Light Barrier With Adjustable Legs And Reflector
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing light barriers face challenges in flexibility and cost due to cumbersome adjustments and storage requirements, as well as inefficiencies in light beam reflection and monitoring area coverage.
Innovation Solution
A light barrier design with adjustable leg distance between the transmitter and receiver, allowing for flexible configuration and use of secondary light beams for monitoring, where the primary light beam can be insensitive to disturbances, and incorporating optics for signal enhancement and beam expansion.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the distance between legs is changed by assembling apart and reattaching, then the leg distance can be adjusted, but the handling and storage becomes cumbersome and expensive
Solution Approach 1:
The housing leg distance is made dynamically adjustable through a telescopic mechanism allowing continuous adjustment without disassembly. The second leg can be extended or retracted relative to the first leg, enabling flexible adaptation to different monitoring distances while maintaining assembled state, thus avoiding cumbersome handling and storage issues
Solution Approach 2:
The housing is segmented into adjustable sections with the second leg containing telescopic parts that can be independently adjusted. This segmentation allows the leg distance to be modified by extending or retracting specific sections rather than disassembling the entire housing, improving ease of operation while maintaining structural integrity
2Device complexity
If the primary light beam is used for monitoring, then the light barrier function is simple, but the beam is sensitive to disturbances along the entire path
Solution Approach 1:
The light beam path is segmented into primary and secondary beams. The primary light beam travels through a protected path (hose or tubular arrangement) that is insensitive to disturbances, while a secondary light beam is created through optics on the second side for the actual monitoring function, separating the sensitive measurement path from the protected transmission path
Solution Approach 2:
Optics on the second side act as an intermediary between the primary light beam and the monitoring function. These optics receive the primary beam and create a secondary beam that is deflected back to the receiver, allowing the primary beam to be protected while the secondary beam performs the sensitive monitoring task
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables flexible deployment, reduced cabling complexity, and efficient monitoring with high signal strength, allowing for differentiated monitoring of various areas and materials, such as web edges, with improved handling and storage efficiency.
Implementation Method 1
a transmitter (6) for emitting a primary light beam (7)
Implementation Method 2
the primary light beam (7) is deflected on the second side (4) with the optics (10) and formed into a secondary light beam (9)
Implementation Method 3
a receiver (8) for receiving the secondary light beam (9)
Data Source
Figure 1
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AI summary
A light barrier having at least one transmitter (6) and at least one receiver (8) for a light beam and having a light path (1), which runs between a first side (2) and a second side (4) of a region to be monitored, can be produced flexibly and with little complexity by virtue of the transmitter (6) and of the receiver (8) being situated on the first side (2) and by virtue of the second side (4) containing an optical system (10) which picks up the primary light beam (7) emitted by the transmitter and which deflects the primary light beam (7) and returns it to the receiver (8) via the light path (1) to the first side (2) as a secondary light beam (9), which is separate from the primary light beam (7), at a distance from the primary light beam (7).