Datalogic SG4 BASE safety light curtains

High-quality hand and finger protection - available in stock at the best price

Datalogic SG4 BASE safety light curtains are an excellent choice! Anyone who works with and on machines, automated systems or robots is often not aware of the dangers involved. The potential impact on the health of all users can be devastating. As is so often the case, prevention is the best protection! The right safety technology is needed here. Here you can find out why safety light curtains are the ideal solution, which important selection criteria and installation instructions you should take into account and why you should choose the Datalogic SG4 BASE series.

Why should you protect hazardous areas with light curtains?

What are safety light curtains and how do they work?

Safety light curtains vs. safety light grids

What are the selection criteria for a suitable safety light curtain for your application?

How do you install and test safety light curtains correctly?

Datalogic SG4 BASE safety light curtains: your benefits

Datalogic SG4 BASE at Automation24: the best choice for you for four reasons!

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Why should you protect hazardous areas with light curtains?

In many manufacturing processesthere are machine hazards from which operators must be protected. A particularly high risk is posed by manual work and testing stations such as presses, cutting, bending and punching machines. Without appropriate protective measuresit can happen all too quickly that users come into contact with moving machine parts. The consequences: cuts, bruises, fractures, sprains or even worse. To prevent this from happening in the first place, reliable detection of fingers, hands and other limbs entering hazardous areas is essential. In this way, the shutdown of dangerous machine movements can be initiated automatically. Safety light curtains are an ideal solution for this!

Fig. 1: The risk of injury in manufacturing processes is very high.

Fig. 2: Safety light curtain - structure

What are safety light curtains and how do they work?

Safety light curtains are one of a range of optoelectronic safety sensors. They consist of a transmitter and a receiver unit and are similar in their operating principle to throughbeam light barriers from the field of photoelectric sensors, which are used in particular for position detection.

A safety light curtain transmitter transmits a multitude of light beams at defined distances to the receiver module. This creates a virtual and very close-meshed barrier to demarcate or secure hazardous areas. As soon as fingers, hands or other limbs penetrate this barrier and interrupt the light beams, the hazardous movements can be automatically switched off.

Another important difference to standard light barriers is that safety light curtains, as safety sensors, have corresponding safety technology and/or features to prevent unexpected failures. For example, they have redundant OSSD outputs that pass on switching states to corresponding safety controllers or safety relay modules. OSSD is the abbreviation for the full name "Output Signal Switching Device". These outputs send out periodic test pulses to detect possible short circuits. In addition, safety light curtains have self-test functions that also counteract system failure.

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Safety light curtains vs. safety light grids

Did you know that? It is not uncommon for safety light curtains and safety light grids to be misleadingly used as synonymous terms. This is a fallacy, however. Although outwardly they look very similar to each other, there are essential differences with regard to their characteristics and suitable areas of application.

One of the most significant differences is the resolution. While light curtains create a multitude of light beams at a small distance, light grids usually create only two to four light beams spaced at significantly larger distances.

This is due to the different purposes for which they are designed. While safety light curtains are used for finger and hand protection detection at hazardous locations, light grids are used for more extensive area protection, whereby body detection by means of fewer light beams is sufficient.

Fig. 3 Safeguarding hazardous points with a safety light curtain

Fig. 4 Area protection with safety light grid

Area safeguard are often relevant in logistics applications. In this context, muting is also an important requested feature, which makes it possible to bridge light grids for a short time in order, for example, to move pallets out of the hazardous area without bringing system processes to a standstill. Immediately after the pallet transport, the light grid is reactivated to detect persons entering the danger zone again.

Hazardous location safeguarding with light curtains does not require a muting function in most cases, as transporting materials out of the danger zone is rarely necessary here.

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What are the selection criteria for a suitable safety light curtain for your application?

The selection of a suitable safety light curtain is very simple. You only need to consider these three to four selection criteria:

1) Resolution	Describes the distance between the light beams. This defines which part of the body can be reliably detected. Finger protection: 14 mm Hand protection: 30 mm
2) Protection field height	Stands for the height of the area to be protected by the safety light curtain. This depends on the size of the accessible danger area.
3) Protection type	Provides information about the internal structure of the light curtain to safeguard against unexpected failures. A distinction is made in particular between type 2 and type 4 safety light curtains (rarely type 3). The higher the type, the higher the Performance Level (PL) that can be met according to the DIN EN ISO 12849 standard. Type 4 light curtains meet the requirements up to PLe. Nowadays, type 4 light curtains have established themselves as the standard and light curtains with lower types are increasingly being displaced from the market.
4) Range (optional)	Describes the maximum distance between transmitter and receiver. However, the maximum range of most safety light curtains is usually so large that it only plays a role in very few applications. Therefore, it is considered an optional criterion.

There are other design features in which safety light curtains can differ. These include, for example, an extremely narrow type or the elimination of a dead zone. However, these features are relevant for very few industrial applications. In most cases, the use of light curtains with standard functions is perfectly adequate.

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How do you install and test safety light curtains correctly?

Before safety light curtains can be used, it is important that they are first installed correctly and that their functionality is tested.

Selecting the correct minimum distance

A very important point is to maintain the correct minimum distance between the light curtain and the hazardous location. The regulations for this are clearly defined in the standard DIN EN ISO 13855.

