The Machine Primary Control Elements (MPCE) 1 and 2 are typically a relay with force guided contacts. When a safety interlock, light curtain, or e-stop switch opens a circuit, the MPCE NO contacts ...

Traditionally, safety circuits were independent of the network. This was deemed the fastest, least complex and most reliable way to implement safe function. Isolated circuits working alongside the ...

Many of today’s legacy manufacturing systems were developed with a either a blind eye or a minimalist approach to safety. Older technology usually forced machines to come to a full stop and be in a ...

Disconnect switches play an important role in ensuring the safety and efficiency of industrial machinery. As key components in electrical systems, they provide a reliable means for safety isolating ...

Keeping up with changing safety standards is nothing new for machine builders, but the recent changes to the European Commission’s Machinery Directive, which took effect on December 29, 2009, will ...

A single global machine safety standard has been in the works for a long time and will now be a little longer. The merger of safety standards ISO 13849 and IEC 62061 into one standard, IEC/ISO 17305, ...

Factory equipment continues to become increasingly intelligent in large part due to the improved processing power and communication abilities found within underlying controllers, sensors, and ...

Industry trade groups have weighed in — both pro and con — on whether the Occupational Safety and Health Administration should update its 30-year-old lockout/tag-out rules. The proposed change ...

People often speak of there being "three" sides to every story: one side, the opposite side and the truth, which usually falls somewhere in the middle. In the case of international safety standard ISO ...