Safety Components

Interlock switches provide another layer of safety in industrial production environments, helping protect operators and equipment from the hazards of unexpected machine motion. IDEC offers a complete lineup of safety interlock switches to keep your personnel and production assets safe from harm. After simple installation into your safety circuit, interlock switches make sure doors and gates are closed before any machine or process can begin. IDEC’s family of HS safety interlock switches comes in a wide range of sizes, contact configurations and available functions to meet the needs of multiple applications. From machine tools and material handling equipment to packaging lines and semiconductor manufacturing, interlock switches are a robust and reliable method to help guarantee operator safety. Switches feature either metal or plastic heads and bodies and offer connection options to fit just about any safeguarding application. As with all IDEC safety products, HS interlock switches comply with domestic and European safety standards.

Laser scanners help protect both personnel and machinery in hazardous areas by using reflected laser beams to detect if a human or object is present. Often used with automated guided vehicles (AGVs) and forklifts, IDEC’s new SE2L covers an extended sensing distance, making it a great fit for a wide range of industrial robots, machines and other equipment. Featuring the most compact footprint on the market, the SE2L offers high performance sensing wherever you need it and helps protect your most important assets.

Safeguarding people and equipment with a properly designed system that monitors all of your safety devices is a top priority. IDEC offers straightforward, easy to use and highly efficient safety control relay modules in a variety of styles to help meet this need. HR1S safety relays are compact units that monitor safety input devices, allowing machine operation only when all safety controls are working correctly and no hazardous conditions are detected. Supported devices include E-stops, interlock switches, and noncontact safety switches, with light curtains covered on certain models.  The HR2S series safety relays provide users with increased functionality and flexibility when designing systems to meet safety requirements.

Keeping your workers and equipment out of harm’s way is top priority when it comes to both productivity and peace of mind. That’s why IDEC offers high performance safety controllers to orchestrate multiple safety devices. SafetyOne FS1A safety controllers feature seven dual-channel safety inputs and do not require any programming or complicated wiring. With either 11 or 24 preprogrammed safety logic circuits in a compact housing, SafetyOne controllers allow you to build a safety circuit by simply sliding a DIP switch.

Force-guided relays are key electromechanical switching components, providing a failsafe within safety circuits and detecting failures such as contact welding or damage to the contact spring failure. Often used in combination with elevator controls, interlock switches, light curtains and emergency stop switches, these relays are crucial in safety control applications.

An enabling switch is a 3-position (OFF-ON-OFF) switch to allow a machine operation only when the switch is lightly pressed and held in the middle position (position 2). Because it disables machine operation when released (position 1) or further depressed (position 3) by a panicked operator, the safety of operators is ensured. Because operators use pendants in hazardous environments performing teaching, system changeover, and maintenance of robots, they must have protection against unpredictable motion of robots, and therefore teaching pendants are equipped with 3-position enabling switches.

From basic and redundant switch configurations to rectangular and round versions, IDEC offers a wide range of sizes, styles and mounting options to meet your safety system needs. Grip switches come in regular and light touch models, as well as a compact size for hand comfort. These switches are specially designed for use by second operators in robotic cells.

Safety light curtains are one of the best ways to protect workers from industrial hazards. When your work space requires a light curtain system to protect people’s fingers, hands or entire body, IDEC offers one-stop shopping for a variety of sizes and styles, along with accessories such as cables, controllers and mounting brackets. Advanced features keep production areas running safely and efficiently while minimizing downtime.