Takes control of machine safety applications
March 1st 2005

The latest safety related control units from Sick are suitable for applications that would otherwise use two to five conventional safety relays.

The programming interface and physical hardware of the UE400 are designed specifically for use on packaging machines, palletisers, power press, hydraulic press, robot cells and other relatively small scale safety related control tasks.

The unit can handle 15 inputs plus the direct connection of Sick laser scanners (S3000) or light curtains (C4000) using safety serial data channels. Inputs can be configured to operate dual or single channel to BS EN954-1, SIL3 IEC61508. There are four non-safety outputs for indication and control as well as two dual OSSD safety outputs, with or without delays.

The company was keen to make the user interface the most intuitive yet, to allow the user to focus on the management of the safety application rather than learning complex programming principles.

Use of certified function blocks and an automatic assistant means the safety engineer should become fully familiar with the programming process within an hour. There are no cumbersome memory cards or chips to program.

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