Automation Parts

OSM Safety Unit Monitors Motor-Rotation Speed Omron Scientific Technologies has introduced the G9SX-LM Low-speed Safety Monitoring Unit. Consisting of two proximity sensors and a G9SX safety controller with fault diagnostics, the G9SX-LM is a Category 3 (EN954-1), SIL 3 (IEC/EN 62061) certified redundant safety system that monitors and confirms motor-rotation speed to facilitate safe machine maintenance. The system can also provide standstill monitoring. The G9SX-LM allows an operator to access the machine for maintenance work while the machine is running at a safe, maximum set operating threshold of 10Hz. Should the motor speed exceed the preset speed, the G9SX-LM will stop the machine immediately. An optional A4EG Enabling Grip Switch provides an additional layer of safety protection that, if pressed or released, will also immediately stop the machine. The G9SX-LM is certified to all relevant North American and International safety standards and is engineered to deliver reliabl...

Safety Connector Disconnects If Cable Gets Tangled Wilcoxon Research is expanding its line of Maxflex cables for portable data collectors with an optional safety connector that breaks away if the sensor or cable gets entangled at the monitoring point. When collecting vibration data, it is important to keep the operator safe from being dangerously pulled towards a machine, according to the company. Safety connector cables for data collection will protect the operator during a data collection route by disconnecting the sensor from the data collector when more than 10lb (4.5kg) of pull force is exerted. Additional benefits of this safety feature include preventing damage to expensive portable data collector hardware and providing a quick disconnect between the sensor and the data collector. The safety connector disconnects when more than 10lb of pull force is exerted and can be reconnected after the sensor and cable are safely retrieved from the monitoring point. The connector disconnect...

Veolia Chooses Eaton's Arcon For Switchgear Safety EMS has selected a design based on Eaton's Moeller Modan modular switchboard system for a critical application at the Selchp energy recovery plant owned by Veolia Environmental Services. Additionally, as Veolia Environmental Services is committed to ensuring high safety levels, it was decided that the switchboard should be fitted with an Arcon arc-fault protection system. This system was developed by Eaton's Moeller business and is approved by VDS Schadenverhutung, an independent international accredited and notified authority for safety technology. Veolia Environmental Services' new switchboard, which replaces an existing board that could no longer meet current operational needs, supplies power for the aero condenser installation that underpins the operation of the cooling towers at the company's Selchp plant in south London. The plant incinerates 400,000 tonnes of waste per annum and uses the heat produced t...

Safety Device Indicates Power Conditions The Universal Power Alert (UPA) from Marsh Bellofram Europe provides a visual external indication of live power or stored energy conditions existing within an electrical enclosure. This safety device helps prevent arc flash and possible electrocution for operating and maintenance personnel, by pre-verifying that full electrical isolation conditions exist before the access door or cover is opened to any enclosure containing electrical power devices. The permanently installed UPA 130 unit supplements conventional voltmeter testing and helps maintain compliance with the National Fire Protection Association NFPA 70E safety standard, which addresses the issues of safe electrical work practices for workers. These power alerts are suitable for use on single and three-phase power supplies, with typical applications including motor control centres (MCC) and MCC buckets, high-energy panels or panels with multiple power sources, circuit breaker disconn...

IFM Electronic has launched the AC007S module, designed to connect safety devices such as fail-safe sensors and light curtains to the safety version of ActuatorSensor-Interface (AS-i). Ideal for use with IFM Electronic's safe proximity sensors, the SIL3-compliant AC007S module takes OSSD (output signal switching device) signal input from a sensor or other ESPE (electrosensitive protective device) and checks the integrity of that signal for cross faults, for example, as well as the switching status of the ESPE and its own internal integrity and transmits this data via As-i Safety at Work. Overall safety is ensured on the AS-I Safety at Work system by the safety monitor, and the safe data transmission on the AS-i bus has been approved by TUV and BIA. It is suitable for signal transmission up to the highest category 4 to EN 954-1 and IEC 61508 / SIL3. IFM's IP67-rated AC007S safe input module can be field-mounted along with other standard or safe devices on the AS-i cable...

Contrinex, the Swiss sensor manufacturer, has introduced a range of safety light curtains. Known as Safetinex, the modular design allows fully tested systems to be delivered on a very short time scale. Contrinex safety light curtains correspond to safety Category 4 (EN/ISO 13849-1) and Type 4 (EN/IEC 61496 -1 and -2) and are designed to be used wherever risks cannot be eliminated through machine design. A person or any part of the body entering a danger zone is detected by the light curtain, resulting in immediate machine stoppage. Safetinex light curtains consist of a sender and a receiver unit that demarcate the protection zone around the machine. The range comprises models with resolutions of 14mm for finger protection and 30mm for hand protection, with a maximum protective field width of 3.5m and 12m respectively. The maximum protective height is either 1685mm (14mm resolution) or 1822mm (30mm resolution). The signal processing method used in the Contrinex system ensures fas...

Asia-Pacific To Lead Machine Safety Expansion The worldwide market for machine automatic safeguarding products is forecast to reach US $2504.3 million in 2012, increasing at a compound annual growth rate of 8.7%. A new market study by Venture Development Corporation (VDC), covering 27 types of machine automatic safeguarding products, finds the worldwide 2007 market for these devices to have been US $1647.1 million. Product categories covered in the study were: emergency-stop controls (two types); presence-sensing safety sensors (five technologies); programmable safety systems (safety PLCs) - both stand-alone and integrated with machine controllers; safety controllers/modules/relays (six types); safety interlock switches (10 types); and two-hand safety controls (two types). The worldwide market for these products is forecast to reach US $2504.3 million in 2012, increasing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.7%. Via the implementation of these products users gain cost savings in...