Smart Light Curtains for Reliable Safety in Harsh Environments

With protective heights of 300 mm to 2,100 mm and an IP65, IP67, and IP69K enclosure rating, the deTec4 safety light curtain from Sick, Inc. (Minneapolis, MN) is a new generation of safety light curtains for use in harsh environments. This safety light curtain has variants with cured glass for use in environments that use coolants and lubricants, and variants for explosion hazardous areas. Comprehensive diagnostics are possible with IO-Link, providing data that can be used directly in other process steps. For example, a subsequent step could apply the provided height measurement data while simultaneously executing a safety function, without the need for additional equipment components. This saves cost on extra hardware, eliminates wiring of other devices and minimizes commissioning time.

The deTec4 is able to differentiate between people and materials thanks to two-sensor muting integration. Using an innovative muting adapter, muting sensors can integrate directly to the light curtain in the field, saving the time needed to wire the muting sensors back to the cabinet. Using intelligent evaluation algorithms, reduced resolution ignores small unimportant objects, such as thin sheets, chips, or insects, but will trigger a machine shutoff for larger objects, such as hands. With intelligent algorithms and reduced resolution, deTec4 prevents unwanted shutoffs, unnecessary downtime, and therefore increases productivity.

Sick, Inc., 6900 West 110th Street, Minneapolis, MN 55438, 800-325-7425, Fax: 952-941-9287, www.sick.com.