Resetting a light curtain with signal From VGV

[RNation0001]

Hello all,

we are about to start using VGV forklifts in our facility, they will be placing a stack of pallets inside a palletizer machine. during the placement it will break a light curtain, from a safety perspective can the forklift send a signal once its clear to reset the light curtain?

 

[James Mcquade]

In my opinion, it all depends on your application and risk assessment.
in this case, i would say no. we do the same thing here and when the forklift driver is clear of the light curtain, he must reset the light curtain manually while on the forklift. the reset is placed in a location that he can get to on the lift and if you are standing on the floor. Our assessment team had a person in the area when the light curtain was reset and the machine started. so if a forklift was placing pallets into machine 1 and another forklift in another area gave the reset command to machine 2 and machine 1 received the command, that would preset a problem. it all depends on the work area and risk assessment.
james

 

[saultgeorge]

Hello all,

we are about to start using VGV forklifts in our facility, they will be placing a stack of pallets inside a palletizer machine. during the placement it will break a light curtain, from a safety perspective can the forklift send a signal once its clear to reset the light curtain?

I'm not sure about "sending a signal". Probably not. We have that exact situation that is a hi lo comes up to a sequencer and removes a loaded rack of 3 pallets. When it gets close to the pick up point, there's a motion sensor on the floor that stops the sequencer from indexing any more pallets. (The hi lo operator gets a green light when a rack is OK to remove.)
When it picks up the rack and leaves, pallets will travel again. Then they'll stop when he loads an empty rack into the sequencer, etc. etc. No reset from anyone or any thing needed.
There are no light curtains, just motion sensors. There are 2 safety gates so we can get inside for problems and maintenance. Hope this helps.

 

[Rayman_7676]

You might want to look at using an array of photo eyes to mute the light curtain. You may already have something like this on the palletizer exit conveyor.

 

[lpc921]

Checkout safety laser scanners, horizontally mounted light curtains, radar scanners or cameras. They might allow you to implement automatic reset if person inside hazardous area can be detected.

 

[Jim3846]

I would say if the pallet dispenser is caged and the light curtain can be muted. I remember doing this with automatic cranes but at a pickup delivery area. Used a send/receive IO device that communicated with the conveyor from/to the crane.
Its been awhile so probably not a valid device. But would be similar to an Sick ISD300. But think the ISD300 is pricey.

 

[Rayman_7676]

You may want to reach out the the palletizer vendor. They may already have a solution for your needs that can be retrofitted and complies to any safety standards.

 

[lpc921]

I agree with the muting suggestions as long as the shape of the pallets and the VGV and the travel path of the VGV allows one of the standard muting patterns to be used. It's hard to comment on without knowing the exact application.

 

[RNation0001]

Thanks for the replies, looks like i have alot of things to look at. im wondering if auto resetting horizontal mounted light curtains would be ok. if not i think muting may be my only option.

 

[ValeoBill]

Call on the light curtain manufacture for assistance. These companies have engineering contacts for just this reason. They are happy to help, especially if they see potential future sales!