Patent application number | Description | Published |
20110291775 | Portable Actuator Assembly - A portable actuator and safety switch assembly wherein the portable actuator includes a housing and an actuator for selectively engaging with a control mechanism of said safety switch. The actuator is at least one of partially located within the housing, forms a part of the housing, or is attached to the housing. The assembly includes a controller that controls a configuration of the actuator assembly, such that the actuator assembly can selectively and controllably attain a first configuration wherein the actuator is able to interact with the control mechanism of the safety switch and a second configuration wherein the actuator is unable to manipulate the control mechanism of said safety switch. | 12-01-2011 |
20110291776 | SAFETY SWITCH - A safety switch assembly having a number of fixed and movable contacts, a control mechanism that alters the conducting state of the contacts, and a magnetisable member that extends between alternate portions of the safety switch assembly. The safety switch assembly includes a magnetically operable electrical switch that is located in a body of the switch assembly and positioned proximate the magnetisable material such that changes in the magnetic condition of the magnetisable material alter the conducting state of the magnetically operable electrical switch. | 12-01-2011 |
20120243139 | Method and Apparatus for Diagnostic Coverage of Safety Components - A method and system for diagnostic coverage of safety components monitors the state of a safety chain and each of the safety devices in the chain. A fault condition is detected if one of the safety devices indicates that the safety chain should be open but the safety chain indicates that it is closed. In order to prevent an inadvertent reset of the fault condition by opening the safety chain via a second safety device, the fault condition is latched until the monitoring system verifies that the faulty safety device has been corrected. | 09-27-2012 |
20130049382 | Magnetic Latch for Safety Applications with Adjustable Holding Force - A magnetic latch for industrial environments includes fixed magnetic pole pieces that may be sealed within a housing to resist environmental contamination and which provide for perpendicular engagement faces for use with gates having a rolling or swinging configuration. An RFID tag reader may be incorporated into the magnet assembly of the latch for reading a specially encoded RFID tag in a keeper portion of the magnetic latch. | 02-28-2013 |
20150115622 | POWER MANAGEMENT MODULE FOR A SOLENOID-DRIVEN SAFETY LOCK - A power management module for a solenoid-driven industrial safety lock minimizes energy consumption, protects the power supply line, and improves reliability of the safety lock. The power management module comprises a capacitor bank that stores energy from the power supply line. The stored energy is discharged to the solenoid of the safety lock as needed to actuate the safety lock mechanism (e.g., armature or plunger). The capacitor bank shields the power supply line from high current fluctuations caused by actuation of the solenoid, and allows the safety lock to be operated even in the event of power loss. A discharge controller can closely control the duration of the discharge based on position sensors or a discharge timer to minimize the amount of energy used to transition the locking mechanism. | 04-30-2015 |
20150218862 | MAGNETIC LATCH FOR SAFETY APPLICATIONS WITH ADJUSTABLE HOLDING FORCE - A magnetic latch for industrial environments includes fixed magnetic pole pieces that may be sealed within a housing to resist environmental contamination and which provide for perpendicular engagement faces for use with gates having a rolling or swinging configuration. An RFID tag reader may be incorporated into the magnet assembly of the latch for reading a specially encoded RFID tag in a keeper portion of the magnetic latch. | 08-06-2015 |
20150287318 | INDUSTRIAL-ENABLED MOBILE DEVICE - An industrial-enabled mobile electronic device, such as a personal mobile phone or tablet computer, allows a user to wirelessly interact with industrial devices for a variety of purposes. The mobile electronic device can communicate with an industrial device to read and write configuration settings, read and view log data, send commands to the industrial device, and other such functions. The mobile electronic device can perform various types of analysis on images and video of the industrial device captured by the mobile electronic device, including identifying and translating a model or device number printed on the device, or translating error codes displayed by the industrial device. The mobile electronic device can also retrieve additional information about the industrial device or the device's stored data via interaction with a remote technical support service, and can be used to facilitate dialog with a remote technical support person. | 10-08-2015 |
20150331092 | WAVEFORM RECONSTRUCTION IN A TIME-OF-FLIGHT SENSOR - A time-of-flight (TOF) sensor device is provided that is capable of accurately recovering waveforms of reflected light pulses incident on the sensor's photo-receiver array using a low sampling rate. A number of samples for a received light pulse incident on a given photo-receiver are obtained by emitting a light pulse to the viewing field, integrating the electrical output generated by the photo receiver over an integration period, and adding the integral values for respective integration cycles to yield an accumulation value. This process is repeated for multiple accumulation cycles; however, for each consecutive accumulation cycle the start of the integration period is delayed relative the start time of the integration period for the previous cycle by a delay period. Sampled values for the waveform are obtained by determining the difference values between consecutive accumulation values for the respective accumulation cycles. | 11-19-2015 |
20150331107 | OPTICAL AREA MONITORING WITH SPOT MATRIX ILLUMINATION - An imaging sensor device is configured to illuminate a viewing field using an array of focused light spots spaced across the viewing field rather than uniformly illuminating the viewing field, thereby reducing the amount of illumination energy required to produce a given intensity of light reflected from the spots. In some embodiments, the imaging sensor device can project an array of focused light spots at two different intensities or brightness levels, such that high intensity and low intensity light spots are interlaced across the viewing field. This ensures that both relatively dark and relatively bright or reflective objects can be reliably detected within the viewing field. The intensities of the light spots can be modulated based on measured conditions of the viewing field, including but not limited to the measured ambient light or a determined dynamic range of reflectivity of objects within the viewing field. | 11-19-2015 |
20150332463 | INTEGRATION OF OPTICAL AREA MONITORING WITH INDUSTRIAL MACHINE CONTROL - An industrial safety system is provided that integrates optical safety monitoring with machine control. The safety system includes an imaging sensor device supporting pixel array processing functions that allow time-of-flight (TOF) analysis to be performed on selected portions of the pixel array, while two-dimensional imaging analysis is performed on the remaining portions of the array, reducing processing load and response time relative to performing TOF analysis for all pixels of the array. The portion of the pixel array designated for TOF analysis can be pre-defined through configuration of the imaging sensor device, or can be dynamically selected based on object detection and classification by the two-dimensional imaging analysis. The imaging sensor device can also implement a number of safety and redundancy functions to achieve a high degree of safety integrity. | 11-19-2015 |
20150334371 | OPTICAL SAFETY MONITORING WITH SELECTIVE PIXEL ARRAY ANALYSIS - An imaging sensor device includes pixel array processing functions that allow time-of-flight (TOF) analysis to be performed on selected portions of the pixel array, while two-dimensional imaging analysis is performed on the remaining portions of the array, reducing processing load and response time relative to performing TOF analysis for all pixels of the array. The portion of the pixel array designated for TOF analysis can be pre-defined through configuration of the imaging sensor device. Alternatively, the imaging sensor device can dynamically select the portions of the pixel array on which TOF analysis is to be performed based on object detection and classification by the two-dimensional imaging analysis. Embodiments of the imaging sensor device can also implement a number of safety and redundancy functions to achieve a high degree of safety integrity, making the sensor suitable for use in various types of safety monitoring applications. | 11-19-2015 |