APPLICATIONS OVERVIEW 9 10 APPLICATIONS OVERVIEW
Cross-Beam Muting – infeed / outfeed Figure 1 Cross-beam muting, see figure 1, is selected for applications where the palletised loads are of regular shape and the load is almost as wide as the industrial conveyor width.If the width of the palletised load is very much less than the conveyor width or, the load is not centralised on the conveyor or, the loads are unevenly stacked the cross-beam muting configuration may not beappropriate. Cross-beam muting provides a high integrity system which is difficult to defeat in normal operation and if possible should be used in favour of a parallel-beam muting system. However, if pallet loads are miss-shapedor, if there are large variations in profile and volume between each load the parallel beam configuration may be more appropriate. All 8000 Series light curtains can very simply be configured for cross-beam muting. The system shown in Fig. 1 can be used for safeguardingboth infeed and outfeed zones, or, zones where products are required to pass in either direction through the light curtain. Select an 8000 Series light curtain with a detection height to suit the specific application plus, a bolt-on, fully integrated mute sensor kit type (083-001).The mute sensors (M1 and M2) inside the muting module are positioned approximately 420mm apart, the beams crossing diagonally through the light curtain (LC1) as shown. To maintain the correct sequence ofoperation of the safety system it is a requirement that both mute initiating beams will be interrupted together, by the pallet load, prior to it entering the detection field of the light curtain. In order to meet this criteria it can be seen from Fig. 1 that the pallet load must have a certain width in respect to the distance apart between the light curtain transmitter and receiver units. Also the load must pass centrally down the conveyor. In some applications there may be a requirement to position mutesensors in a wider cross-beam configuration than that offered from the sensors inside the mute module. In such cases mute sensors formounting externally can be provided. Smartscan’s polarised, retro- reflective infra-red sensors type 083-004 come complete with 1.5m cable and a plug that connects directly into the Smartscan 8000 Series light curtain receiver column. Two sensors are required for correct operation of the cross-beam muting function. 8000 SERIES8000 SERIES