MD Mechanical Directive

1、 Introduction to MD Mechanical Instructions

Since January 1, 1995, the Machinery Directive has officially become a mandatory regulation in Europe, and all EU member states are required to incorporate some of its basic provisions into their respective national laws. The EU Machinery Directive is not aimed at technical details, but focuses on safety and health regulations related to mechanical design and structure. The new EU Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC came into effect on December 29, 2009.

On June 9, 2006, the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union published the latest version of the Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC in their official journals. Compared with the previous Machinery Directive 98/37/EC, the new directive has undergone significant changes in terms of scope of application, basic health and safety requirements, conformity assessment procedures, and market supervision. According to the requirements of the new directive, it will officially come into effect on June 29, 2006, 20 days after its release. Overall, the new directive separates similar content from the current directive into separate chapters, with a clearer structure and easier understanding of the content, which helps manufacturers, certification bodies, and member states to understand and apply the content of the directive.

The previous Machinery Directive 98/37/EC was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on July 23, 1998, replacing the 1989 Directive 89/392/EEC and subsequent revised directives 91/368/EEC, 93/44/EEC, and 93/63/EEC.

2、 Mechanical definition

The machinery described in the Machinery Directive includes mechanical equipment, interchangeable equipment, safety components, lifting attachments, chains, ropes and woven belts, detachable transmission devices, and semi-finished machinery.

1) Machinery refers to a device that is driven by non-human or other animal forces, equipped with or designed to be equipped with a driving system, composed of several components, and at least one component can move, designed to accomplish a specific purpose; 99% of the production and processing equipment used in the factory belongs to the machinery defined here

2) Removable equipment refers to devices that can be installed on mechanical equipment to change or increase mechanical functions. However, cutting tools do not belong to the replaceable equipment defined here;

3) A secure element refers to a component purely used to achieve security functions. It does not affect the function of the machinery, but if it fails, it will greatly threaten the safety of the operator and can be circulated separately in the market;

4) Lifting equipment accessories refer to independent devices installed between the lifting equipment and the lifted equipment, commonly including lifting ropes and their components;

5) Chains, ropes, and belts refer to the components primarily used for lifting installed on lifting equipment or its accessories;

6) Detachable mechanical transmission device refers to the transmission device installed between the power source and the driven equipment. If the equipment is equipped with a protective device, the protective device and the device should be considered as one unit and cannot be separated;

7) Semi finished machinery refers to equipment that is about to be assembled into a complete machine, but the equipment itself cannot achieve any functions. An independent drive system is a semi-finished mechanical product.

Depending on the type of machinery and components, commands other than mechanical commands may still be applicable. Other instructions include EMC instructions, low voltage instructions, simple pressure vessel instructions, pressure vessel instructions, etc.

3、 MD Mechanical Directive Evaluation Criteria

The evaluation of mechanical product standards can be divided into Class A, Class B, and Class C.

Class A: applicable to all products and is a set of general requirements

EN ISO 12100 Risk Assessment and Risk Reduction

Class B: It refers to general requirements for certain aspects

EN 13855 Positioning of protective devices related to the speed of approach to human body parts

EN 13857 Safety distance for upper and lower limb contact

EN 14122-1/2/3/4 Mechanical safety - Permanent methods for entering and exiting machines (such as workbenches, fences, stairs, etc.)

......

Class C: Only for special requirements of some products

EN 201 injection molding machine

EN 1012-1 Safety requirements for air compressors

EN 13157 Cranes - Safety - Manual Cranes

EN 14492-1 Electric Winch

......

The general evaluation standards for mechanical products are EN ISO 12100, EN 60204-1, and other Class C standards


4、 Mechanical CE certification process

According to the Machinery Directive, mechanical products can be divided into two categories: ordinary machinery and dangerous machinery (23 types under Appendix IV of the Machinery Directive)

The process is as follows: