News
Improving Machinery Safety, Enhancing
Productivity
Drive based safety that allows designers and users to do
more
Until now, the machine integrity required to meet safety
requirements has limited the functionality of many machines.
Usually, the solution is met with
simple, if not crude, logic –
e.g. if a guard is open, the machine stops.
Now, when combined with robust processes to quantify risk,
intelligent safety systems can free designers to create new and
innovative solutions, with machines interacting intelligently with
people whilst actually increasing human protection as well as
enhancing machine productivity.
This was the target for Control Techniques’ during the
development of SM-Safety – a programmable plug-in option for
Control Techniques’ drives that offers industry-leading levels of
machine safety.
Keeping up-to-date with the new standards for safety-related
control systems such as EN 61800-5-2 with functions such as Safely
Limited Position (SLP) is complex and time-consuming. In a single
plug-in option module, SM-Safety provides a complete range of
functions which are ideally suited to being implemented within a
drive, increasing functionality, speed of reaction and, what’s
more, reducing the overall cost. SM-Safety is a programmable option
module that, when plugged into a Control Techniques Unidrive SP AC
drive or the Digitax ST servo-drive frees engineers to do more.
“Design engineers
of high volume OEM machinery, system integrators and maintenance
engineers alike, all have safety responsibilities,” says Product
Manager, Imad Rajraji, “and all find it complex and expensive to
meet all of the relevant safety standards. The SM Safety module,
which is effectively a mini safety PLC, simplifies the whole
process and gives them complete piece of mind at a much-reduced
cost, and performance can actually be significantly improved.”
Compared with a Safety PLC, SM-Safety is a fraction of the
price, yet provides completely programmable parameters for the key
nine safety functions required for machine safety. Using the free
Control Techniques’ software, CTSafeLite – or for more advanced
applications, CTSafePro – designers or users can build a
comprehensive bespoke safety protection zone to meet the precise
safety needs of the machinery.
“The SM-Safety firmware provides a large part of the SafePLC
functionality and is easier to configure,” adds Imad Rajraji “and,
we believe, takes Control Techniques ahead of the world market in
drive safety.”
SM Safety meets international safety standards; EN 61508, EN
62061, EN ISO 13849-1 and, most important with respect to drives,
EN 61800-5-2 adjustable speed electrical power systems – Part 5-2:
Safety requirements – functional.
SM-Safety has a total of 18 I/O ports comprising four dual
redundant digital inputs, one single digital input, three safe
digital outputs, two additional digital outputs, two inputs
dedicated to incremental or absolute position sensors (encoders)
and pulse outputs.
Find out more about SM-Safety
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