Patent ID: 7351948

Claim:
A safety system for an industrial press having a moveable section defining a leading edge and a stationary section, the safety system including: a laser device for emitting a plurality of parallel continuous planar beams having a generally constant lateral width; wherein the planar beams are located between the moveable and stationary sections of the industrial press and each planar beam is spaced at a different distance to the leading edge of the moveable section such that a first planar beam is spaced further from the leading edge than a second planar beam; a light receiver for receiving the planar beams and for detecting when an object intersects at least one of the planar beams; and a controller for stopping or preventing motion of the moveable section when the light receiver detects that at least one of the planar beams has intersected an object, said controller further adapted to decelerate the moveable section from a first speed to a second speed within a deceleration zone, said zone defined between a first point at which the first planar beam passes a speed control point and a second point at which the second planar beam passes the speed control point, wherein the first and second speeds of the moveable section are measured at the first and second points, respectively.