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Is it a machine or a system?

Paul Roman
Good afternoon


I am looking for someone who can help advise regarding an installation of materials handling equipment.  Within the installation you have numerous conveyors, automated cranes, robots cells as an example. Each having a control panel which would isolate that individual item.  The question I have is when you take each of these 'machines' so various conveyors and automated cranes aand they are interconnected can you still treat them as individual machines, thus the electrical design falls under the machinery directive, or do you treat it as a distributed systen and therefore it would be classed as a system and perhaps therefore meet different criteria for electrical design.


I am trying to ensure that our designs which are designed within mainland Europe under the machinery directive meet the requirments as an installation in the UK, where some are looking at it as a distibuted system and therefore applying 17th addition for example.


Any help greatly appreciated.


Paul.
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  • 0
    Thank James


    ​Also being from a controls background I can see why my question is a bit 'open'.  It is much more to do with the elecrical design rather than the safety, and whether you design electrics to machinery directive and include other 'best practices'.  As an eample that Roger picked up on, the cable from the motor isolator to the motor, as it is not SWA or SY cable, should it be encolsed in copex for protection as an example? From our UK perspective we belive it should, from the interpretation of the Machinery Directive of others, the fact it sits within the confines of the machine (underneath the conveyor) it is in theory protected within the confines of the machine.


    ​To be honest I do not believe there to be a definitive answer, as long as you follow the directives and use the required standards and can show from the Technical File for CE marking you have done this it still comes down to interpretation in the end.
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  • 0
    Thank James


    ​Also being from a controls background I can see why my question is a bit 'open'.  It is much more to do with the elecrical design rather than the safety, and whether you design electrics to machinery directive and include other 'best practices'.  As an eample that Roger picked up on, the cable from the motor isolator to the motor, as it is not SWA or SY cable, should it be encolsed in copex for protection as an example? From our UK perspective we belive it should, from the interpretation of the Machinery Directive of others, the fact it sits within the confines of the machine (underneath the conveyor) it is in theory protected within the confines of the machine.


    ​To be honest I do not believe there to be a definitive answer, as long as you follow the directives and use the required standards and can show from the Technical File for CE marking you have done this it still comes down to interpretation in the end.
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