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Electromechanical Safety Interlock Switches

Euchner Electromechanical Safety Interlock switches protect personnel by sensing the position of a piece of safe guarding, such as a door.  The monitoring is done using a key (actuator) and a switch. The machines safety circuit is run through the switch and requires the key to be present to complete the circuit. There are various regulatory commissions for safety interlocks and they all agree that an interlock must not be easily bypassed. This is why Euchner keys have a complex shape to keep someone from inserting a tool such as a screw driver into the switch to defeat it. All Euchner safety switches have positively driven contacts, which will not weld shut. This is to allow for required redundancy and to insure that the safety device fails in a safe state.

Most Electromechanical switches are mounted to the stationary component and the actuator (key) is mounted to a moving component such as the door to be monitored. Euchner offers many varieties of actuators to suit just about any moving component. The most common need is for a flexible spring actuator. This allows for an easy entry into the switch even on a swinging open door.

When the actuating key is inserted into the switch it physically changes the state of the electrical contacts. This is how you verify the position of the safeguard. In turn, allowing the machine to resume normal operation.

Euchner Safety interlock switches come in locking and non-locking varieties. The locking variety usually uses a solenoid to hold the key in place while the machine is running and the hazard is present. It also keeps the door locked during any residual movement such as a spinning saw blade or a robot moving back to a home position. These switches only unlock and allow access to personnel once the hazard has been mitigated or stopped. A non-locking switch is acceptable for a machine without residual motion.

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