PLASMA CUTTING MACHINE COMPRISING A PROTECTION DEVICE, AND METHOD FOR OPERATING SAID PLASMA CUTTING MACHINE

摘要

Known plasma cutting machines comprise a plasma burner that can be moved by means of a movement unit, a distance sensor that can be actuated at a low voltage level and has an electronic control unit for determining the distance between a workpiece to be machined and said plasma burner, an ignition device which can be actuated at a high voltage level and by means of which an ignition process can be triggered, and a protection device which moves with said plasma burner for the purpose of protecting the electronic control unit from interference voltage resulting from said ignition process. According to the invention, in order to provide a plasma cutting machine based thereupon which satisfies high demands on interference immunity and operational safety, it is suggested that the protection device contains an electronic circuit which comprises said electronic control unit for the distance sensor, a protection switch having a plurality of protection levels for the purpose of reducing the interference voltage, and an interface to a machine control system.