Industrial Electronic Safety Interlocks

Safety Interlocks are a type of specialist safety equipment for machinery that prevents access to dangerous parts of the machine when in use. Alternatively, they can be used to ensure the machine cannot be activated when an access hatch or safety feature is removed. The industrial electronic safety interlock comprises two parts, the main part is the locking mechanism which is connected to the machine’s operating interface, usually a PLC (programable logic controller). This is able to tell the system when a door, access hatch or safety feature is open or closed. The second part is attached to the moveable side of the door or hatch and can be locked into the locking mechanism by a variety of different methods, usually a spring lock or solenoid lock with each type offering multiple different locking forces.