Fortress amGard key switch Option Pod

An Option Pod with a key switch has been introduced to the amGard range of modular safety gate switches.

The pod ensures an operative can only enter a potentially hazardous area when it is safe. It prevents inadvertent restart of the machinery while he/she is in there; and a second pod inside the area can be used to initiate safe robot programming using the key.

AmGard combines both trapped-key and gate-switch technologies to control access to equipment protected by safety guarding. Removal of the key from the pod selects machine stop at the end of a run down cycle. When the solenoid within the connected gate switch has been energised, access can be gained. The operator takes the safety key into the hazardous area preventing restart.

Inside the guarded area, a robot’s teach mode can be initiated by insertion of the key into a second pod. This overrides the circuits that operate the robot and enables the separate circuits that allow safe teaching. Reverse robot or machine start is only possible when the key is released from the programming pod, the door safely closed and the key inserted into the pod on the guarding door.