Safety feature

Known as DriveGuard, the Rockwell Automation safety architecture consists of an internally mounted electronics card that equips the drive with a 'safe off' function, preventing it from delivering rotational energy to motors.

The 'safe off' offering complies with the European Standards for Safety of machinery, EN 954 Category 3, and is in line with ongoing efforts at Rockwell Automation to meet more exacting functional safety requirements - or the 'zone concept'. This concept modularises plant safety by allowing a portion of the production line to slow or stop for troubleshooting, while the rest of the line remains active. As such, safe corrections or adjustments can be made to one section of a process without necessitating complete system shutdown and subsequent restart.

Depending on the configuration, the 'safe off' function is triggered by the interruption of an emergency safety device and automatically causes the motor to coast to a stop.

Easily inserted by removing the drive's front cover, the DriveGuard solution has been specifically designed for use on all Allen-Bradley PowerFlex 70 AC drives. In addition, the PowerFlex 70 range has been expanded to include ratings of up to 37 kW at 400 V, which joins the existing models available in IP66 washdown and flange mount housings.