Safe I/O Integration Made Easy, Thanks to New Balluff CIP Safety Module

You can always expect to find some variety of safety equipment on any automated technology, large or small. It might be as simple as a single emergency stop button or as complex as multiple doors, laser stations, and robot enclosure lockouts. These devices all have hard-wired signals that need to return to a safety control circuit. Wiring every one of the individual safety devices and debugging system problems can take countless hours during the integration phase of a more complex project.

Balluff, already with a current catalog of safety-rated devices installed across a global customer base, is making this process easier with a new line of CIP safety I/O modules.

 

The new I/O module with a safety rating from Balluff. Image used courtesy of Balluff

 

IP67 CIP Safety Module

The BNI00HM is an IP67-rated I/O module that can communicate to safety PLCs over the CIP ethernet/IP protocol. The CIP (control and information protocol) protocol resides on the Ethernet infrastructure and doesn’t require any special hardware. It is been used for many years now with Allen Bradley’s Kinetix 5000 series servo drives.

The BNI00HM is configurable to support 12 single-channel safe inputs, 6 dual-channel safe inputs, and a combination of either 4 single-channel or 2 dual-channel safe outputs. With the safety I/O module itself being IP67 rated, the module can be mounted in the field next to the equipment. This design architecture reduces long cable runs and common wiring mistakes.

Channels are wired using common M12 threaded 5-pin connectors. Even the Ethernet connection is an M12 4-pin D-coded connection and the power connections are standard ⅞” 4-pin, both of which are quite common on machine-mounted modules to provide environmental resilience.

The I/O module is SIL certified to a category 3 and is UL listed along with CE marked.

Configuration is easily completed through Balluff’s safety networking configuration tool and the module is integrated into Rockwell Automation IDE for safety-rated PLCs.

Replacing safety components can cause serious downtime, but the BNI00HM has included an integrated memory key that can be exchanged if replacement is necessary.

 

Thanks to an IP67 rating, the module can be mounted directly on machines in the field. Image used courtesy of Balluff

 

Safety For Machine Builders

Whether your business is engineering your own in-house designs or integrating automation equipment for factories and manufacturers, it is critical to build the equipment as fast as possible while maintaining superior build quality. One way to achieve this is to reduce long cable runs and reduce the number of wired inputs and outputs.

With safety components, the input or output signal often needs to be hard-wired to a safety PLC input or output module. In most PLC systems, this can involve integrating multiple safety I/O cards into a PLC I/O rack and adding input or output cards as needed. In a small, local system, this design works quite well, but for larger systems, multiple distributed I/O racks will need to be installed in remote panels.

Balluff’s solution allows for remote connection of safety input and output devices directly in the field. This reduces the need for remote panels and long cable runs. Safety wiring can be quite complicated and debugging these connections can take away from valuable integration time. Using a configurable I/O block, the connections to and from devices can utilize standard cables and connections, virtually eliminating safety wiring issues.