Light Curtains

What are Safety Light Curtains?

Also known as safety light barriers, light curtains are optoelectronic devices that are typically used to detect the presence of people or objects in the close proximity of moving machinery such as press tools. Other popular applications include access control - opening a door when a person or vehicle approaches, machine guarding and similar activities.

Often as an alternative to more traditional mechanical guards a light curtain installation will contain a transmitter and receiver unit that monitor an infrared beam the area of which will be the detection zone. Any movement detected within the detection zone will trigger a response, which could be disconnecting power, raising a barrier, sounding alarms, or stopping a machine. Fast acting, safety light curtains activate in a fraction of a second, considerably faster than other barrier types that rely on mechanical interaction.

How to Choose the right Light Curtain

Maximum scanning distance and beam resolution are two important points you should consider when choosing the correct light curtain for your installation. Scanning distances can vary from a matter of cm’s to several meters, ultimately your decision will depend on the scale of the area to be protected. The beam resolution defines detection ability, with some models with small resolutions can detect small body parts such as a finger or hand, larger beam resolutions are ideal for larger body parts or full body detection.

Kempston Controls stocks an extensive range of safety light curtains from leading suppliers including Schmersal, Smartscan, Omron, Guardmaster, SICK and many more. Give our dedicated sales team a call on +44 (0) 1933 411411 or use the contact form above to discuss your light curtain requirements