In recent years the industry has seen some significant developments in drive applications. Today, there are more demands than ever for drives to fulfil safety-related functions. In order to fulfil safety functions, drives have to satisfy specific requirements, in particular with regard to compliance with the standard EN 61800-5-2.
Traditional safety controller units are limited to logic processing or to limited word processing of data. It is not possible to realize safe drive monitoring with these units as required by the European Machinery Directive as of end of 2009.
Of course, being able to switch off machines electronically offers many advantages such as short reaction times, less wear due to the elimination of mechanical components and smaller dimensions. All of this has a direct influence on the availability and the cost of machinery and equipment.
During the design of the machine, the highest priority is given to the safety of the operators. However, a safe design may lead to a higher cost or the need for more space. Panasonic counters both challenges with a range of intelligent solutions which guarantee a minimum of costs and space requirements combined with a maximum of safety for operators, machine and tools.
Intelligent safety solutions save space and money:
- Elimination of safety switches
- No standstills during maintenance and no danger to operators during the commissioning or changes to the configuration.
- Safe reduction of speed
- Less space required thanks to a drastic reduction in safety clearances and buffer zones.
Panasonic’s basic servo driver version is equipped with the 12 most common safety functions and 9 safe inputs/outputs. At a later stage, the full version will be launched with 17 safety functions and 9 safe inputs/outputs.
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