Linde Safety Guard
What if people, their handling equipment and the infrastructure could communicate with each other?
Material handling operations like loading and unloading trucks can encounter potentially hazardous situations. Industrial trucks and staff working together in close proximity can be challenging and difficult to control. In the worst-case scenario, this can lead to injury or property damage.
Every aspect of any material handling application demands constant vigilance by all personnel involved: blind corners, low visibility areas and distracting noises are all ever-present safety risks in intralogistics and manufacturing working environments.
A Timely Warning: Linde Safety Guard
The Linde Safety Guard is an innovative monitoring system that increases safety for truck operators and pedestrians in the vicinity of the truck. Active advance warning in the event of potential hazards means that everyone involved can react immediately. Depending on the application and the equipment, the Safety Guard system warns of imminent danger via acoustic signals, flashing LED lights or vibrations. Hazards can then be dealt with before any physical injury or collateral damage occurs.
The history of Linde Safety Guard
This unique safety system was developed by the start-up Comnovo, which was acquired by Linde Material Handling in July 2017. The system has been incorporated into Linde Material Handling's industrial trucks since early 2016. Since then, the system has proven itself across a wide variety of industries.
Wherever industrial trucks are in use, there exists a complex interplay between man and machine. This application is a perfect example of where Linde Safety Guard plays a critical role in keeping your team safe.
Always in the Safe Zone
Establishes hazardous workplace zones for industrial trucks and pedestrians
At corners, junctions or entrances to warehouses, industrial trucks can pose a risk to pedestrians. The Linde Safety Guard system:
- Provides advance warnings to both the operator and pedestrians.
- Transmits through walls and racking.
- Is accurate to within 10cm.
- Only triggered when there is a clear danger, thus avoiding false alarms.
Automatically reduces excessive speed
Accidents can occur if industrial trucks travel too fast through areas where staff frequently cross. Long, straight stretches can also tempt truck operators to exceed a safe travel speed. The Linde Safety Guard automatically reduces travel speed in these critical areas.
Prevents multi-truck accidents
Collisions between trucks can occur at crossing points where visibility is poor or restricted. In these circumstances, the Linde Safety Guard system:
- Warns all truck operators of other trucks present in their immediate vicinity
- Truck Unit displays the direction from which the trucks are approaching
- Enables the ability to adjust the minimum distance between trucks before a warning is triggered
The Linde Safety Guard Zones
The blue shades represent the predetermined warning zones Safety Guard is constantly monitoring on moving forklifts, at stationary points at blind spots and on moving pedestrians.
Tailored Safety
The Linde Safety Guard system increases the safety of all staff involved in internal traffic. It can see around corners and through walls, reduces speeds automatically and can be programmed to suit any hazardous scenario.
All this is possible due to the Linde Safety Guard system being able to precisely determine the position of marked objects or staff with an accuracy of ten centimetres, and the fact that warning zones can be individually adjustable, helping to prevent false alarms.
Furthermore, a broadband radio signal in the 4 GHz range (UWB) helps to ensure reliability by eliminating interference from WiFi, Bluetooth or RFID.
- Warning zones are established to prevent accidents:
- Transmitters are positioned on industrial trucks, walls, racking and even carried by the staff themselves
- This ensures rapid detection, early warning and avoidance of hazardous situations
- If a pedestrian and a truck look likely to collide
- Both the industrial truck and the pedestrian are warned simultaneously
- A receiver in the truck indicates how many pedestrian staff are approaching the danger zone and from which direction
- Pedestrians are warned by the transmitter they have on them
- Speed restriction zones can be pre-defined and programmed:
- This empowers the system to automatically reduce the truck's speed in these zones and also warns the truck operator
- This minimises accidents between trucks and staff in areas like production, order picking areas and busy intersections
The system can be adapted to meet any safety requirements. It consists of individual modules, and can be tailored to the respective hazardous situation on individual sites.
Benefits at a glance
- Staff and zone recognition
- Warning zones that can be configured within 10 centimetres of precision
- Visualisation of the number and position of staff in the danger zone
- Mutual warning for pedestrian staff and truck operators
- Detection through walls and racking
- Versatile, adaptable and rapid installation
Safety Guard Options
Pedestrian Warning Band
The Pedestrian Warning Band alerts wearers and forklift operators to potential dangers through loud acoustic signals, flashing LEDs, or vibrations, helping to prevent accidents.
Truck Unit
This warns the industrial truck operator via LED lights and acoustic signals.
Truck Unit (small)
This is attached to the forklift and communicates with stationary modules such as the Static Unit or the Zone Marker.
Portable Unit
Warns staff of approaching industrial trucks using acoustic signals, LED lights and vibration.
Sensors
These detect the modules carried by pedestrians and industrial trucks in the defined hazardous zones.
Static Unit
This marks hazardous zones in critical areas such as access doors or low visibility intersections. This module warns others in the area via acoustic signals and LED lights.
Zone Marker
This defines speed restriction areas.
Charger
This charges the Portable Unit inductively. The fully automatic activation provides optimum convenience for the operator.
