Pressure-Sensitive Safety Mats

Safety mats are available in numerous sizes, and are available with or without edging.

This is a non-stock item and may incur an extended delivery time.

Pressure-sensitive safety mats are intended to be used as auxiliary or additional safeguarding equipment to protect operators and other employees in the machine area. They must not be used as primary safeguarding except when all other means are not applicable.

These mats can safeguard many types of machines. When considering their use, the following should be asked:

1. How is the mat to be interfaced to the existing motor control or equipment? Does a new control or starter need to be added?
2. Can the motion of the machine that is creating the point-of-operation hazard be stopped quickly? If it can, what kind of clutch and brake arrangement does it have? Is the machine hydraulically or pneumatically operated? Is it operated by any other means?

Before applying a pressure-sensitive safety mat to any machine, make sure it will be interfaced correctly with the machine control and make sure it does not interfere with productivity. The whole machine system must be considered, including safeguarding, machine control, disconnects, starters, covers for rotating parts, auxiliary parts, feeding and retrieving of work pieces, etc.

The pressure-sensitive, heavy-duty safety mats, described on this page, are highly resistant to wear, oils, grease, acids and most common chemicals.

These mats can be applied so that if someone or some object is on the mat, the machine will not start. Also, when the machine is operating or cycling, the machine will stop if someone steps on the mat. When applying the mat in this manner, when someone steps on the mat while the machine is cycling, arrangements must be made to restart the machine once the mat is cleared.

When installing the mat(s), they must be located so an operator or other employee, when stepping onto the mat, cannot reach into the point-of-operation hazard prior to the machine’s hazardous motion coming to a stop. See ANSI/RIA R15.06 robot safety standard for detailed guidelines on mat safety distance. Also see the ANSI B11.19 for guidelines on mat control system reliability.

The single-piece molded construction of these safety mats means these mats will not de-laminate. The mats encase conductive plates which provide stop/restart signals when pressure is applied or released. Each mat top surface has a rib pattern running parallel with the mat length which helps prevent slipping, yet is easy to clean.

All mats are supplied with a 20′ single-jacketed, four-wire cord exiting from the width end of the mat. The outside edge of each mat has a lip to attach either an aluminum ramp or a blunt edge. The lip can also be removed when joining two mats with a mat connector. The mat dimensions provided are for the active area of the mat.

These mats can be supplied individually or in multiple configurations. They are available in various sizes and can be tied together (electrically) in series.

Note: The safety mat control box Part No. RKR-162 must be used with the mats.

The heavy-duty pressure-sensitive safety mats offered have been successfully used to provide auxiliary safeguarding for the hazard areas that exist in many industrial environments. Some of these include:

• Robotic welding
• Laser welding/cutting
• Water jet machines
• Pick and place robots
• Plastics molding machines
• Assembly machines
• Automated material handling
• Packaging machinery
• Textile machinery
• Conveyors
• Paper converting machinery
• CNC punches and tube benders

Standard Mats
These heavy-duty, pressure-sensitive safety mats are made from a durable laminate. The molding encases two separated parallel steel plates. These plates make contact when the mat is stepped on. They have a black, ribbed pattern top surface to help prevent slipping and are easy to clean.

The mats are active over the entire surface, except the narrow border. They are designed for low-voltage (24-V DC) control circuits.

All standard size safety mats can be modified, i.e., with notches, cutouts, angles, or holes. Various configured layouts of any dimension can be supplied. Various colors, sizes, and shapes of mats are available along with different wiring options to meet your requirements. To obtain a proposal to meet your needs, submit a layout drawing complete with all dimensions and a list of your specific requirements.