Optical safety system

• US 10,317,516 B2
• Filed: 01/20/2017
• Issued: 06/11/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 02/22/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Keyence Corporation (Keyence)
• Original Assignee: Keyence Corporation (Keyence)
• Inventors: Tomoshi, Satoru, Yamazaki, Kentaro
• Primary Examiner(s): Amara, Mohamed K
• Application Number:
  US15/410,797
• Publication Number:
  US 20170242110A1
• Time in Patent Office: 872 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 17/42 Simultaneous measurement of distance and other co-ordinates indirect measurement G01S17/46
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/4808 Evaluating distance, position or velocity data
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/4817 relating to scanning
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/51 Display arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/187 by interference of a radiation field
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/1968 Interfaces for setting up or customising the system
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/19682 Graphic User Interface [GUI] presenting system data to the user, e.g. information on a screen helping a user interacting with an alarm system
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/2491 Intrusion detection systems, i.e. where the body of an intruder causes the interference with the electromagnetic field
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 29/183 Single detectors using dual technologies G08B13/1672, G08B13/2448, G08B13/2494 take precedence

Abstract

Provided is an optical safety system that enables simplification of an editing operation for area designation information. A safety scanner includes an intrusion sensing section that determines the presence or absence of an intruder into a protection area. The setting support device includes a pseudo determination information generation section that determines a presence or absence of an intruder into a protection area on the basis of an area designation information before being transmitted to the safety scanner and a distance measurement information received from the safety scanner and generates a pseudo determination information indicating the determination result.

Claims

1. An optical safety system comprising:

a setting support device that generates an area designation information representing a protection area included in a detection area; and

a safety scanner, having a casing and a port configured to communicate an information with the setting support device, that detects an object within the protection area and outputs a sensing signal;

wherein the safety scanner includes;

an area designation information receiver that receives the area designation information from the setting support device;

a memory that stores the area designation information representing the protection area received from the setting support device as a registered area designation information representing a registered protection area;

a light emitter that emits a detection light to the detection area;

a light receiver that receives the detection light reflected from the object within the detection area and generates a light receiving signal in accordance with the detection light;

a distance calculation section configured to determine a distance to the object on the basis of the light receiving signal;

a scanner configured to direct the detection light to the detection area to scan the detection area in a circumferential direction around a rotation axis;

a distance measurement section that obtains a distance measurement information corresponding to the distance determined by the distance calculation section and a scanning angle of the detection light directed by the scanner; and

an intrusion sensing section that determines an existence of the object within the registered protection area on the basis of the registered area designation information and the distance measurement information obtained by the distance measurement section to output the sensing signal corresponding to the existence of the object within the registered protection area,

wherein the setting support device includes;

an area designation information generation section that generates an area designation information representing a protection area as a new area designation information representing a new protection area;

a distance measurement information receiving section that repeatedly receives and updates the distance measurement information from the safety scanner;

a simulation generation section that generates a simulation of the intrusion sensing section in the safety scanner that represents an existence of the object into the new protection area on the basis of the new area designation information and the distance measurement information repeatedly received and updated from the safety scanner via the port;

an edit screen display section that displays the new protection area on an edit screen and a simulated information with respect to the existence of the object into the new protection area corresponding to the simulation of the intrusion sensing section in the safety scanner; and

a transmitter that transmits, to the safety scanner, the new area designation information representing the new protection area as the area designation information to be received by the area designation information receiver.

2. The optical safety system according to claim 1, wherein the safety scanner further includes:

an indicator lamp;

a pseudo determination information receiving section that receives the simulated information from the setting support device; and

an indicator lamp control section that controls the indicator lamp to indicate an output state of the sensing signal during a normal mode and to indicate the simulated information received from the setting support device via the port during a simulation mode.

3. The optical safety system according to claim 2, wherein the indicator lamp control section controls the indicator lamp to indicate the simulated information distinguishably from the output state of the sensing signal.

