Pilz Gmbh & Co Kg.

Mark Hufnagel

Roland Leibfarth

Hans Dieter Schwenkel

Dietmar Doettling

Thomas Pilz

Soeren Hader

Guillaume Barthe

Ruediger Frank

Thomas Leitmann

Hans Schwenkel

A machine has a first machine part and a second machine part. The first machine part carries out a working movement towards the second machine part in order to machine a workpiece. The first machine part has a leading edge, which defines a movement plane in the course of the working movement. For safeguarding the machine, a plurality of images including spatially resolved representations of the edge, at least a part of the workpiece, and a protective region defined between the edge and the second machine part are acquired. A motion speed of the first machine part relative to the second machine part is determined on the basis of the plurality of images. The motion speed is compared to a reference speed value or speed profile, defining a nominal speed of the first machine part relative to the second machine part during the working movement and an acceptable tolerance interval. The working movement is stopped if the motion speed deviates from the reference speed beyond the tolerance interval.

Safety device and method for monitoring a machine

A method and device for safeguarding a hazardous working area includes a camera system for generating successive 3-D images of the working area, and an evaluation unit comprising a fail-safe foreign object detector, a classifier, a person tracker and a comparator. The foreign object detector generates a first signal comprising a first item of position information, representative of the position of a foreign object in the protection zone. The classifier attempts to identify the foreign object as a person. The person tracker tracks an identified person using a series of current 3-D images and, after each new 3-D image, determines a second item of position information representing the current position of the identified person. If the position of the foreign object according to the first item of position information and the position of the identified person are different from one another, a control signal for stopping the machine is generated.

Method and device for safeguarding a hazardous working area of an automated machine

A safety device for a machine, in which machine a first machine part having a leading edge performs a working movement towards a second machine part, comprises a plurality of optical safety barriers and an evaluation unit. The optical safety barriers move in the working movement simultaneously with the first machine part in such a manner that the safety barriers move in advance of the leading edge at various spaced dispositions. The optical safety barriers span a protective field that has a two-dimensional cross section. The evaluation unit is designed for generating a stop signal to stop the first machine part in dependence upon the optical safety barriers. Towards the end of the working movement, the optical safety barriers are held substantially stationary in the region of the second machine part. The optical safety barriers are deactivated one following the other before they are interrupted by the first machine part.

Safety device for a machine in which a first machine part performs a working movement with respect to a second machine part

A safety device for a machine, such as a press brake, has a light transmitter, a light receiver and an evaluation unit. The light receiver is coupled to a moving machine part such that it runs ahead of a front edge of the machine part during the operational movement. The light transmitter comprises a light source having a predominantly incoherent radiation for generating a light beam that runs substantially parallel to the edge and illuminates the light receiver. The light receiver has an image sensor with a plurality of pixels for recording a spatially resolved image of the light beam, and it has an imaging optics having a focal point and an aperture stop which is substantially arranged at the focal point.

Safety device for a press brake type of machine

A method and a device for switching off an inductive load in a failsafe manner are proposed. According to one aspect of the invention, the method and the device are configured such that a predefined inductive voltage is generated during switch-off. The predefined inductive voltage is monitored by means of a monitoring circuit. In a preferred embodiment, the inductive voltage is set by means of threshold switches and the inductive voltage also is monitored by means of these threshold switches.

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Ostfildern, Germany

Mark Hufnagel