Machine Guarding
Machine Guarding
Automated production equipment, such as assembly or welding robots, material transport systems, packaging machines, press or stamping machines can pose multiple hazards to machine operators and other staff. Guarding perimeters and points of operation and access is critical to protecting personnel from accident or injury as well as preventing equipment damage. Banner has one of the most comprehensive collections of robust, easy-to-implement perimeter and machine guarding solutions in the industry, all designed to provide the highest levels of safety without compromising productivity.
Safeguarding at Palletizer Station with Sticky Liquids Present
- Contents are corrosive, sticky, and messy
- Bottles are under pressure and could explode
- FDA approved hygienic enclosure
Guarding Personnel at Meat Slicing Machine in a Harsh Environment
- Machine guarding in a hygienic environment
- Safety light screens protect operators from blades
- IP69/IP69K enclosure with smooth, easy-to-clean design
Simplifying Safety Feature Management [Success Story]
Algus Packaging Inc. is a leader in the heat seal and thermoform packaging industry. They design, develop and manufacture high-performance sealing machines, thermoformed packaging and offer full service contract packaging. The machinery and services offered by Algus provide their customers with the ability to change and grow as business needs dictate, now and in the future.
Small Assembly Station Protection
EZ-SCREEN LS safety light curtains have no DIP switches, feature end-to-end sensing, and can be easily installed with automatic configuration. The use of side mount brackets creates a quick and simple installation with adjustments made from the front side of the EZ-SCREEN LS arrays, saving time during setup. Maximizing machine uptime and reducing repair and replacement expenses helps companies remain competitive.
Dual-operator Robotic Work Station
Banner Engineering’s EZ-SCREEN LS is able to address the challenges of safeguarding multiple access points to a hazard with its automatic cascade feature. This advanced feature allows up to four light screen sets, of any size and resolution, to be connected in a series with as few as one cable to lead back to the control cabinet and one single dual channel safety interface, saving panel space.
Depalletizer Guarding with Muting
Banner’s Type 4 EZ-Screen with a muting is ideal for depalletizer stations with robots because the screens ensure safety standards are maintained while allowing for a free flow of pallets, increasing throughput. The muting allows for a pallet skid to be transferred without shutting down the conveyor or robot cell, helping optimize product flow throughout the distribution center. There is a timing function set at a constant speed that allows for a continuous flow of pallets.
Robotic Palletizer Safeguarding
Banner’s XS26-2 is a flexible, easy-to-use safety controller with an intuitive programming environment, with the capacity to handle current machine processes and the flexibility to add up to eight I/O expansion modules as machine automation grows or changes. A broad spectrum of safety devices are supported, allowing for complex applications to be configured and downloaded to the controller in a minimal amount of time for efficient machine commissioning.
Scalable Safety Control for Large Assembly Processes
Banner’s XS26-2 expandable safety controller is a scalable safety solution that can be tailored for a wide variety of machines, including large scale machines with multiple processes. With the ability to add up to eight I/O expansion modules, the XS26-2 has the capacity to adapt to larger footprint machines with multiple hazards and access points. Several preconfigured safety function and logic blocks are available in the intuitive programming software.
Safeguarding a Robotic Palletizer
Banner’s SC26-2 is a flexible, easy-to-use safety controller with an intuitive programming environment. The programmable safety controller can manage all of the safety devices with one module. The SC26-2 communicates the status of safety devices via Ethernet IP and controls a tower light for visual indication of safety device statuses. The base controller allows eight of the 26 inputs to be configured as outputs for efficient terminal utilization.
The solution requires the sensor to mount snugly within a machine opening, with continual end-to-end sensing that leaves no gaps. This enables the light screen to be located a minimum distance from the machine hazard point, using minimal floor space (which reduces the reach for the operator), and eliminating snag and aesthetic issues. At 28 mm x 26 mm (1.1" x 1"), Banner's EZ-SCREEN LP safety light screen is incredibly compact and can mount in tight spaces.
Banner’s EZ-SCREEN® series safety light curtain system is a well established solution for the harsh requirements of welding equipment. With the ability to cascade (series connect) multiple segments together, configurations such as this horizontal/ vertical pair are easily implemented with standard hardware (no master/slave models).
Lower-Risk Machine Guarding: Carousel
The Type 2 EZ-SCREEN safety light screen protects hands and fingers from being bumped, bruised, or pinched by the moving parts of a carousel.
Lower-Risk Machine Guarding: Chip Shooter
The Type 2 EZ-SCREEN safety light screen guards the opening to a chip shooter, which has moving parts that can cause painful but usually temporary injuries.
Two angled mirrors bounce the beam from the emitter to the receiver of the EZ-SCREEN safety light screen Point, so one Point does the work of two.
At both open sides of a robotic work cell, a pair of EZ-SCREEN safety light screens are linked—or cascaded—in an L-shaped configuration to guard the access point both vertically (reducing separation distance) and horizontally (providing continual sensing). Up to four pairs of EZ-SCREEN light screens can be connected.