Designing Safe Pneumatic Systems

The design and construction of machinery always has two objects in mind, apart from its obvious functionality. The first is that anyone operating the machine should be protected from any accidental injury as a result of its malfunction. The second is that the machine itself should be protected from accidental damage. For these reasons, complex controls must be applied when designing safe pneumatic systems, to ensure that they comply with international standards – such as ISO:13849 for functional machine safety.

The design of any pneumatic system must always include safe stop functionality in order to halt dangerous motion. Safe stop also prevents the machinery activating unexpectedly from a resting state. Other pneumatic safety controls must include:

• reduction of pressure and force
• limiting temperature and speed
• safe release of energy
• blocking or stopping motion
• only moving in a safe direction