New retractable locating pin from Festo Canada has unique locking capability

The new Zaytran LSA-95 safety variant eliminates a hazard for workers in automotive manufacturing posed by the inadvertant retraction of a locating pin securing large metal forms for welding or fastening.

Festo Canada has launched another innovative product: a retractable locating pin by Zaytran Automation, with a mechanical locking capability. Locating pins, used in automotive assembly facilities and their Tier 1 and 2 suppliers, are large pneumatic positioning components used mainly for aligning heavy sheet-metal parts for welding and fastening in assembly of car bodies and sections, and the locking ability of Zaytran’s new LSA-95 variant is a vital safety upgrade.

No accidental load movement

Unlike in automakers’ body shops, many Tier 1 and 2 suppliers do not use robots; retractable locating pins are employed with human involvement. With its new safety variant, Zaytran – for whom Festo is the exclusive global distributor of these units – eliminates the injury risk from a load shifting when a pin retracts unexpectedly.

The LSA-95 series now has the only locating pin that has a mechanical spring locking mechanism. The lock automatically engages when the cylinder is in a fully extended position and the pilot air holding the lock is exhausted; when the lock is engaged, the operator can work safely. This lock can resist up to 400 pounds of force, and it is an active system, which means that it engages and disengages through the operator’s specific actions – more dependable than standard passive systems. The user can also integrate the LSA-95 pilot air signal into any safety circuitry to create a PL-d-level safety condition. The latter feature is available exclusively with this cylinder.

LSA-95 locating pins with this safety variant are dimensionally identical to the standard Zaytran LSA-95 units, which have become the top choice of automakers across North America. They have the same user advantages, such as being maintenance-free and, subject to design sign-off, guaranteed for full operational life.

Zaytran has developed this new pin in collaboration with Festo in response to wide customer demand. Tier 1 and 2 suppliers are always concerned with safety issues and have been focusing on unexpected movements of locating pins over two years. The new LSA-95 safety variant is the solution that eliminates this risk.

To learn more, contact Festo.

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