Feature

SICK grows its Flexi safety product family

Developments within SICK's Flexi family of machinery safety products are delivering more productive and less-costly safety installations that meet the increasing demands of safety standards, including EN ISO 13849-1 and EN 62061.

25/10/2015 11:17:34

Introducing the Flexi Loop, Flexi-Link and Flexi Line multi-switch and multi-station options to the Flexi Soft plc safety controller modules has opened up new avenues for machinery safety as factories move towards fully-automated central control. They support an increasingly wide range of safety sensors, encoders, light curtains, switches, cameras and laser scanners.

The SICK Flexi family offers a modular approach to creating safety systems with operation up to SIL3 / PLe levels. The Flexi series allows safe operation of elements including sensors, electromechanical, interlocking and non-contact switches, scanners, encoders and emergency command buttons. All of which can be integrated within a Flexi Link or Flexi Line system providing factory-wide control.

The latest module to be added is the Flexi Soft Drive Monitor, which allows the connection of up to 12 encoders per single Flexi Soft system. It can provide safe monitoring of drives without integrated safety features and can perform Safety Functions for drives according to IEC EN 61800-5-2 including and not limited to: safe speed monitoring (Safety Limited Speed - SLS), standstill monitoring (Safe Speed Monitoring - SSM) and many safe stop functions such as Safe Stop 2 - type 2 (SS2).

Flexi Loop permits the series connection of dual channel door switches and sensor devices to PLe integrity, whilst allowing high diagnostic coverage and eliminating the potential for fault masking.

Written By Sophia Bell

Sophia Bell is the Group Editor of DPA, Connectivity, and PBSI. She joined the team in 2020 as Assistant Editor after achieving a First-Class Honours BA in English Literature and Film Studies from the University of East Anglia. In her current role, she leads the editorial strategy, driving digital growth and ensuring each title continues to deliver trusted, relevant insight for engineering and manufacturing professionals.