EC: Focus II Safety Light Curtains

Safety - Machine safety: Focus II Light curtains protect personnel from potentially hazardous machinery, robots or automated systems by creating a protection field with infrared beams, which, if interrupted, trigger a safety mechanism that immediately stops the machinery. This is a Control Engineering 2014 Engineers’ Choice finalist.

By Control Engineering October 17, 2013

Focus II Safety Light Curtains have been designed to offer every conceivable feature into a single low cost package. No need to stock or order different versions for different machine safety applications. One Safety Light Curtain can now be used for any and all applications while still staying below budget.

The light curtains consist of two optical units, a transmitter and a receiver, which are continuously scanned, quickly detecting any objects that break the optical barrier. If any light beam is interrupted, the dangerous machine movement is stopped by the outputs from the light curtain. The reaction time for Focus II varies from 14ms to 45ms, depending on the number of beams in the light curtain.

Additional features include:

  • Quick connects and custom adjustable brackets for unsurpassed ease of installation
  • Flexible, built-in muting capabilities with inputs for partial or complete muting
  • A muting override function which makes it possible to bypass the light curtain ”i.e. activate the outputs if a machine start is necessary even if one or more Light Beams are interrupted.
  • Floating blanking which makes it possible to disconnect a defined number of beams from the safety field, enabling an object to cross the optical barrier without the safety function being triggered.

With the introduction of the Focus II Light Curtains manufacturing has been moved to the USA (Westland, MI), enabling JOKAB to lower list prices and deliver product from stock in five days.

The light curtains are ideal for a variety of applications including:

  • Mechanical and hydraulic power presses
  • Molding presses
  • Stamping, riveting and eyelet operations
  • Automated machinery and manufacturing cells
  • Robotic cells
  • Conveyors
  • Material handling equipment
  • Printing presses
  • Welding equipment
  • Machining centers
  • Packaging machinery

www.abb.com/lowvoltage 

www.abb.us/product/seitp329/21ac462d0cd31e49c1257948003869b9.aspx 

ABB JOKAB SAFETY