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Safety Engineering: Saving Time and Costs through the Safeguarding with Photoelectric Fail-Safe Sensors - Example Muting

From Siemens Energy & Automation, Inc.
 

 
In the manufacturing industry, it is essential to prevent injuries to people and/or damages to machines without hampering the manufacturing process - while at the same time saving time and costs. Often, materials have to be brought into the danger zone of manufacturing plants. Light curtains or light grids with integrated muting are suitable for such application cases. When arranged vertically, light curtains or light grids often function as access protection. If material is to be transported into or out of the danger zone through a light curtain, the protection action can briefly be disabled (muted). After the material has entered the danger zone, the protective field can be reestablished. In this connection, it has to be ensured that no person can go into the danger zone. Muting therefore means the as specified, temporary and automatic suppression of the protective area safety function. There are different muting types that can be selected according to the application.
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