Safety Camera offers hassle-free guarding at less cost than a light curtain

31 July 2008

The latest safety camera from Sick is for machine guarding applications and has been designed as a single box solution. The V300 is claimed to be the first practical camera solution for point of operation guarding, reducing the number of parts and installation time required by traditional safety light curtains.

Suitable for rectangular openings and access points, the installation process is simple. The camera is mounted in a convenient corner of the opening and then a rugged reflector strip is applied along two opposite adjacent lengths. The operator then presses the teach button. For larger openings or machines that require guarding on two adjacent sides, a pair of V300 units can be synchronised together, offering greater flexibility than normally achieved using traditional optical light curtains.

The reflector strip forms a background target for the V300 and the device has a detection capability equivalent to a 20mm resolution light curtain. The device can cope with dirt build up and what would appear to be serious scratching or damage to the reflective strip before it needs replacing.

Purchase costs are lower compared to a typical light curtain and the installation time is shorter and alignment and commissioning needs no specialist equipment or training.

For the end user, the V300 offers many logistical advantages. Each device can be taught to protect different size openings and the unit itself is no bigger than a traditional SLR camera. This means that factories with many applications can be supported by fewer spare parts and limits the necessity for many different lengths of light curtain to be stocked.

The V300 will interface with standard light curtain relays, muting modules and controllers without any changes. The result is a versatile, easy to use system for applications where the hazard is estimated to require SIL2, Category 3 (EN954) or Performance Level (PL) d (BS EN13849).