Light curtain

How it is used

Used at loading stations and openings where a fixed guard is not practical. People say the light curtain trips or is interrupted, and talk about resolution (finger or hand protection), muting for passing pallets and the safety distance to the hazard.

Example sentences

1. The robot stops every time the operator reaches through the light curtain to load a part.

2. The light curtain is too close to the press; the safety distance has to be recalculated.

Common collocations

• safety light curtain
• break the beams
• muting
• safety distance
• the light curtain tripped

Related terms

• guardingPhysical barriers such as fences, covers and doors that keep people out of the dangerous area of a machine or robot cell while it is running.
• interlockA safety or control function that prevents a machine from running unless certain conditions are met, for example a door switch that stops the robot when the guard door opens.
• protective stopA stop triggered automatically by a safeguard, such as an opened guard door, a light curtain or a cobot sensing contact. Unlike an emergency stop, it is part of normal safeguarding and usually allows a quick restart.
• risk assessmentA structured review of a machine or task that identifies hazards, estimates how likely and how serious harm could be, and decides which safety measures are needed.
• photoelectric sensorA sensor that uses a beam of light, usually infrared or red, to detect when an object is present, absent or passing. Common types are through-beam, retro-reflective and diffuse.

More terms: Machine and Robot Safety

• emergency stop
• lockout/tagout
• hazard
• enabling switch
• collision detection