Safety light curtains

A light screen: how does it work?
Light screens or light curtains use infrared technology. A curtain of infrared light is projected across the dangerous area. Intrusion into this curtain by a person or part of a person will be detected by the system. This will cause safety output signals to be generated and stop the dangerous movement of the machine.

Different variants of Light curtains
Safety light curtains for machine safety are available in a type 2 and a type 4 variant. A risk analysis will show you which type you need:

Type 2: can be used in PLd (EN ISO 13849-1) and SIL 3 (EN 62061) applications.
Type 4: can be used in PLe (EN ISO 13849-1) and SIL 3 (EN 62061) applications.

What is the resolution?
A distinction is also made between resolution, this is the distance between the infrared rays of the light curtain. The closer together the rays are, the smaller body part it can detect.

14mm resolution: suitable for finger, hand and body detection.
30mm resolution: suitable for hand and body detection.
70mm resolution: suitable for body detection.
multi-beam 2, 3 or 4 beams: suitable for body detection.

Safety light curtains are also available in different lengths depending on the height of the safeguarded area. Usually, this height varies between 200mm and 1800mm.

For free advice, a quote or an appointment, please contact one of our specialists.

Safety light curtain Type 4