SICK Launches Hygienic Stainless-Steel Safety Light Curtain

With a hygienic stainless-steel housing exclusively developed to meet stringent pharmaceutical industry requirements, the SICK TWINOX4 safety light curtain is resistant to aggressive cleaning and decontamination regimes. The TWINOX4 is a Type 4 device (IEC 61496-1) with 14mm beam resolution and can be used in safety applications requiring PLe (EN ISO 13849) and SIL3 (EN 62061).

The SICK TWINOX4 safety light curtain protects operating personnel when interventions are required in the hazardous areas around machines that are subject to stringent hygiene requirements. It is ideal for use in Restricted Access Barrier System areas such as primary packing and filling stations.

Rugged, resistant to harsh cleaning media and designed without edges or gaps, the TWINOX’s elegant, 20 mm x 40 mm cross-section dimensions make it particularly suitable for integration in pharmaceutical machinery when space is limited.

“The SICK TWINOX4 offers pharmaceutical manufacturers the twin protection of hygienic design together with technology-leading machinery safety,” explains Dr Martin Kidman, SICK’s UK machinery safety product manager.

“The TWINOX therefore offers a more flexible solution to protect hazardous areas on pharmaceutical production lines and clean room access points. Aggressive cleaning agents and disinfectants, such as hydrogen peroxide, require media-resistant materials. The SICK TWINOX4 offers the robust reassurance of maximum production availability and operating longevity.”

The SICK TWINOX4’s has an innovative bracket concept and LED status indicators for rapid mounting and easy alignment, maximising machine and system availability. A pair consists of identical twin units incorporating both photoelectric emitters and receivers in a single array across the full length of the housing to maximise use of space, with optimum performance that virtually eliminates blind zones and reduce the need for multiple spares.

Visible LED indicators are installed along the full sensing height to indicate the functional state of each transmitter and assist in easy optical alignment. With specially developed brackets for rapid mounting, the light curtain has been designed for maximum machine availability.

The SICK TWINOX4 hygienic safety light curtain offers high levels of protection with integrated Restart Interlock, External Device Monitoring (EDM) and beam coding along with OSSD’s for connection to a safety controller such as the SICK Flexi Soft system.

Each SICK TWINOX4 housing is made from high-quality AISI 316L / V4A / 1.4404 hygienic stainless steel with a surface roughness (Ra) of 0.8μm, either IP65 or IP67, and a front screen of chemically hardened float glass. It is designed without overlaps, overhangs or seams and with radiused corners to eliminate residual contamination.

Machine integration flexibility for both machinebuilders and end-users is assured with a choice of 300mm, 420mm and 600mm light curtain heights, over a width range of up to 4.5 metres. Operating temperatures range from -20°C to +55°C, hygienic and chemical resistant PUR cable is supplied with standard industrial M12 5-pin connections for the devices.

For more information on the SICK TWINOX4 hygienic light curtain, please contact Andrea Hornby on 01727 831121 or email andrea.hornby@sick.co.uk.