What is a pressure-sensitive edge?

Question

Accepted Answer

The safety edge, also called, is a pressure-sensitive switch in the shape of a rubber band. The safety edge and the safety buffer are flexible and bendable ribbons that can be fixed on the edges of moving parts such as machine tool tables and electric doors that are in danger of squeezing and shearing.

Cyndar Technology's pressure sensitive response or safety edge is an electrical switchgear consisting of a compatible housing and internal ribbon switch. The housing can be made of many different materials, including PVC, EPDM and TPE. When activated, the sensing or safety edge will act as a normally open momentary contact switch. Activation occurs when the force applied to the housing is transmitted to the switching element and causes the contacts to close. After the force is released, the contact opens again.

Key attributes

The pressure sensitive edge has many attributes that define its operating characteristics.

Contour: The cross section of the sensing edge. Its height, width, number of compartments and mechanical elements vary, all of which affect the actuation characteristics. The image above shows many examples of different configuration files.

Power: Use an object of a specific size and shape to cause the switching element to contact and close inside the sensing edge housing.

Compliance: The amount of deformation of the sensing edge before the switch is activated. When an immediate start is required, low compliance is required. The higher flexibility provides additional cushioning and provides resistance to errors or accidental actuation.

Overtravel: The amount of deformation that the sensing edge can withstand after the switch is actuated. Overtravel determines the amount of cushioning after contact with the edge.

Typical application

Pressure sensitive edges are usually used to protect personnel from injury or damage to equipment. In industrial environments, they can be used on mechanized door edges to detect obstacles, and they can also be used on scissor lifts to provide anti-pinch protection. They are suitable for collision sensors on AGVs, collision detectors on mobile platforms and positioning switches on mobile conveyors. In medical applications such as scanners, they can protect patients from moving parts of the equipment.

Sensing edges are most commonly used in security applications. Therefore, Cyndar Technologies includes fail-safe wiring on all standard models with 4 cores. When used with Cyndar Technology's safety controller, it can continuously monitor the integrity of the sensing edge and all interconnections.