Machine Safety

Optical Safety Solutions

Optical safety solutions help protect personnel from injury and machines from damage by detecting access to hazardous areas. Banner offers intuitive safety light curtains for point-of-operation and access guarding, safety grids for long-range perimeter guarding, and safety laser scanners for robotic cells, mobile vehicles, and other user-defined protection zones.

How to Choose

If the following is needed: • Point of operation If the following is needed: • Area protection • Monitoring of multiple zones • Mobile applications • Large 275° field of view If the following is needed: • High risk Category 4, SIL 3, PL e If the following is needed: • Low risk Category 2, PL c If the following is needed: • Perimeter guarding
Show All

Explore Optical Safety Solutions

Different Types of Light Curtains for Different Machine Guarding Needs

The two most common types of light curtains are Type 2 and Type 4, each of which satisfies different levels of safety requirements. Type 4 safety light curtains are used when there’s greater risk of injury, whereas Type 2 light curtains are designed for lower-risk applications. Think of it like this: Type 2 light curtains protect personnel from light wounds and injuries that may need treatment with a first-aid kit, while Type 4 light curtains guard against severe injuries that would necessitate a trip to the hospital. Type 2 curtains typically offer hand and body protection and are less expensive than Type 4 curtains, which will stop equipment when something as small as a finger passes through two or more beams.

  • Opposed-mode sensing offers the highest level of excess gain (sensing energy)
  • Long sensing range
  • Most robust for harsh environments
  • Precise position sensing
  • Small-part detection using lens apertures
  • Impervious to surface reflectivity (the color or finish of the object)

Guarding Larger Areas with Safety Light Grids

Similar to light curtains are safety light grids. They also use both an emitter and a receiver, but these have low resolutions, often using only two, three, or four beams with 300 millimeters to 500 millimeters between them. They are designed for body protection in long-range perimeter guarding applications, and are not a substitute for higher-resolution safety light curtains closer to machinery. Whereas safety light curtains are designed to guard shorter ranges up to 20 meters, safety light grids can monitor across much longer ranges, with some models covering distances up to 60 meters.

Protecting Personnel with Safety Scanners

SX5 Series safety laser scanners protect personnel, equipment, and mobile systems within a user-defined area. They continuously scan a 275° area to create a two-dimensional protected zone that must be crossed to reach the hazard. They are suitable for horizontal, vertical, and mobile applications.