Leuze / RSL safety laser scanners

An RSL scanner is two parts. The sensor head and the CU connection unit are ordered as one code but they are separate items, and the connection unit is what stays wired to the machine.

RSL 400 is the current Leuze safety laser scanner range, used for area guarding on machines and for safeguarding and navigating AGVs and autonomous mobile robots.

Reading an RSL order code

Take RSL420-M/CU411-RS4.

The whole thing carries a single 8-digit Leuze order number, in this case 53800249.

The connection unit is the part that matters on a replacement

The CU carries the field wiring. The sensor head mounts to it.

So two scanners with the same RSL number and different CUs wire into the machine completely differently. One takes M12 cordsets; another has a fixed 5 m tail.

Send the whole code including the CU. A parts list showing only RSL420 does not specify the unit.

The CU411-RS4 is a migration path

Genuinely useful and easy to miss.

Leuze describes the CU411-RS4 connection unit as an RS4 substitute.

The RS4 is the earlier discontinued Leuze scanner, and it is still on plenty of New Zealand machinery. The CU411-RS4 lets a current RSL 400 scanner take the place of one.

If you have an RS4 down, ask about both of the first two. We supply used RS4 and current RSL, and the choice usually comes down to whether the field sets and the assessment are worth preserving.

A scanner is Type 3, not Type 4

Worth putting plainly because it decides whether a scanner is the right device at all.

That is inherent to the technology, not a limitation of a particular model. A scanner suits area and approach protection where its rating is adequate, and does not substitute for a curtain guarding a hazardous point.

As always, that decision belongs with whoever holds the machine's safety assessment. We supply what you specify.

The function variants

Four variants across the RSL 410 to 450P range, and the number tells you the capability.

Field pairs are the thing to match

A field pair is a protective field and its associated warning field. Ten pairs means the scanner can hold ten different field configurations and switch between them.

That is what lets one scanner cover a machine that changes shape, or an AGV that needs different fields at different speeds.

So an RSL 410 with one field pair cannot replace an RSL 420 on a machine that switches fields. The hardware simply cannot hold the configurations.

Check what the existing scanner is before quoting a cheaper variant.

What the RSL 440 adds

The top I/O variant, and the extra functions are substantial.

Two independent protective functions is the real differentiator

One scanner can guard two things separately, each with its own outputs. A person entering zone one stops the infeed; zone two stops the robot.

That is why the 440 has four safety outputs where the 410 and 420 have two.

So a 440 replaces two scanners on a complex cell, and conversely a lower variant cannot take over from one without splitting the safety function back out.

EDM is worth knowing about

Dynamic contactor monitoring is selectable on the RSL 440.

That means the scanner itself checks that the contactors it commands have actually dropped out, rather than relying on a separate safety relay to do it.

If EDM is enabled and a contactor is slow or welded, the scanner faults. So an RSL 440 reporting a fault on a machine that seems fine is worth checking at the contactors before the scanner.

Protective field and warning field are different ranges

The specification most often misread.

The warning field reaches far further than the protective field, because it does not have to detect reliably enough to stop a machine. It slows things down or sounds an alarm.

So a scanner quoted as 20 m is not protecting to 20 m. The protective field is the safety-relevant figure and it is much shorter.

Leuze states the RSL 410 safeguards large areas of up to 160 square metres.

Common specifications

270 degrees is not 360

Worth stating because it drives mounting.

A scanner has a 90 degree blind sector behind it, where the connection unit and mounting sit.

So a scanner mounted in the middle of an open area leaves a quarter of the circle uncovered. They are designed to sit in a corner or against a wall, or to be used in pairs.

The alphanumeric display is the diagnostic

Read it before ordering anything. An RSL reports contamination, field infringement, configuration mismatch and faults distinctly.

A scanner that is nuisance-tripping is very often reporting exactly why.

The configuration does not come with a replacement

The same point as every scanner on this site.

The protective and warning field shapes were drawn for that specific installation, from the machine geometry, the stopping time and the approach speed.

So keep the configuration file. Loading it into a replacement is quick; redrawing field sets is not, and on a scanner with up to 100 field pairs it is a serious job.

If you run RSL scanners and nobody has the project files, that is worth resolving before you need them.

The optical screen is a wear part

The single most common cause of a scanner nuisance-tripping.

The screen takes the abrasion, the dust and the cleaning. On a scanner that is otherwise sound, a scratched or hazed screen reduces range and causes contamination warnings.

Clean it before ordering anything. On a timber mill or a bulk handling plant that is a weekly job, not an annual one.

Screens are separately replaceable on the scanner rather than a reason to replace the scanner. Ask about the screen before the unit.

AGV and mobile applications

Leuze positions the RSL range for safeguarding and navigating automated guided vehicles and autonomous mobile robots as well as fixed machines.

On a vehicle the field pairs earn their keep, because the protective field has to change with speed and direction of travel. A slow reversing AGV needs a different field from one running forward at full speed.

That is why an AGV scanner is usually a higher variant, and why the field switching is wired to the vehicle control.

On an AGV, also check the mounting after any impact. A scanner knocked out of alignment covers the wrong area, which is both a nuisance and a safety concern.

The AIDA variant

Worth knowing if you meet one.

Some RSL 410 units are described as AIDA-compliant, the automotive industry connection standard, with a simple 8-pin M12 connection into the machine control.

If a machine came from an automotive supplier, that is likely why the connection arrangement looks different from the rest of the plant.

Important: safety replacements

A laser scanner's fields were configured from the machine geometry, the stopping time and the approach speed.

A like-for-like replacement loaded with the original configuration preserves the assessment. A different variant, connection unit or field set does not. Field pair count and protective field range are not interchangeable.

We will supply exactly what you specify. If you ask for an alternative we will say what we believe is equivalent and what differs, but the decision belongs with whoever is responsible for the machine's safety. We are a parts supplier, not your safety engineer.

What to send us

The full code including the connection unit, and the 8-digit order number.

The function variant. 410, 420, 430, 440 or 450P.

How many field pairs are in use.

Whether you have the configuration file.

Whether it is on a fixed machine or a vehicle.

Whether it is replacing an RS4, since the CU411-RS4 exists for that.

Before ordering a replacement

What we can supply

Current production. RSL 410, 420, 430, 440 and 450P across sensor variants, all CU connection units including the CU411-RS4, plus optical screens, mounting kits, cleaning accessories and cordsets. Quoted with a delivered lead time.

Discontinued. RS4 and RD800 scanners. Surplus and tested used, which keeps an existing installation exactly as assessed.

Connection units and screens separately. The CU is often reusable and the screen is often the actual fault.

We buy Leuze scanners

RS4 and RD800 scanners hold real value to plants still running them, because a like-for-like replacement avoids reconfiguring and revalidating field sets.

Keep connection units with their sensor heads. If you are decommissioning, do not scrap them. See Sell To Us.

Related

Leuze overview and MLC light curtains and MLD light beam devices.

For safety scanners from other brands see SICK microScan3, Allen-Bradley 442L and Omron.

Send us your order codes

Include the connection unit. Two scanners with the same RSL number and different CUs wire in completely differently. Quotes in NZD including GST.

Request a quote

Industech is an independent supplier of new, surplus and used industrial automation equipment. We are not an authorised distributor of, approved by, sanctioned by, or affiliated with Leuze electronic. Leuze and Leuze electronic are trademarks of Leuze electronic GmbH + Co. KG. PROFIsafe and PROFINET are trademarks of PROFIBUS Nutzerorganisation. All trademarks, brand names and part numbers are the property of their respective owners and are used here for identification purposes only. Information on this page is for identification and does not constitute a safety assessment.