IEC 60335-2-92 Figure 103 / figure 104 Foot Probe Test

Appliance:

The standard requires rotary power mowers to have protective shields. These shields prevent the operator's foot from contacting the blade, either under the mower's deck or in the discharge chute area, when the operator has his or her hands on the mower's controls. Generally, a shield must prevent a foot probe from entering the path of the mower blade or from forcing any part of the mower into the path of the blade. The only difference between the UL Foot Probe Model FP10 and International Foot Probe is the length of the simulated leg.

Standards :

IEC 60335-2-92 Figure 103, UL 82 and UL 1447

IEC 60335-2-92 Standards description:

20.103.1.3 Access to cutting means Inadvertent access to the cutting means by the feet during operation shall be prevented so far as is reasonably practicable.

On the operator side, the distance between the blade tip circle and the rear housing or a deflector shall be at least 120 mm (see Figure 101).

Scarifiers with discharge openings shall have deflectors (e.g. catchers, baffle plates) which catch thrown objects and prevent inadvertent access by the operator’s feet.

Movable deflectors shall return to the closed position automatically.

Instructions shall be affixed to the scarifier near the discharge opening and to the catcher adapter, if one is used, stating that the scarifier shall not be operated without either the entire catcher or the guard in place.

Compliance is checked by inspection.

For the guards at the sides of the machine, compliance is checked by the following test using the foot probe (Figure 103) as illustrated in Figure 104.

The scarifier is placed on a hard flat surface, the guards or deflectors or both being in the normal operating position on the cutting means housing and the support members (wheels) in contact with the supporting surface. The test is conducted under static conditions.

Single axle scarifiers are to be positioned as instructed by the manufacturer or so that the handle grip is 900 mm above the supporting surface.

The tests are made with the cutting means in the highest and lowest cutting position. The base of the test probe is held horizontally at any height and then inclined up to 15° forward or backward from the horizontal. The probe is applied at any point of the housing side.

The test probe shall not enter the path of the cutting means assembly. The test probe shall not lift the scarifier or any of its parts from the supporting surface.