Safe Production of High-Quality Molded Parts

In Blumberg in the southern Black Forest, at the company Teubert Maschinenbau GmbH, a plant for the fully automated production of molded parts made of expandable polypropylene (EPP) was equipped with a complete safety solution from Safety System Products from nearby Spaichingen. The highly efficient system, customized to customer requirements, enables an annual production output of over 10,000 special, visible molded parts for the furniture industry.

The safety solution designed by SSP for personnel and plant protection includes a safety enclosure constructed according to EN ISO 953, several safety switches with removable keys from Fortress Interlocks, an airlock with safety roller doors, and non-contact Safix RFID safety sensors.

Production Plant for Plastic Molded Parts

In addition to simple machines, the special machinery manufacturer Teubert offers the planning of complete systems – be it a simple machine for producing EPS packaging, machines for fully automated insulation board production, lost foam machines, or machines and plants for producing EPP foam parts in the packaging or automotive sector. With its globally active team, Teubert can cover the entire range of particle foams. This also applies to the project of a complex EPP foaming machine in the field of furniture parts production.

Figure 1: Entire system with the proven Teubert DMF pressure filling system for particle foams.

The Challenge

The machine is characterized by highly complex media piping and elaborate core pull control, which was appropriately integrated into the machine by project engineer Helmut Bouillon. The proven Teubert DMF pressure filling silos are used on the machine, which ensure the flawless filling of the complex molded part and thus stand for absolute process reliability.

The Solution – Safety Products from a Single Source

1. Key Transfer System

By using the key transfer system from Fortress Interlocks, supplied by SSP, for the first time, the Teubert engineers broke new ground. A high level of safety can be guaranteed on the machine in the process. The simplified electrical wiring offers great savings potential and was very well received by American customers due to its simplicity.

Figure 2: The wireless amGardpro safety door switch with extracted key enables the highest Performance Level (PL e) on the system.

Figure 3: The two project managers Helmut Bouillon
from Teubert (left) and Dietmar Strangfeld from SSP
in front of the closed safety roller door made of
aluminum safety fence profiles from Safety System Products.

2. Flexible Aluminum Safety Enclosures and Safety Roller Doors

The company Safety System Products has many years of experience in the design and construction of separating protective devices according to the currently harmonized standard DIN EN 953, which represents the state of the art.

With the flexible system based on its own aluminum profile, SSP can build separating protective devices in such a way that all specifications can be met even under difficult requirements. An important advantage of the system here is the innovative connection technology with highly stable fittings, which makes drilling and machining of the aluminum profiles redundant. This also enables quick and easy adaptation to unexpected situations on site.

SSP has supplemented the system of separating protective devices at Teubert with an innovative roller door. The roller door, consisting of aluminum slats, represents a safe separation from the danger zone when closed. With this system, even difficult requirements and short distances to danger zones can be implemented in compliance with standards. The integrated STO function ensures that the door remains closed in a safety-related manner until the trailing, dangerous movements have safely come to a standstill.

3. Door Guard Locking with Safety Key

The amGardpro interlocking system from Fortress Interlocks is particularly suitable for heavy-duty, robust applications and, thanks to its modular design, can be easily adapted to the customer's requirements. With the intelligent concept of guard locking, key transfer system, and operating elements, amGardpro solves practically any safety application up to SIL3 (EN/IEC 60261) Category 4 and PL e (EN / ISO 13849-1). The configuration options are virtually unlimited and range from the control module, emergency release, and emergency stop to the indicator light and much more. Another highlight is the extracted key function, which offers optimal protection when personal safety keys are removed. The functional principle is extremely simple: Before maintenance personnel enter the system, the safety key must be removed and taken into the system. If the safety door is now closed unintentionally, the system cannot be started without the key. Furthermore, with the key transfer module (Figure 4), Teubert was able to save on wiring at some maintenance doors, as the safety door switches there are kept locked purely mechanically. The particularly robust switches from Fortress Interlocks also boast a locking force of over 10000 kN, so breaking the tongue is impossible.

Figure 4: The purely mechanical key transfer module from
Fortress Interlocks allows the assignment of access keys to
3 safety doors according to PL e.

Decisive Advantages for the User

The supervising development engineer at Teubert Maschinenbau and his Technical Director appreciate the extremely high reliability, freedom from maintenance, and adaptability during changeovers, as well as the long service life of the complete safety solution from Safety System Products.

Both technicians are very enthusiastic about the visually appealing safety enclosure, as it is also very stable, flexible, sound-absorbing, and easily expandable. Given the consistently high humidity during operation, the high corrosion resistance is a major advantage. In addition, SSP's fence systems save the need for painting, and the fence elements are delivered pre-assembled.

The automation experts also praise the highest safety level at PL e, the extremely reduced wiring effort, and the remarkable robustness of the wireless key-to-pocket safety switches (Figure 2). They are also very satisfied with the airlock function with safe roller doors (Figure 3), as well as with the safe end position detection by the non-contact Safix switches with RFID and the tactile ASO safety edges with 2 contacts.

The excellent, fast service, competent advice, problem-free installation, easy operation, and the worldwide presence and spare parts procurement of SSP components seemed particularly important to Teubert.

If you would like to find out more about the comprehensive SSP safety range, please request a free consultation.

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