{"id":4003,"date":"2020-02-19T15:34:36","date_gmt":"2020-02-19T14:34:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/update.phoenixcontact.com\/news\/gentle-bouncers\/"},"modified":"2020-04-24T10:00:15","modified_gmt":"2020-04-24T08:00:15","slug":"gentle-bouncers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/update.phoenixcontact.com\/en\/gentle-bouncers\/","title":{"rendered":"Gentle bouncers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The more gentle the bouncer, the more pleasant the entrance. A visit to the Westphalian town of Lippstadt shows why this is not only the case when it comes to admission to sought-after hangouts. ASO Safety Solutions GmbH is located there. And they know how to teach mechanical inlet regulators the right manners. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Dennis Mettner and Norbert Pewny<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Closing is part of their job, but project manager Norbert Pewny and hardware developer Dennis Mettner are not at all closed off when it comes to the latest product from their ranks: \u201cWith Drico 2.0, we have achieved an unprecedented level of flexibility on the market,\u201d says Pewny, summarizing the advantages of the new gate controller. The two experts work at ASO Safety Solutions in Lippstadt. The company is one of the leading developers, manufacturers, and distributors of security solutions for doors, gates, and machine building. Around 170 employees work here and at locations in the US and China on solutions for conveying technology, lifting and access technology, industrial truck technology, and the safety, sensors, & controls sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The gate is a machine <\/h4>\n\n\n\n

In the latter area, ASO manufactures three large product groups that ensure that moving door and gate elements don\u2019t get out of hand: safety contact strips, safety contact buffers, and safety contact mats. What they all have in common is a control unit that collects the data from the sensors and transmits necessary commands to the system or vehicle controller.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It sounds simple, but it is full of technological challenges when it comes down to the details. Because what is most important is signal acquisition and processing that are reliable and as fast as possible. Who wants a fast-moving roller shutter to turn into a guillotine when it closes? Dennis Mettner shows what\u2019s important for the safety contact strips used here at the bottom edge of the gates: \u201cContact strips are attached to the flexible rubber elements. If they touch each other, such as when the door meets resistance, the system control switches the drive off at lightning speed, the motor stops, and the door comes to a halt.\u201d Project manager and electrical engineer Norbert Pewny adds: \u201cWe look at a gate like a machine. That\u2019s why the same strict safety regulations apply.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Machine stopper<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

ASO knows all about this, because their contact mats and bumpers ensure that even machines in operation have the right manners when they come into close contact with their human operators. This becomes clear, for example, in the case of the contact buffers, which are say the bumpers that are attached to the moving portals of large CNC milling machines. These gantries are mounted onto a machine table on which the workpiece, say a wooden plate, is fixed. The tools for machining are mounted on the portal, moving on rails. Controlled by a machining program, the portal moves in such a way that the moving tools, such as drills or milling machines, can be activated at the right places on the plate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If an operator now gets in the way of the heavy gantry, accidents could happen. However, large-area barriers would get in the way of the space required by a production facility or workshop. But by using bumpers, the controller reacts with lightning speed to unplanned contact and stops the heavy machine. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Domestic production<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

When walking through production, it\u2019s surprising to notice that ASO manufactures most of the elements itself. Long conveyor lines run through production; the rubber elements are also produced here, and their development is precisely controlled. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur vertical range of manufacturing is one of our arguments that wins us customers,\u201d reports Mettner. \u201cIt is precisely this that allows us to respond individually to every customer request. Our customers are mainly from industry and the manufacturing sector, where custom-made products are quite commonplace.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n