With today's more stringent operator safety regulations, effective machine guarding is essential. Edson provides a wide variety of mechanical barriers and electronic safety automation to provide compliance to your required standards.

Existing Edson machines readily lend themselves to the mounting and integration of a variety of Guarding & Safety types, as follows:

Fixed Barrier
A "fixed guard" is defined as a guard that requires a tool to be removed and is not interlocked to the safety system.
Fixed guards are clear ply sheets attached to the machine frame. Aluminium frames are added where more rigidity is required.

Sliding Door
Sliding doors operate on a track and can protect a large section, which in turn allows for greater operating room for when maintenance or repair is required.

It's compact and simple design make it an effective solution, which can be used in conjunction with lockout systems.

Operational Swing Doors
Edson's operating guard doors are an aluminium frame with a clear ploy insert and are hinged.  They can be used in conjunction with lockout systems.

Swing Up Gull Wing Door
A Gull-Wing door(s) are an "operating guard" that opens in a vertical swing up motion. The major benefit of this style of door is that it can cover a large section of a machine with just one door, and still operates easily thanks to the use of counter balancing gas shocks.

This style of guard must be interlocked to the safety system.

Interlocking Switches
There are two styles of interlocking switch used for safety circuits, keyed and non-contact. Both types of switch come in a standard (non-locking) and locking configuration and are each used for different applications.

• A keyed switch has two parts, the main switch body and an interlocking key. The key are specific to the style and manufacturer of switch and are designed to be tamper resistant. The locking variant of the keyed switch used an internal solenoid to mechanically lock the key in the switch.
  
  
• A non-contact (magnetic) switch also has two parts, the main switch body and a coded magnet. The coded magnets are specific to the style and manufacturer of switch and are designed to be tamper resistant.
  The locking variant of the non-contact switch uses an external electro magnet lock the two parts of the switch together.

Light Curtains
Light curtains consist of a sender and receiver modules that generate an array of light beams. When these beams are blocked by the operator or product the machine is shutdown.

Light curtains used where there is frequent operator interface with the machine or as a proximity sensor to prevent accidental access to a danger zone. All light curtains applications are generally be supplemented with a combination of fixed or operational guards.

Pressure Mats
Safety mats are designed to prevent accidental access to a specific area usually by a machine operator station. The mat contains two or more contact surfaces that separated by a membrane that isolates the contact surface until a weight is applied to the surface of the mat.

Trapped Key Systems
A trapped key systems locks (traps) the key in place until a machine stop command is generated. When the stop is verified a solenoid is energized to release the key allowing the operator to remove it.

There are two uses of a trapped key system; the first is as a lockout/tag out point, and the second is as an operator entry permissive.

In the first application the trapped key is used to remove power to the machine when the key is removed. The second use allows an operator to enter the machine guarding and will prevent the guard door from being locked behind them and the machine from restarting.

Up to Category 4 Compliance
Our machines are built with a safety system that complies with a safety category as described in the European harmonized standard "EN954-1 Safety of Machinery - Design of Safety Related Control Systems." Together with our customers we decide what level of protection us desired, from Category B through Category 4.

• Category "B" - Is safety system designed to meet operational requirements and the ability to withstand expected external conditions. i.e. temperature, moisture, dust, etc...



• Category "1" - meets the requirements of category "B" and must be designed using "well tested" safety principles and safety rated components.



• Category "2" - meets the requirement of category "B" and must prevent the starting of the machine in the event of a fault, being detected upon the application of machine power. This system should include some form of fault monitoring.



• Category "3" - meets the requirements of category "B". In addition the system must be designed such that a single fault will not lead to the loss of the safety function. This system must contain redundant safety rated components in a monitored circuit.



• Category "4" - meets the requirements of category "B". In addition the system must be designed such that a single fault will not lead to the loss of the safety function and the fault must be detected at or before the next demand on the safety circuit. This system must contain redundant, individually monitored, safety rated components