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What Is A Safety Light Curtain? from AutomationDirect
To learn more: https://www.AutomationDirect.com/light-curtains?utm_source=F3pWKAMqa7o&utm_medium=VideoTeamDescription
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Automated machines and systems are incredible for boosting efficiency in industry—but keeping employees safe will always be the top priority.
Today, let’s break down light curtains and see how they protect your crew from industrial hazards. Watch this video to learn more about light curtains and their industrial applications! Visit the link above to learn more and purchase yours today at AutomationDirect.com!
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Automated machines and systems are incredible for boosting efficiency in industry—but keeping employees safe will always be the top priority. Today, let’s break down light curtains and see how they protect your crew from industrial hazards. So, what is a light curtain? A light curtain is a safeguarding device that uses beams of light to safeguard access to a potentially dangerous area. A standard light curtain is made up of two main parts: a transmitter and a receiver, like a through-beam sensor. The transmitter projects a grid of infrared light beams using LEDs, one after another, pulsed at a specific frequency. The receiver is tuned to detect only those matching pulses. Together, these beams form an invisible barrier. If anything crosses that barrier—say, a hand or a tool, and interrupts a beam, the light curtain’s logic circuit immediately signals the machine’s control system to safely stop any hazardous movement. There are also models where the transmitter and receiver are housed in a single unit, and a mirror is used to reflect the beam back. These work great for area guarding an area where it might be hard to run wires to one side of the hazardous area. To meet OSHA, ANSI, and ISO requirements, light curtains constantly run self-checks. If they detect a fault, they instantly shut down the machine and stay locked until the issue is resolved, and a safety reset is performed. They’re also designed with redundant circuits. That means if one channel within the curtain fails, the other takes over to ensure the stop signal is still removed. At AutomationDirect, you’ll find advanced solid-state pulsing outputs, known as Output Signal Switching Devices or OSSDs. Light curtains are found on a wide range of equipment, robotic applications, stamping presses, molding presses, automated assembly lines, and even robotic cells. The spacing of the beams determines the level of protection: 14 millimeters is standard for finger protection applications, 30 millimeters is standard for hand protection, And ranges from 300 to 400 millimeters for body protection, and perimeter or area guarding. The flexibility means they can protect everything from a single pinch point to an entire machine boundary. When selecting a light curtain, here are a few key questions to ask: What body part or object needs protection: finger, hand, body, or perimeter? How tall and wide is the protected area? What safety level does your risk assessment require? These answers guide you toward the correct resolution, size, range, distance from hazard, and safety category for your application. Although the concept is simple, modern light curtains go beyond just turning machines off and on. They offer advanced features like muting: That allows materials, like pallets or boxes on a conveyor, to pass through specific sections of the curtain or at specific intervals without stopping production. Fixed blanking deactivates specific beams in the grid to allow permanently designed hardware or fixtures to be present but still protect the area. Floating blanking allows a limited number of beams at any given moment to be interrupted throughout the protected field without shutting the system down. This is very useful for systems where a robotic arm or tool of a known size will be moving through the grid, and interrupting several different beams or sets of beams at different times. Each of these advanced features can help keep production flowing—while keeping people safe. At AutomationDirect, we’re committed to delivering high-quality safety products, including light curtains, from trusted brands like Reer, Datalogic, Datasensing, and Contrinex. These are reliable products you can count on to keep your workplace safe. To explore our full range of safety solutions, visit us at AutomationDirect.com—the #1 value in automation. Click here to learn more about our safety products Click here for more videos
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