Safety laser scanners are a versatile safety product for any manufacturing and production facility. Using the time-of-flight principle, the scanner calculates position based on the amount of time it takes for the laser to bounce off an object and return to the scanner. This produces a protection zone that can be customized to fit any need.
Many safety laser scanners are mounted in horizontal applications to prevent hazards and provide general area protection. However, vertical applications of a safety laser scanner can be beneficial if the area needing protection is not a standard rectangle or if you need multiple zone monitoring.
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Although you most often see safety light curtains used in access protection applications, safety lasers scanners can also be used in some specific situations. In areas where it may be difficult to mount two perpendicular safety light curtains, a single safety laser scanner can be mounted vertically to detect any entrances into a hazardous area.
A vertically-mounted safety laser scanner can be used in entry/exit applications to create a protective field. It requires no alignment of sender and receiver as it is all in one device. And with the compact size of SICK’s safety laser scanners, like the microScan3, it can be easily integrated into the machine design.
The protective field can be contoured to allow for the passage of material, such as a car to avoid interrupted work. Predefined contours can be safely and reliably recognized with contour detection fields.
Also, due to the high amount of fields, different field shapes can be configured depending on the material form. This means it can allow the passage of certain materials, while still safeguarding the area immediately around the material so a person can’t pass through undetected. This is ideal for moving materials in or out of hazard zones.
Scanning Multiple Fields for Maximum Protection
Some safety laser scanners can be used in multiple safety functions due to its capability to simultaneously evaluate multiple fields. It can safeguard a hazard point on a single side of a machine, especially when there is close interaction with the machine. The approach of the person is detected by sensing the person’s presence in an area. This is necessary for machines that cannot be viewed completely from the position of the reset device.
If a person reaches into a hazardous area, a vertically-mounted safety laser scanner will recognize this by detecting the person’s arm and stopping the process. It would remain stopped as long as there are people or parts of the body detected in the hazard zones. This enables unrestricted access, frequent interaction, and an unimpeded view into the machine.
It can also monitor multiple fields at once to provide protection in more complex applications. The microScan3 Pro can provide safety information for up to eight protective fields at one time and simultaneously safeguard multiple cells with just one device.
For example, if you were looking to protect multiple cells, you could mount a scanner in the center of the row and have a different protective field for each cell. When someone infringes one of the cells, that single cell would stop, but the others would continue to run.
Whether used in a horizontal or vertical application, safety laser scanners are a versatile product that provide you added flexibility and maximum safety to your production lines.
