Improving machinery safety, enhancing productivity

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, for example - 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.

Control Techniques
www.controltechniques.com