Americanmachinist 2101 80897pilzautoma00000053265
Americanmachinist 2101 80897pilzautoma00000053265
Americanmachinist 2101 80897pilzautoma00000053265
Americanmachinist 2101 80897pilzautoma00000053265
Americanmachinist 2101 80897pilzautoma00000053265

Less Light Curtains in Automated Systems

June 11, 2008
Pilz Automation Safety L.P. (www.pilz.com) has launched an innovative measurement and protection system for press brakes that is designed to reduce industry’s reliance on light curtains and increase productivity through lowmaintenance ...

Pilz Automation Safety L.P. (www.pilz.com) has launched an innovative measurement and protection system for press brakes that is designed to reduce industry’s reliance on light curtains and increase productivity through lowmaintenance and reliable operation.

Based on a camera and fail-safe machine vision system, the Pilz PSENvip is easy to configure and creates protected fields that are constantly monitored and represented on the camera unit’s display. Should any object, finger-sized or smaller, breach the protected fields, the press is stopped immediately in less than 3 milliseconds.

Suitable for press brakes to 32.8-ft long, the system comprises an LED-based light source and a camera unit with an integral display. This camera unit connects to either a PNOZmulti modular safety controller or a programmable safety system.

“With its innovative ‘parallel vision’ optical system, PSENvip is completely resistant of optical influences such as surface reflections, reflection bypass, external light or diffused light,” Dino Mariuz, engineering manager at Pilz Automation Safety, said.

Because of the parallel vision optical system, users can quickly and easily realign the transmitter and receiver after a tool change. Both units mount on the upper die to save space, and they are resistant to vibration and interference as well as diffused light.

Mariuz explained that previous mobile protection systems have been based on a laser light source, which emitted a bundled light beam (coherent light). This almost parallel beam needs to be aligned with the upper tool when first commissioned.

With the new LED-based solution using PSENvip, the receiver simply needs to be illuminated along the upper tool. So the time it takes for initial and subsequent adjustment of the system, to change a tool for example, is simple, fast and user-friendly.

In addition to performing a safety function, the PSENvip measures the angle of the bend being formed. This data can then feed back into the press brake’s CNC, helping to make the forming operation as accurate and efficient as possible.

Latest from Automation and Robotics

BiancoBlue | Dreamstime
Assn. for Advancing Automation
Andreyi Armiagov | Dreamstime
Robotic arm in an automated production cell.
Robotic arm in an automated production cell.
Robotic arm in an automated production cell.
Robotic arm in an automated production cell.
Robotic arm in an automated production cell.