4. The optical safety system according to claim 1, wherein the intrusion sensing section repeatedly determines the existence of the object within the registered protection area on the basis of the registered area designation information and the distance measurement information repeatedly obtained by the distance measurement section to repeatedly output the sensing signal corresponding to the existence of the object within the registered protection area even during a period of receiving the simulated information.

5. The optical safety system according to claim 2, wherein the intrusion sensing section outputs a first state signal corresponding to the presence of an object instead of the sensing signal corresponding to the existence of the object within the registered protection area during the simulation mode.

6. The optical safety system according to claim 1, wherein

the setting support device further includes a position designation section that designates a position on a scanning plane of the detection light in accordance with a user operation,

the edit screen display section displays the scanning plane on the edit screen and displays a group of two dimensional positions corresponding to the distance measurement information repeatedly received from the safety scanner and the position designated by the position designation section on the scanning plane, and

the area designation information generation section generates, on the basis of the position designated by the position designation section, the area designation information representing the protection area as the new area designation information representing the new protection area.

7. The optical safety system according to claim 1, wherein

the safety scanner further includes:

a marker identification section that identifies a marker movably disposed within the detection area and a distance measurement information of the marker corresponding to a distance to the marker determined by the distance calculation section and a scanning angle of the detection light directed by the scanner; and

an area generation information transmission section that transmits the distance measurement information of the marker to the setting support device,

wherein the edit screen display section displays a scanning plane of the detection light on the edit screen and displays a position of marker corresponding to the distance measurement information of the marker on the scanning plane, and

the area designation information generation section generates the area designation information on the basis of the distance measurement information of the marker.

8. The optical safety system according to claim 1, wherein the area designation information generation section generates the area designation information on the basis of a plurality of distance measurement information obtained within a scanning period of the detection light.

9. An optical safety system comprising:

a setting support device that generates an area designation information representing a protection area included in a detection area; and

a safety scanner, having a casing and a port configured to communicate an information with the setting support device, that detects an object within the protection area to protect the object from an industrial machines and outputs a sensing signal having an on-state or an off-state corresponding to an existence or an absence of the object detected within the protection area;

wherein the safety scanner includes;

an area designation information receiver that receives the area designation information from the setting support device;

a memory that stores the area designation information representing the protection area received from the setting support device as a registered area designation information representing a registered protection area;

a light emitter that emits a detection light to the detection area;

a light receiver that receives the detection light reflected from the object within the detection area and generates a light receiving signal in accordance with the detection light;

a distance calculation section configured to determine a distance to the object on the basis of the light receiving signal;

a scanner configured to direct the detection light to the detection area to scan the detection area in a circumferential direction around a rotation axis;

a distance measurement section that obtains a distance measurement information corresponding to the distance determined by the distance calculation section and a scanning angle of the detection light directed by the scanner; and

an intrusion sensing section that detects whether the existence or the absence of the object within the registered protection area on the basis of the registered area designation information and the distance measurement information obtained by the distance measurement section, and that generates an on-state signal or an off-state signal as the sensing signal corresponding to the existence or the absence of the object detected within the registered protection area,

wherein the setting support device includes;

an area designation information generating section that generate an area designation information representing a protection area as a new area designation information representing a new protection area;

a distance measurement information receiving section that repeatedly receives and updates the distance measurement information from the safety scanner;

a simulator with respect to the intrusion sensing section in the safety scanner, that detects, in a simulation mode, whether an existence or an absence of the object within the new protection area on the basis of the new area designation information and the distance measurement information repeatedly received and updated from the safety scanner via the port, and that generates an on-state signal or an off-state signal as a simulation signal corresponding to the existence or the absence of the object detected within the new protection area in the simulation mode;

an edit screen display section that displays the new protection area on an edit screen, and that displays the simulation signal in the simulation mode; and

a transmitter that transmits, to the safety scanner, the new area designation information representing the new protection area as the area designation information to the safety scanner via to be received by the area designation information receiver.