Kinder Australia’s emergency switches are keeping staff and equipment safe around conveyors.
Conveyor belts are designed to move material from one place to another. However, problems may arise if foreign material falls onto the belt, or an operator is unfortunate enough to get caught in the belt. Sharp and heavy objects landing on the belt can cause tremendous damage to the conveyor and nearby equipment. Worse still, it poses a risk to staff that are in close proximity. That’s why Kinder Australia offers the ZS 80 and ZS 92 emergency pull-wire switches, which guarantee a reliable emergency stop function on large machines.
Kinder Australia’s design engineer David Zhungu said that in environments like quarries, simple and robust safety equipment is key.
“Safety is important to quarries,” he told Quarry.
“That’s why we work closely with our clients to make sure we find the right safety solutions.”
“Part of that is making sure they have safety equipment that can stand up to the extreme conditions of a quarry.”
Specifically developed for Australian conditions, the switchgear series is suitable for use in quarries, open-cast mining, gravel plants, sand pits, and other heavy industrial applications.
The switches are manufactured from either tough thermoplastic or aluminium diecast enclosures to withstand falling debris. This protection is important as it prevents false trips, which increases production costs due to downtime.
A combination of rubber lining on the ZS 92 switches, and watertight collars on the ZS 80 switches ensures a barrier against dust and water ingress. This high IP67 rating is critical for switches as water causes short circuits and corrosion of electrical contacts.
Zhungu said Kinder offers a wide variety of safety switches because there is no “one-size-fits-all” solution.
“Some quarries may want a different enclosure based on the conditions onsite, others may want additional safety features on the switch like push buttons,” he said.
“Kinder maintains a good relationship with our supplier so that we can accommodate these needs.”
New mechanisms within the switch allow a wire length of up to 75m whilst maintaining the maximum pull force of 70N required to activate the emergency stop function.
This makes the safety switch easier to operate and reliably meets all relevant Australian and International Standards.
Zhungu, who has an electrical background, said Kinder has collaborated with their supplier to incorporate feedback from customers and include customised solutions.
“Customers like how simple the design is. It is a compact switch that fulfils the customer’s requirements,” he said.
“The simple design also means there is less training needed, it’s easier to mount, and there is nothing complex that would disrupt its operation. This is also aided by detailed installation instructions, which are critical in ensuring correct tensioning and wiring of Pull-wire switches.
“Most applications have some space restrictions when it comes to mounting a switch, so a compact solution is important.”
When it comes to finding the right switch for the job, Kinder’s team works closely with its clients to determine what would work best.
Zhungu said he will often help clients by getting a better understanding of their site conditions, conveyor lengths and ease of access along the conveyor.
“If we were to recommend the wrong switch, then it wouldn’t work in an emergency leading to serious consequences,” he said.
“It’s why we work so hard to find the right solution, appropriate to the application.” •
For more information, visit kinder.com.au
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