February 27, 2017 - Balluff announced a functional safety solution that combines PROFIsafe, an industry standard safety communication protocol, with IO-Link, a standard communication technology for sensors and actuators. As a part of this solution portfolio, Balluff is introducing an IO-Link safety I/O hub enabled for PROFIsafe and a host of safety field devices including an e-stop pushbutton, interlocking door/gate switches, and light curtains. When used in conjunction with a PROFIsafe controller, the PROFIsafe IO-Link safety I/O hub can achieve Safety Integrity Level (SIL) CL 3 according to EN/IEC 62061 or Safety Performance Level (PL) e according to ISO 13849-1.
Balluff's safety I/O hub is an IP67 protection rated machine mount IO-Link device. The safety I/O hub features eight M12 ports capable of connecting 6 dual channel safety inputs, 2 safe outputs and 2 standard I/O points. A multitude of safety devices can be connected to this safety hub.
The Balluff safety I/O hub carries a PROFIsafe conformance certificate from the PROFIBUS user organization and certificates for EN/IEC 61508 and EN/ISO13849-1 (TÜV SÜD).
The Balluff safety I/O hub utilizes a black channel tunneling principle to communicate with the PROFIsafe controller via a Balluff PROFINET IO-Link master.
