Compact safety valves sets new standard

Festo has launched a new combined soft-start and quick-exhaust safety valve. The MS6-SV-C offers exceptionally high flow rates in a compact size. As a result, it can vent air in a system quickly and reliably, giving excellent response and performance in an emergency and thus offering machine builders enhanced safety.

This next generation of valve is expected to set new standards as it is highly configurable and is the only valve on the market that enables machine builders to freely adjust both the air flow and the pressure switching point, and therefore best optimise their system.

The safety valves are ideal for medium to low risk systems and have certification up to Performance level C in accordance with DIN EN ISO 13849-1. They have been designed for applications with low switching frequencies, for example venting after Emergency-stop buttons or door locks are activated.

Thanks to its soft-start function, unregulated movements by system components are avoided during start-up and the system contains no residual pressure once vented, therefore providing exceptional safety for the machine operator.

There are two valves in the range, the MS6-SV-C and MS9-SV-C, compatible with either 60mm or 90mm grid size MS series air preparation ranges. The MS6-SV-C has a standard nominal flow rate of up to 5,700 l/min and a venting capacity of up to 7,600 l/min. The MS9-SV-C delivers a higher standard nominal flow rate of up to 16,500 l/min, and venting capacity up to 20,500 l/min.

Extremely compact, and combining two functions in one unit, the valves are particularly suitable for system manufacturers in the automotive, food and packaging industries and can be installed easily in to an air preparation system as part of the safety configuration set up. The valves help improve machine reliability by reducing impacts and damage to the machinery and payloads.

“The Machinery Directive obliges system manufacturers to carry out risk assessment of the hazard posed by machinery,” says Steve Sands, product manager at Festo GB. “At Festo we have decades of experience helping machine builders to design safe machines, and I’m delighted we can now offer this new generation of valve which is ideal for applications where space is restricted but a high flow rate is required, and where machine and system manufacturers have to integrate the system venting safety function with a performance level up to C.”