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US 9,517,617 B2Granted
Printing machine safety system
AssigneeM&R Printing Equipment, Inc.
InventorsRichard C. Hoffman, Jr., Boguslaw S. Biel, Bernabe Christopher Mauban, Brian William Quirk
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A screen printing safety system is provided. The system includes a screen printing machine, and a plurality of zones in the vicinity of the screen printing machine. Each of the zones includes at least one sensor for sensing encroachment past a predetermined point. The sensors are adapted to stop operation of the screen printing machine when encroachment is sensed in at least one of the plurality of zones.
Claims17
A screen printing safety system having two areas of protection from encroachment comprising:
- a screen printing machine having a loading area and a printing area, and a plurality of textile supporting pallets mounted for movement a first height above a supporting surface between the loading area where an operator can place textiles on or remove textiles from one of the plurality of textile supporting pallets, and the printing area having a plurality of print stations;
- a first entryway to the loading area from outside the loading area having a first vertical dimension from a floor to a top being sufficient to accommodate a human operator;
- a segmented barrier to the first entryway enclosing a first area of protection, the segmented barrier comprising:
- a gate moveable from an open position to provide access to a first zone to a closed position to form a physical barrier to entry into the first zone, the gate adapted to stop operation of the machine upon movement of the gate;
- and
- a first light curtain sensor for detecting encroachment into a second zone, the first zone and the second zone being disposed in a common vertical plane spanning a portion of the first entryway, the first zone extending approximately to the first height and the second zone extending from a point upward therefrom to the top;
- a second entryway to the printing area;
- a second light curtain sensor surrounding the second entryway to define a second area of protection;
- and
- the first light curtain sensor and the second light curtain sensor being adapted to stop operation of the screen printing machine when encroachment is sensed.
7 more elements
A screen printing safety system having two areas of protection from encroachment comprising:
- a screen printing machine having a loading area and a printing area, and a plurality of textile supporting pallets mounted for movement a first height above a supporting surface between the loading area where an operator can place textiles on or remove textiles from one of the plurality of textile supporting pallets, and the printing area having a plurality of print stations;
- a first entryway to a loading area from outside the loading area having a first vertical dimension from the floor to a top being sufficient to accommodate a human operator;
- a segmented barrier to the first entryway enclosing a first area of protection, the segmented barrier comprising:
- a gate moveable from an open position to provide access to a first zone to a closed position to form a physical barrier to entry into the first zone, the gate adapted to stop operation of the machine upon movement of the gate;
- and
- a first light curtain sensor for detecting encroachment into a second zone, the first zone and the second zone being disposed in a common vertical plane spanning a portion of the first entryway, the first zone extending approximately to the first height and the second zone extending from a point upward therefrom to a top;
- a first fence at one end of the gate to form a barrier to entry to the first area of protection;
- a second entryway to the printing area;
- a second light curtain sensor surrounding the second entryway to define a second area of protection;
- and
- the first light curtain sensor and the second light curtain sensor being adapted to stop operation of the screen printing machine when encroachment is sensed.
8 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.