|
Information Page Links:
Featured Machine Guards Manufacturers
About Machine Guards
Machinery Guarding
Terms
Machine Guard Associations
Machine Guard Resources
Trade Shows
Featured Machinery Guarding Articles
More Articles
|
|
About Machine Guards
Machine guards are safety devices that prevent machine
operators from having body parts or other loose objects in the danger
zone during the operation of a machine. They are used at the point of
operation, on the power transmission apparatus and on any other moving
parts. Machine guard manufacturers insure that a number of different
safety measures are performed by the machine guards. Properly working
safety guards should not allow a worker to get near the moving parts
of a machine while they are in operation, and they should block any objects
that might fall in. They should also be secured to the machine and not
easily avoided or removed.
Machine guard manufacturers produce safety guards that are made of several
different materials. However, metal is usually the best option. They
can come in different forms, such as pipe, bar, wire mesh or sheet metal.
In situations where visibility is needed, plastic or glass is used by
machine guard manufacturers. If corrosion of materials is a possibility,
wood guards may be a better choice. Some different types are light curtains,
barrier guards or two-handed control guards. In place of machine guards,
different aids can be used. Awareness barriers call attention to the
danger zone, but do not physically prevent the operator from entering
it. The operator would simply have to walk under or over the barrier.
Another alternative is to use a push stick or block. These can be used
to move stock into or out of the point of operation, giving a few more
inches of safety to the operator.
Almost all machines need safety guards. Any type of machine that shears
or impacts, has meshing gears, rotating parts, reciprocating arms, cutting
teeth or moving belts has the potential to be hazardous and should have
machine guards. They are crucial to these types of machines in order
to prevent crushed fingers or hands, blindness, or worse. More and more
often, machines come with guards, but some machines need to be analyzed
before the proper user-built guard can be installed on the point of operation.
Robots also need proper machine guarding. Interlocked gates are the most
common method, but when using these, caution must be taken so that the
primary control circuit is not disrupted by the activation of the interlocking.
Recently, more attention is being paid to the ergonomic factor of machine
guards. Effectively integrated safety guards can help to prevent worker
stress and fatigue. Another new idea is to integrate the safety of a
machine into the control system so that both become one single unit.
This helps to save on costs in three areas: installation, materials needed
and design. Though they are a good idea, these systems are still being
developed.
Featured
Articles
www.machinesafety.net/trends_in_machine_safety.html
www.schmersalusa.com/catalog_pdfs/movable.pdf
Types of Machine Guards
- are able to work with many different
applications, and can fit with almost any size of stock.
- are machine guards that protect the hands and eyes of operators from cutting tools and hot liquids that may splash.
- have a probe or contact bar that moves a predetermined
distance as the operator starts the machine, and if there is something
blocking the bar, the machine will not begin.
- permanently attach to the machines, and they do not depend
on moving parts to function. Fixed machine guards can be made out of
plastic, bars, sheet metal, screen or wire cloth.
- are used to protect the operator at the point of operation.
If the gate is not in place, the machine will not begin its cycle.
- automatically
stop the parts of the machine that are moving when they are removed,
not allowing workers to enter the
problem
area. Interlocked safety
guards provide maximum protection.
- are a type of photoelectric
device that will continue to stop the machine’s cycle if a
component of the device itself is not working.
- is a machine enclosure that acts as a physical barrier between the operator and potentially dangerous machinery.
- protects workers from preventable injuries caused by moving parts in industrial settings.
- use light fields
to stop a machine’s
activity if the field is disrupted.
- refers to the area of manufacturing that deals with protecting workers from bodily damage caused by industrial presses.
- use radio beams to interrupt or prevent the
machine from starting.
- are protective barriers that protect industrial workers.
- only allow a particular size of stock to go into
the machine before they come back into place to separate the operator
from the danger zone.
- require the operator’s
hands to be safely located on the controls while the machine is running.
Once the
pressure
from the hands is released, the machine will stop.
- are made by the user of the machine and are necessary
because not all machines come with machine guards already attached.
|
|
