Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • Sustainable Plastics
  • Rubber News
Subscribe
  • Sign Up Free
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Processor News
    • Suppliers
    • More News
    • Digital Edition
    • End Markets
    • Special Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Resin pricing news
    • Videos
    • Injection Molding
    • Blow Molding
    • Film & Sheet
    • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
    • Rotomolding
    • Thermoforming
    • Recycling
    • Machinery
    • Materials
    • Molds/Tooling
    • Product news
    • Design
    • K Show
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Sustainability
    • Public Policy
    • Material Insights Videos
    • Numbers that Matter
    • Automotive
    • Packaging
    • Medical
    • Consumer Products
    • Construction
    • Processor of the Year
    • Best Places to Work
    • Women Breaking the Mold
    • Rising Stars
    • Diversity
    • Most Interesting Social Media Accounts in Plastics
  • Opinion
    • The Plastics Blog
    • Kickstart
    • One Good Resin
    • Pellets and Politics
    • All Things Data
    • Viewpoint
    • From Pillar to Post
    • Perspective
    • Mailbag
    • Fake Plastic Trees
  • Shop Floor
    • Blending
    • Compounding
    • Drying
    • Injection Molding
    • Purging
    • Robotics
    • Size Reduction
    • Structural Foam
    • Tooling
    • Training
  • Events
    • K Show Livestream
    • Plastics News Events
    • Industry Events
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Livestreams/Webinars
    • Editorial Livestreams
    • Ask the Expert
    • Plastics News Events Library
    • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Plastics News Executive Forum
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Plastics News Caps & Closures
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
    • Plastics in Automotive
    • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
    • Polymer Points Live
    • Numbers that Matter Live
    • Plastics in Politics Live
    • Sustainable Plastics Live
    • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
    • Plastics in Healthcare Library
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
  • Rankings & Data
    • Injection Molders
    • Blow Molders
    • Film Sheet
    • Thermoformers
    • Pipe Profile Tubing
    • Rotomolders
    • Mold/Toolmakers
    • LSR Processors
    • Recyclers
    • Compounders - List
    • Association - List
    • Plastic Lumber - List
    • All
  • Directory
  • Resin Prices
    • Commodity TPs
    • High Temp TPs
    • ETPs
    • Thermosets
    • Recycled Plastics
    • Historic Commodity Thermoplastics
    • Historic High Temp Thermoplastics
    • Historic Engineering Thermoplastics
    • Historic Thermosets
    • Historic Recycled Plastics
  • Custom
    • Sponsored Content
    • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
    • Conair Sponsored Content
    • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
    • ENGEL Sponsored Content
    • White Papers
    • Classifieds
    • Place an Ad
    • Sign up for Early Classified
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. News
February 02, 2016 01:00 AM

New safety standards move past the drop bar

Bill Bregar
Senior Staff Reporter
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print

    New machinery safety standards coming this year replace the drop bar — a mechanical safety device that stops the clamp on a horizontal-clamp injection molding press from closing accidentally — with what equipment industry leaders say is the superior controls technology available today.

    The change to ANSI/SPI B151.1 applies only to new injection presses. ANSI is the American National Standards Institute. The Washington-based Society of the Plastics Industry Inc.'s effort was coordinated by the Injection Molding Safety subcommittee, part of SPI's Equipment Council.

    The decision is to eliminate the ratcheted drop bar, also called a jam bar, on new machines. All existing machines still must have the jam bar.

    Also, vertical-clamp injection molding machines are still required to have the mechanical drop bar, because of the effect of gravity.

    “It's a physical barrier that stops the unintended closure of the clamp,” said Stan Glover, who chairs the safety standards subcommittee. That's a big safety issue in plants where workers must reach into the molding area when they open the operator gate.

    Glover said SPI is the standards-writing body for plastics machinery. SPI works with ANSI in the United States, and, for global standards, the International Organization for Standardization, or ISO.

    Glover is director of sales at Zeiger Industries Inc. in Canton, Ohio. He is vice chairman of SPI's Equipment Council, as well as chairing the safety standards group.

    For the first time ever, SPI hosted an ISO meeting on Nov. 3-5 in Niagara Falls, Ontario. More than 40 world safety experts came from about a dozen countries.

    SPI members and safety experts from the across the global machinery industry discussed how to better harmonize safety standards. Husky Injection Molding Systems Ltd. hosted a plant tour at its headquarters in Bolton, Ontario.

    Jim Pilavdzic, Husky's manager of product safety, emphasized the importance of plastics industry leaders getting involved with ISO and the standards-development process. He said the experience opens their doors to world safety experts and meet fellow professionals.

    Co-sponsoring the tour with Husky were the Canadian Plastics Industry Association and SPI. 

    A ‘redundant redundancy'

    After a recent third-party risk assessment of the mechanical device, subcommittee members then determined that the jam bar was “a redundant redundancy” on horizontal machines.

    Pilavdzic said the SPI Safety subcommittee is reconsidering if the mechanical device for horizontal injection presses are in full compliance with the latest revision of the B151.1 standard.

    Committee members fully debated the issue, Pilavdzic said.

