Rockford Systems, a provider of machine safeguarding and combustion safety solutions, today launched the next generation of its Detect-A-Finger® drop-probe device to better safeguard riveting and welding machinery to help operators avoid finger and hand injuries.
“Ensuring the safety of machinery operators has always been Rockford System’s top priority,” said Paul Schneider, Director of Engineering and Operations. “By incorporating newly engineered safety solutions into the Detect-A-Finger, Rockford Systems is protecting operators better than ever.”
The Detect-A-Finger Gen II (RKC008 and RKC009) supports new safety-enhancing features and ensures that operators can meet production needs with upgrades such as increasing the stroke to 1.85″, unified right- and left-handed operation, a pre-punched enclosure to achieve faster electrical connections, and a soft drop-probe rod for accurate template development, prior to forming the steel drop probe. This enhanced design will meet compliance requirements for a Category 2 guarding device and reduce the potential for operators bypassing their guarding.
The Detect-A-Finger® Gen II devices are used on small machines, such as riveters, eyeletters, stakers, staplers, crimpers and fastening machines, to help protect the operator’s fingers from point-of-operation hazards by utilizing drop probes. Drop-probe devices work by gravity. When a probe drops and encounters a finger or workpiece in its way, the probe will not complete its downward travel and the machine will not start a cycle or stroke. A spring returns the probe to its starting or up position. The integration of a keyed aluminum drop-shaft clamp and a hexagonal, rigid steel drop probe into the Gen II significantly improves the reliability of the operation, therefore minimizing unplanned downtime and creating a safer work environment. Also added were redundant switches and a two-hand safety relay that detects faults in the device’s two-hand controls, wiring, and contactors safety circuits.
To make retrofitting older models quick and easy, the Gen II features the identical mounting pattern as the original model, creating a “drop-in” solution that is simple to deploy. Rockford Systems also offers a new drop-probe kit (FCT057), that includes one soft aluminum rod to aid in creating a template prior to forming the tougher steel hex probe.
