Product Showcase: Safety Light Curtains
February 10, 2021
Safety light curtains are a non-separating guard used for the protection of hazardous areas. They detect the passage of objects and direct the machine to stop the hazard. Because they do not provide a physical barrier, consideration must be made to place them a suitable distance from the hazard point to ensure the hazard is stopped in time.
The safety light curtain is an array of infrared (non-visible) beams. The protection height is the distance between the top and bottom beams in the array, and its range is the distance between the emitter and receiver units. These two figures define the area that can be covered by the light curtain. The resolution of the light curtain is the distance between two adjacent beams, or the smallest object profile dimension that will be reliably detected passing through the array. Common resolutions include 14 mm for finger detection, 30 mm for hand detection, and 50 mm for whole body detection.
Schmersal’s safety light curtains feature a one-piece extruded reinforced housing. This housing profile has proven to be less susceptible to mechanical damage and misalignment from torsion or bending because it does not rely on the lens for structural integrity.
Schmersal’s SLC440 and SLC440COM series have an intergrated Bluetooth interface. These safety light curtains use the Bluetooth Low Energy system which provides secure data transmission up to 5 meters with transmitted data accessible by the Schmersal SLC Assist App, available for Android and iOS smartphones and tablets. Learn more here.
Schmersal’s safety light curtains also feature an LED illuminated end cap which displays the operating status. Also, these light curtains are easier to set up because the selection and configuration of the various integrated functions are made via a single push-button. After completion, the selections are stored in the system. This user-friendly method does not require separate software or costly set-up devices.
The light curtains presented below are Type 4 devices, which defined by EN 61496-1 means they are a protective device whose safety function is not affected by a failure or error in the system. They are suitable for use in safety circuits up to PLe (EN 13849) or SIL3 (IEC 61508).
They are also available as safety light grids (SLG) with 2, 3, or 4 beams, for perimeter guarding.
Safety Light Curtain Series:
- – LED Endcap
- – Compact rectangular profile 28 mm x 33 mm
- – Setup / alignment mode
- – Start/restart interlock
- – Range up to 10 meters
- – 14, 30, or 35 mm resolutions
- – Protection field heights: 330 mm to 1930 mm
- – IP67 Rating
- – Bluetooth interface for secure data transfer to SLC Assist App
- – Bluetooth interface
- – LED Endcap and 7 segment display
- – Compact rectangular profile 28 mm x 33 mm
- – Setup / alignment mode
- – Functions:
- – Start/restart interlock
- – Fixed or floating blanking
- – Contactor control
- – Double reset/acknowledgement
- – Beam coding
- – Range up to 10 meters
- – 14 or 30 mm resolutions
- – Protection field heights: 170 mm to 1930 mm
- – IP67 Rating
- – Bluetooth interface for secure data transfer to SLC Assist App
- – LED Endcap and 7 segment display
- – Compact rectangular profile 28 mm x 33 mm
- – Setup / alignment mode
- – Additional Functions:
- – Muting
- – Cyclic Operation
- – Mutiscan
- – Range up to 10 meters
- – 14 or 30 mm resolutions
- – Protection field heights: 170 mm to 1770 mm
- – IP67 Rating
- – High range option, up to 18 meters.
- – Round profile, 49 mm dia.
- – Range up to 10 meters
- – 14, 30, or 50 mm resolutions
- – Protection field heights: 170 mm to 1770 mm
- – IP67 Rating
- – IP69 Rated housing for wash down applications
- – Round profile, 50 mm dia.
- – Prewired cable with connector
- – Stainless steel or plastic endcaps
- – Available for SLC440 and SLC440COM
- – Protection field heights: 170 mm to 1770 mm
Check Availability – SLC440COM – SLC445 – SLC420
