Construction materials

Hydraulic presses are used to form bricks, often in very large facilities. Where access is required for a maintenance or cleaning operation it can be costly to isolate the entire hydraulic supply and dangerous to leave it connected. Using the safety related part of the control system to ensure access is only possible when that zone has been made safe improves both safety and productivity.

Fortress has safety rated hydraulic power valves which can be used to safely block and bleed power from the required zone in response to a request to enter from a gate interlock.

Electrical and Mechanical Installation of safeguarding devices into brick making facilities can be lengthy when multiple entry points each require individual safe and non-safe I/O connection. The market trend has started to shift towards network connection with Ethernet/IP and CIP safety, or PROFINET with PROFIsafe and as a result safeguarding solutions offer this feature.

Fortress offer network communications for our heavy-duty range to enable CIP safety and PROFIsafe in harsh environments. These solutions allow additional I/O such as Reset and Enter Request to be integrated with no additional cabling considerations.

Safe access may not always require a run-down time, some hazards can be stopped instantaneously. Whilst inside the safeguarded space however, low visibility can lead to accidental machine restart. Mechanical features can be designed into solutions to prevent this unexpected restart and protect operators.

Fortress offers integrated mechanical measures to prevent unexpected restart. The Fortress safety key can be pocketed by operators when entering a safeguarded space.