Light curtain safety distance - calculation formula: *S = K (t₁ + t₂) + C** S = min. safety distance K = approach speed t₁ = response time of the light curtain t₂ = response time of the machine until standstill C = maximum distance of undetected movement behind light curtain K and C set the standard here. K as reaching speed = 2,000 mm/s, if result of this formula > 500 mm, K = 1,600 mm/s (walking speed) may be used C equals 8 * (resolution (d) - 14 mm) d. h. when using a 14 mm light curtain, C = 0 mm, and with a 30 mm light curtain C = 128 mm The following formulas are derived from this: For light curtains with 14 mm resolution: S = 2,000 mm/s * (t₁+t₂) For light curtains with 30 mm resolution: S = 2,000 mm/s * (t₁+t₂) + 128 mm	Fig. 5 - Light curtain safety distance: according to DIN EN ISO 13855, a minimum distance must be maintained.

Anti-circumvention protection

When correctly installing a safety light curtain, it is imperative that limbs entering hazardous areas are detected without exception. The prerequisite for this is the correct selection of the appropriate protection field height so that it is not even possible to reach past the light curtain into the danger zone.

Furthermore, it must be ensured that no one can be present behind the light curtain unnoticed. If the safety distance in an application needs to be very large, the additional installation of a horizontal light curtain is essential.

Correct vs. impermissible mounting:

Fig. 6: Installation at a low safety distance / Fig. 6.1: It must not be possible to reach past a safety light curtain.

Fig. 7: At a very high safety distance, the horizontal installation of a safety light curtain is required. / Fig. 7.1: An undetected stay behind the light curtain must not be possible.

Alignment aid

Since the light beams transmitted by the light curtain are not visible, aligning the transmitter and receiver over longer distances can prove very difficult. Laser pointers mounted on the transmitter can help here.

Vibration protection

Safety light curtains are designed to cause machines to be switched off as soon as the light beam transmitted by the transmitter cannot reach the receiver. However, this is a hindrance with strongly vibrating machines, as the vibration may cause the transmitter and receiver to be briefly offset from each other. Vibration-heavy applications therefore require the use of special vibration dampers to prevent false tripping.

Daily function tests with test rods

To trust is good, to check is better. This also applies to safety light curtains! To verify correct functionality and reduce the risk of liability in the event of a malfunction, a daily function test of each safety light curtain is recommended.

For this purpose, a test rod is passed through the protection field to check the correct interruption of the light curtain beams. The test rod must have the diameter of the resolution of the relevant light curtain.

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Datalogic SG4 BASE safety light curtains: your benefits

The Datalogic SG4 BASE family of light curtains are ideal for most industrial applications thanks to their basic features. They impress with the following features:

Resolution:
- 14 mm (for finger protection)
- 30 mm (for hand protection)
Protection field height: From 150 mm up to 1,050 mm
Protection type: Type 4 (up to PLe)
Comprehensive scope of delivery: Transmitter and receiver incl. mounting bracket in one set

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Datalogic SG4 BASE at Automation24: the best choice for you for four reasons!

Safety doesn't need to be expensive! This also applies to light curtains. Expensive manufacturer models are often not necessary here, because most industrial applications can be fulfilled with solutions for basic requirements. The high-quality Datalogic SG BASE safety light curtains are more than able to meet these requirements. At Automation24 we go one step further: as an official partner of Datalogic and Datasensing, we are pleased to be able to offer you this range in our online shop at unique conditions even in these exceptional times.

Datalogic SG4 BASE – Your Automation24 benefits

When you order Datalogic light curtains from Automation24, you benefit from:

unrivalled prices
a direct shipment from our company's own warehouse to you without unnecessary detours
rapid delivery times for items available from stock
timely replenishment

Automation24 offers you type 4 safety light curtains from the SG BASE family for finger and hand protection up to a protection field height of 1,050 mm.

Corresponding safety sensor accessories in the form of test rods, laser pointers as alignment aids and vibration dampers are also available in the range.

Convincing features for your protection, everything from a single source at excellent delivery conditions and, last but not least, unbeatable prices - as you can see, there are plenty of reasons in favour of the Datalogic light curtains. Convince yourself today and save yourself and other users from serious injuries.

Order now

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Safety light curtains compact guide: download now free of charge

Want all the important information about safety light curtains at your fingertips? Our practical free compact guide helps you select the right light curtains for your application and provides you with helpful information around

the most interesting facts about safety light curtains
distinguishing features between light curtains and light grids
the different installation types
standards-compliant installation and functional testing tips
key selection criteria

Download safety light curtains guide free of charge

Back to the overview

Datalogic SG4 BASE safety light curtains

High-quality hand and finger protection - available in stock at the best price

Why should you protect hazardous areas with light curtains?

What are safety light curtains and how do they work?

Safety light curtains vs. safety light grids

What are the selection criteria for a suitable safety light curtain for your application?

1) Resolution

2) Protection field height

3) Protection type

4) Range (optional)

How do you install and test safety light curtains correctly?

Selecting the correct minimum distance

Light curtain safety distance - calculation formula:

Anti-circumvention protection

Correct vs. impermissible mounting:

Alignment aid

Vibration protection

Daily function tests with test rods

Datalogic SG4 BASE safety light curtains: your benefits

Datalogic SG4 BASE at Automation24: the best choice for you for four reasons!

When you order Datalogic light curtains from Automation24, you benefit from:

Safety light curtains compact guide: download now free of charge