    “In essence, these findings confirm our longstanding opinion that the mechanical device is an additional redundant option, which does not reduce residual risks, and only adds mechanical complexities,” he said in a written answer to questions for this story. “The European Community and a large portion of the world have never required the mechanical device to be installed in horizontal injection molding machines, and most importantly, we could not cite any safety accidents related to the operator's gate, where having the mechanical device would have prevented the accident.”

    Here is the Husky expert's explanation: Modern injection molding presses, he said, have “multiple independent safety circuits.” The first circuit is based on the interlocking guards having two position sensors, one in positive mode and one in negative mode. “We are using two position detectors to ensure that safeguarding cannot be defeated,” Pilavdzic said. And the closing platen movement is immediately stopped after the guard opens wide enough to pass a hand through the guard, thanks to an additional safety device in the power supply.

    The jam bar is the third redundant system.

    “Cycling the guard will definitely recognize fault in the safety system and cause the machine to stop, and turn the power off until the fault is corrected,” Pilavdzic said.

    RECOMMENDED FOR YOU
    Illinois AG sues 14 firms over PFAS contamination
    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Do you have an opinion about this story? Do you have some thoughts you'd like to share with our readers? Plastics News would love to hear from you. Email your letter to Editor at [email protected]

    Most Popular
    1
    Prices on the rise for PP, PVC
    2
    Berry CEO Salmon retiring
    3
    This is the year the reality of plastics EPR arrives in the US
    4
    Why EV programs are causing problems for auto suppliers
    5
    Vinyl Institute offering $3M in grants to spur PVC recycling
    SIGN UP FOR OUR FREE NEWSLETTERS
    EMAIL ADDRESS

    Please enter a valid email address.

    Please enter your email address.

    Please verify captcha.

    Please select at least one newsletter to subscribe.

    Get our newsletters

    Staying current is easy with Plastics News delivered straight to your inbox, free of charge.

    Subscribe today

    Subscribe to Plastics News

    Subscribe now
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram

    Plastics News covers the business of the global plastics industry. We report news, gather data and deliver timely information that provides our readers with a competitive advantage.

    Contact Us

    1155 Gratiot Avenue
    Detroit MI 48207-2997

    Customer Service:
    877-320-1723

    Resources
    • About
    • Staff
    • Editorial Calendar
    • Media Kit
    • Data Store
    • Digital Edition
    • Custom Content
    • People
    • Contact
    • Careers
    • Sitemap
    Related Crain Publications
    • Sustainable Plastics
    • Rubber News
    • Tire Business
    • Urethanes Technology
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Copyright © 1996-2023. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Processor News
        • Injection Molding
        • Blow Molding
        • Film & Sheet
        • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
        • Rotomolding
        • Thermoforming
        • Recycling
      • Suppliers
        • Machinery
        • Materials
        • Molds/Tooling
        • Product news
        • Design
      • More News
        • K Show
        • Mergers & Acquisitions
        • Sustainability
        • Public Policy
        • Material Insights Videos
        • Numbers that Matter
      • Digital Edition
      • End Markets
        • Automotive
        • Packaging
        • Medical
        • Consumer Products
        • Construction
      • Special Reports
        • Processor of the Year
        • Best Places to Work
        • Women Breaking the Mold
        • Rising Stars
        • Diversity
        • Most Interesting Social Media Accounts in Plastics
      • Newsletters
      • Resin pricing news
      • Videos
    • Opinion
      • The Plastics Blog
      • Kickstart
      • One Good Resin
      • Pellets and Politics
      • All Things Data
      • Viewpoint
      • From Pillar to Post
      • Perspective
      • Mailbag
      • Fake Plastic Trees
    • Shop Floor
      • Blending
      • Compounding
      • Drying
      • Injection Molding
      • Purging
      • Robotics
      • Size Reduction
      • Structural Foam
      • Tooling
      • Training
    • Events
      • K Show Livestream
      • Plastics News Events
        • Plastics News Executive Forum
        • Injection Molding & Design Expo
        • Plastics News Caps & Closures
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
        • Plastics in Automotive
      • Industry Events
      • Injection Molding & Design Expo
      • Livestreams/Webinars
        • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
      • Editorial Livestreams
        • Polymer Points Live
        • Numbers that Matter Live
        • Plastics in Politics Live
        • Sustainable Plastics Live
      • Ask the Expert
      • Plastics News Events Library
        • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
        • Plastics in Healthcare Library
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
      • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Rankings & Data
      • Injection Molders
      • Blow Molders
      • Film Sheet
      • Thermoformers
      • Pipe Profile Tubing
      • Rotomolders
      • Mold/Toolmakers
      • LSR Processors
      • Recyclers
      • Compounders - List
      • Association - List
      • Plastic Lumber - List
      • All
    • Directory
    • Resin Prices
      • Commodity TPs
        • Historic Commodity Thermoplastics
      • High Temp TPs
        • Historic High Temp Thermoplastics
      • ETPs
        • Historic Engineering Thermoplastics
      • Thermosets
        • Historic Thermosets
      • Recycled Plastics
        • Historic Recycled Plastics
    • Custom
      • Sponsored Content
      • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
      • Conair Sponsored Content
      • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
      • ENGEL Sponsored Content
      • White Papers
      • Classifieds
        • Place an Ad
        • Sign up for Early Classified