Explosion protection: Assistant for intelligent accident prevention

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Forklifts that warn each other of potential collisions, automatically reduce their speed and know whether or not they are allowed to enter a specific warehouse area: The intelligent Linde Safety Guard assistance system is now also available for explosion-protected industrial trucks used in ATEX zones 2/22. Its various functions help fleet operators in the chemical, pharmaceutical, or food industries to avoid accidents that can have particularly serious consequences in sensitive environments.

In explosion-protected zones, the prevention of accidents involving industrial trucks plays an even greater role than in normal warehouse or production areas, because there is a risk of hazardous substances being released and, in the worst case, an explosion caused which could have far-reaching consequences for people and infrastructure. “Explosion-proof forklifts from Linde Material Handling are very similar to series production models. This enables us to offer many solutions from the standard portfolio in a modified form for ATEX zones,” says Elke Karnarski, Product Manager Ex-Proof Trucks & Retrofit Solutions at Linde Material Handling.

This is now also the case with the Linde Safety Guard, which can be selected as a customer-specific solution for all explosion-proof electric forklifts offered by the material handling specialist. The assistance system is designed to help with particularly frequent situations having risk potential – such as collisions of vehicles at blind intersections or in front of rack aisles where visibility is poor.

Equipped with a “Truck Unit” certified for zones 2/22, the explosion-protected industrial trucks recognize each other and automatically slow down as soon as they reach a specified minimum distance. In addition, speed limits in complete halls or on certain sections are a frequent requirement for accident prevention in ATEX areas. Zone markers on walls and ceilings automatically slow down all equipment to a predefined speed.

Equally important is compliance with access restrictions to ATEX zones. In this case, the Linde Safety Guard acts as a “gatekeeper” that allows only explosion-protected vehicles to enter these areas. If a driver of a standard truck attempts to cross the imaginary threshold, the truck brakes to creep speed. The gatekeeper can be coupled with a projector that displays a large ATEX warning symbol on the floor, indicating entry into a sensitive zone.

The innovative Linde Safety Guard assistance system is based on ultra-wideband technology and operates in the high-frequency range. Its great advantage is that the signal passes through walls and does not affect other networks such as WLAN, Bluetooth, or RFID.