IEC TS 61496-5 Safety of Machinery - Electro-Sensitive Protective Equipment - Part 5: Particular Requirements for Radar-Based Protective Devices

The standard “IEC TS 61496-5 Machinery safety - Electro-sensitive protective equipment - Part 5: Specific requirements for radar-based protective devices”, published by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), describes specific requirements for the design, construction, and testing of non-contact electro-sensitive protective equipment specifically designed to enable the detection of the entire body of a person or persons as part of a safety-related system, using radar protective devices that respond to the diffuse reflection of radar signals for detection using frequency -modulated continuous wave technology.

Particular attention is paid to the features that ensure that adequate safety-related performance is achieved. An electrosensitive protective equipment may include optional safety-related functions, the requirements of which are given in the Annex A of IEC 61496-1 and in the Annex A of this standard. The requirements given in this standard relate to the detection of adult persons present in an industrial production environment. This standard does not specify the dimensions or configurations of the detection zone and its location in relation to hazardous parts or what constitutes a hazardous state of any machinery for any particular application. It is limited to the operation of the electrosensitive protective equipment and how it interfaces with the machinery.

This standard does not address aspects of the application of a mobile radar protective device. Additional consideration may be required if the radar protective device supplier specifies the radar protective device for use in a mobile application. Additional requirements and tests may apply if the installation of radar protective devices differs from the figures given in this standard.

The radar cross section specified in this standard is based on measurements using horizontal arrangements. In cases where this standard does not contain all the necessary provisions, IEC TS 62998-1 applies. It is also possible to use additional provisions from IEC TS 62998-1 for aspects not covered by this standard.

Radar protective devices using electromagnetic radiation outside the range 9 GHz to 81 GHz are outside the scope of this standard. This standard can be used as a guide for detection devices using electromagnetic radiation outside this range. National regulations may limit the frequencies available. This standard may apply to applications other than the protection of persons, for example for the protection of machines or products from mechanical damage. In these applications, different requirements may be appropriate, for example if the materials to be detected by the detection function have different properties from those of persons.

This standard does not deal with requirements for electrosensitive protective equipment functions that are not related to the protection of persons (e.g. use of detection unit data for navigation).

While a data interface can be used to control optional safety-related electrosensitive protective equipment functions, this standard does not provide specific requirements. The requirements for these safety-related functions can be determined by complying with other standards (e.g. IEC 61508, IEC 62046, IEC 62061 and ISO 13849-1). This standard does not deal with EMC emission requirements.

In this standard, functional requirements are described as follows:

• Normal operation: Normal operation is the state of a radar protection device in which no fault is detected and the output signal switching devices are allowed to be in the open or closed state depending on the detection function and operating mode. In normal operation, the radar protection device shall respond by giving appropriate output signals when a test target representing the detection capability enters or is in the detection zone. The radar protection device response time shall not exceed the time specified by the supplier. It shall not be possible to adjust the response time without using a switch, keyword or tool.
• Types of electrosensitive protective equipment replacement: This standard only considers Type 3 electrosensitive protective equipment. A Type 3 electrosensitive protective equipment shall meet the fault detection requirements of this standard. In normal operation, the output circuit of each of at least two output signal switching devices of a Type 3 electrosensitive protective equipment shall switch to the closed state when the detection function is activated or when power is removed from the device. It is the responsibility of the machine supplier or user to determine which type is required for a particular application. When a single safety-related data interface is used to perform the functions of the output signal switching devices, the data interface and the associated safety-related communication interface shall meet the requirements of IEC 61496-1. In this case, the two output signal switching devices in a Type 3 electrosensitive protective equipment may be replaced by a single safety-related data interface.
• The limited location accuracy zone may be a zone in the radar protection device where detection is provided but location accuracy is not. This zone starts from the front surface of the radar protection devices and ends at the minimum detection zone specified by the supplier. The dimensions of the limited location accuracy zone and information suitable for use are provided by the supplier. The supplier ensures that the specified targets are detected in the limited location accuracy zone and that the limited location accuracy zone does not change over time. These requirements are verified by relevant analysis and tests.

This standard also details design requirements and environmental requirements.

Our organization, which has been trying to support businesses from every sector with its wide range of testing, measurement, analysis and evaluation studies for years, has a strong staff that closely follows the developments in the world in the field of science and technology and constantly improves itself. In this context, testing services are also provided to businesses in accordance with the standard “IEC TS 61496-5 Safety of machinery - Electrosensitive protective equipment - Part 5: Specific requirements for radar-based protective devices”.