Guard locking switch with three concurrent directions of approach
AssigneeRockwell Automation Technologies, Inc.
InventorsTimothy P. Wolfe, Girish S. Mali, Burt Sacherski, Yongyao Cai, Thomas Botker, Roberto S. Santos
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Abstract
An industrial locking switch comprises multiple locking tongue entry slots formed on adjacent sides of the locking switch housing, thereby supporting receipt of the corresponding locking tongue from multiple directions of approach without the need to mechanically modify the switch's head or to reorient the switch itself. The locking switch houses locking bolt detection circuity comprising multiple series connected RFID coils configured to detect an RFID tag mounted on the locking tongue when the locking tongue is inserted into any of the entry slots.
Claims20
An industrial locking system, comprising:
- an actuator assembly comprising a locking tongue, the locking tongue comprising an engagement hole and a radio frequency identifier (RFID) tag mounted adjacent to the engagement hole;
- and
- a locking switch comprising:
- a housing comprising at least two entry slots configured to receive the locking tongue from respective at least two directions of approach,
- a solenoid-driven locking bolt configured to engage with the engagement hole while the locking tongue is inserted into any one of the at least two entry slots, and
- detection circuitry comprising at least two RFID coils connected in series and mounted inside the housing above the at least two entry slots, respectively, wherein the detection circuitry is configured to
- detect that the locking tongue has been inserted into any one of the at least two entry slots based on measurement of a current through the at least two RFID coils, and
- generate a control signal in response to detection of the locking tongue.
The industrial locking system of 1, wherein the at least two entry slots are oriented on respective adjacent faces of the housing.
A system for locking industrial safety guarding, comprising:
- a locking switch comprising at least two entry slots formed on respective at least two adjacent sides of a housing of the locking switch;
- and
- an actuator assembly comprising
- a locking tongue configured to be received by any entry slot of the at least two entry slots, and
- a radio frequency identifier (RFID) tag affixed to the locking tongue,
- wherein the locking switch further comprises
- a solenoid-actuated locking bolt configured to, in response to advancement of the locking bolt while the locking tongue is inserted into any entry slot of the at least two entry slots, engage with an engagement hole formed on the locking tongue, and
- detection circuitry comprising at least two series connected RFID coils respectively corresponding to the at least two entry slots, and
- wherein the detection circuitry is configured to detect that the locking tongue has been inserted into an entry slot of the at least two entry slots based on a monitoring of a current signal through the at least two series connected RFID coils, and to generate a control signal in response to detecting the presence of the RFID tag.
A locking switch, comprising:
- a housing comprising two or more entry slots, wherein each of the two or more entry slots is configured to receive a locking tongue;
- a solenoid-driven locking bolt inside the housing and configured to engage with an engagement hole formed in the locking tongue in response to advancing to a locked position while the locking tongue is inserted into any one of the two or more entry slots;
- and
- two or more radio frequency identifier (RFID) coils mounted inside the housing and positioned above the two or more entry slots, respectively,
- wherein
- the two or more RFID coils are electrically connected in series, and
- each of the two or more RFID coils is configured to, in response to insertion of the locking tongue into a corresponding one of the two or more entry slots, detect a presence of an RFID tag mounted on the locking tongue.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.