 360 degrees and immediate switching action.

Edges, bumpers and mats are all rated as standard to category 3 of EC legislation regarding Harmonised European Standards (EN954-1 Safety of Machinery – Safety Related Parts of Control Systems), while the edges have recently been awarded a category 4 certificate. The whole range offers the highest safety level available in products of this type.

Both edges and bumpers are supplied in a range of profiles for varying applications, and a choice of constructions suitable for internal and external conditions. Mats are manufactured to size as specified by the customer.

For further information contact Nick Cowen, Castell Safety International Ltd, The Castell Building, 217 Kingsbury Road, London NW9 9HP, UK. Tel: +44 (0)208 200 1200; Fax: +44 (0)208 205 0055; E-mail: sales@castell.co.uk; Web site: www.castell.com