Hygienic design enables hygiene and safety

Hygiene and safety are particularly important in food processing. Machines and equipment must be designed so that they are easy to clean; dirt pockets must be avoided.

With the Han^® F+B, HARTING is delivering a series of connectors that have been specially designed for food industry requirements. Smooth surfaces make it more difficult for bacteria to accumulate. The housings and seals are robust; they protect the internal contacts against water jets and aggressive cleaning agents.

Every minute counts when a machine is down. Operators and service teams are often under enormous time pressure when an outage occurs. During such situations, the supply connections to the facility must be easy to handle.

When using the Han^® F+B, users do not need to open any cable glands on the control cabinet in order to decouple field devices. The complex disconnecting and reconfiguring of fixed wiring is no longer necessary. Thus, facility installations run faster when plug-in connectors are used. Tool changes and service calls are also completed quickly.

In addition, the Han^® F+B series has been designed so that it can be plugged and unplugged easily, safely and quickly. Special fluting in the housing walls ensure that the installer's hands do not slip off the connector.

The product zone is the area exposed to direct contact with food – it has the most demanding requirements for machines and components. This zone is often kept small to reduce the required cleaning work. Because electromechanical interfaces would interrupt these smooth surfaces, they are mounted outside this zone whenever possible.

In the spray zone, food may come into contact with the surrounding components. Processing material which has come into contact must not be permitted to re-enter the product stream. Despite all best efforts, residues can still get stuck on the components; this enables bacteria to accumulate. Therefore, after batches are processed, this zone must be cleaned using high pressure washing and chemicals. Connectors are practical here, but they must be able to withstand the pressure of the cleaner.

The design of the Han^® F+B housing is adapted to the requirements of this zone. The housing has large radii and surfaces, in accordance with the guidelines of the European Hygienic Engineering & Design Group (EHEDG). Housing and seals provide IP69K protection for the connections.