Genie secondary guarding for scissors
08 May 2018
Genie is set to introduce a secondary guarding system for slab scissor lifts and vertical masts.
A prototype of the new Genie Lift Guard Contact Alarm system will be shown at Vertikal Days, taking place in the UK, May 16-17.
The system, for Genie GS scissors and GR, GRC and QS vertical masts, is designed to activate when an obstruction makes contact with an activation whisker mounted on the lift’s platform guardrails, alerting the operator, occupants and ground personnel of a potential hazard. The standard configuration will have two activation whiskers — one mounted on the front of the platform and one mounted on the rear.
Zach Gilmor, Genie product manager, Terex AWP, for the Europe, Middle East, Africa and Russia region (EMEAR), said, “The Genie Lift Guard Contact Alarm system is designed to supplement a trained operator’s situational awareness and provide a secondary layer of guarding while working at height. Showing this prototype to customers during Vertikal Days gives us the opportunity to engage with Genie customers and end users, gaining feedback from them so we can tailor our future protective solution offerings to best meet their needs and expectations.”
How it works
The system is designed to activate when an activation whisker is deflected by an obstruction, triggering the limit switch in the base of the assembly. When the system is activated, all machine motion will stop, an alarm will sound and beacons will flash. The operator will be able to continue driving or elevating the platform into the desired working position after acknowledging the activation system and machine stopped condition. According to Gilmor, a free-movement zone will exist between the activation whisker and guardrail, to allow mobility for operators and occupants after the system is activated.
“We designed the Genie Lift Guard Contact Alarm system for slab scissor lifts and vertical masts to provide a level of secondary guarding equivalent to that available on boom lifts, in a package that meets the unique needs of scissor and vertical mast lift applications,” said Gilmor.
The Genie Lift Guard Contact Alarm system will go into production in late 2018. A retrofit kit will be available at that time of production to allow for compatibility with Genie Smart Link system-enabled scissor lifts and vertical masts produced from 2011-2018.
