Smart Protective Fence Safety | EMEA

Risk of massive loss at cement factories
In a cement factory where cement is packaged and shipped, cement bags are transferred on a belt conveyor and brought on pallets, and moved out of the factory using a forklift. Palletizing robot, a kind of arm robots capable of lifting heavy objects, is used to load cement bags on pallets. Collisions between palletizing robots and humans must be prevented, and so belt conveyors, palletizing robots, and pallets are usually surrounded by protective fences in cement factories. However, no protective fences are installed in the area where the forklift operates because pallets with cement bags must be taken out and then empty pallets must be taken back into the area.
This allows humans to access the area easily, and if they enter inside the movement range of palletizing robot, human injury might occur, which could possibly result in factory closedown, a massive loss jeopardizing the business. It is of the utmost priority, therefore, to secure the safety in this situation.

Achieve safety without compromising production efficiency

The first safety measure that would come to mind is to install a protective face at the entrance of a forklift, however, even if this measure is effective to secure safety, it lowers production efficiency because of the time and labor required to open/close the fence door every time a forklift enters/leaves the area. IDEC, safety measure specialist, recommends the usage of SE2L safety laser scanner.
Installed near the fork lift entry area with no protective fence, the scanner detects human access inside the protective fence, enabling to stop palletizing robots. SE2L safety laser scanner can be configured to a maximum of 270 degree/5m protection zone and to a maximum of 20m warning zone. Only one scanner does the job even when two forklift entrances are located adjacently. In short, only a minimum cost is necessary to prevent the heavy loss in the worst-case scenario.

Consult IDEC for safety and efficiency in production sites.
Warning zone and protection zone can be configured with SE2L safety laser scanner. In warning zone, alarm and low speed running of a robot is initiated upon detecting human access. In protection zone, the robot stops when detecting humans accessing the zone. By setting a warning zone on low-danger entrance and protection zone near the robots, productivity and safety are both secured. Please consult with IDEC for the best safety measures suited to each application.