Type 4 light curtains in accordance with EN/IEC 61496-1 and -2, include finger and hand detection in safety-related control circuits conforming to the requirements of Category 2 or 4 of EN 954-1.

Pilz Automation Technology's new PSENopt range of safety light barriers is being launched with the introduction of new standard light curtains that are available from stock on short delivery times (typically ten days or less). These units are all Type 4 light curtains in accordance with EN/IEC 61496-1 and -2, with models available for finger and hand detection in safety-related control circuits conforming to the requirements of Category 2 or 4 of EN 954-1. Light curtains for finger detection are offered with protected field heights ranging from 150mm to 1200mm, and units for hand detection are offered with protected field heights of 150mm to 1650mm.

Operating ranges are 0.2m to 6m and 0.2m to 15m for the finger and hand detection light curtains, respectively.

All of the light curtains in this standard range benefit from an integral alignment guide, feedback loop monitoring, semiconductor outputs and a user-settable manual/automatic reset facility.

The Standard range will be available from August 2006.

Further products in the PSENopt range to be launched in the coming months include single-beam infrared and laser light barriers, as well as light curtains with various additional functions.

For example, some can be connected together in a cascaded master/slave arrangement to provide enhanced protection around hazardous machinery, while others benefit from fixed or floating blanking.

The new PSENopt electrosensitive protective devices will supersede the existing PSENopt products as they become available.