Standards Development

Scope

This Part of IEC 60335 deals with the safety of electric stationary training appliances for household and similar purposes, their rated voltage being not more than 250 V.

NOTE 101 Examples of appliances that are within the scope of this standard are:

- Treadmills;

- Stationary exercise bicycles and upper body crank training;

- Exercise bicycles with a fixed wheel or without freewheel;

- Rowing machines; - Steppers, stair climbers and climbers;  

- Elliptical trainers.

Appliances not intended for normal household use but that nevertheless may be a source of danger to the public, such as appliances intended to be used by laymen in hotels, fitness centres and similar places, are within the scope of this standard.

As far as is practicable, this standard deals with the common hazards presents by the appliances that are encountered by all persons in and around the home.

However, in general it does not take into account

- Persons (including children) whose

• Physical, sensory or mental capabilities; or

• Lack of experiences and knowledge Prevents them from using the appliance safely without supervision or instruction:

- Children playing with the appliance

Note 102 attention is drown to the fact that

- For appliances intended to be used in vehicle or on board ships or aircraft, additional requirements may be necessary;

- In many countries additional requirements are specified by the national health authorities, sport and similar authorities.

Note 103 this standard does not apply to

- Appliances intended for professional and/or commercial use;

Such training appliances are intended for use in training area of organizations such as sport associations, educational, establishments, sport hall, clubs and studios where access and control is specifically regulated by the owner (person who has the legal responsibilit y);

- Appliances in rehabilitation centres;

- Appliances intended for outdoor use;

- Appliances intended for medical purposes.

- Appliances intended to be used in locations where special conditions prevail, such as the presence of a corrosive or explosive atmosphere (dust, vapour or gas)

Purpose

Increasing usage of electrical household stationary training appliances like treadmills or stationary exercise bicycles by layman is raising dangerous situations and worldwide concerns on the threat of these appliances on safety of users. Considering that there is no particular safety IEC standar d in this field, it is necessary to develop a particular standard in the scope of IEC 60335 series.

In reviewing all injuries associated with fitness appliances, treadmill injuries are the most frequent, and treadmills are the most popular type of fitness appliances in majority of the world.

Some injuries which can be caused by this appliance and are normally covered by IEC60335-I are:

- Since hands and feet of the user are continuously in direct contact in normal use, the leakage current shall not be excessive and its electric strength shall be adequate.

- Another hazard is transient voltage that could increase the risk of electrical shock. This can happen when there is a sudden surge of power and the stationary training appliance could not withstand transient over voltage.

- Burn injury on a user skin is another hazard that may cause in result of friction of hand or finger to handrail. Therefore, accessible parts of the stationary training appliance shall not attain excessive temperature in normal use.

- Over time, the motor can become clogged with dirt, hair and other debris, so excessive friction can cause the overheating of the windings. In result of this process, the winding insulation is degraded which can increases the risk of electrical shock in normal use. Moreover, if the belt of treadmills torn out, the risk of electrical shock increase.

- Treadmills are high power appliance and placed directly on non-treated carpet may be more susceptible to static electricity. Increased friction from a worn-out belt can also generate this static electricity. The user most likely to get shocked in result of Electro Static Discharge and this may damage the stationary training appliance’s electronic components. The other EMC tests such as 61000 -4-3, 4, 5, 6, 11, 13, 34 that are referred in normative references in IEC60335-1 and applicable in abnormal operation should be performed.

- An emergency stop switch is one of the most important safety features in a treadmill. When this switch is activated, the main power will be interrupted and the treadmill shall come to a complete stop. From another point of view, if a user stops suddenly while he/she is running on a swiftly-moving treadmill, and user did not have any control on this process, then it can lead to a serious injury. Therefore, the correct operation of this switch could protect the user from mechanical hazard and the risk of electrical shock. Another mechanical hazard is the finger becomes trapped between the rear roller guard and the running surface in normal use, so this distance shall be adequate.

- As a stationary training appliance intended to be used on a floor it shall have adequate stability at specified angle of elevation.

- A stationary training appliance, being an electrical appliance, can definitely catch on fire like any other. For instance, the motor will get hot at high speeds caused by frict ion and this heat can convey to the belt while user is exercising on it. The console may heat too and any faulty wiring could ignite the connection between the appliance itself and the start of the cord. Another hazard is that any open wires that get wet with sweat could cause a short circuit. Moreover, any wiring that develops a fault could cause a malfunction or fire. Finally, Non-metallic material of treadmill also shall be sufficiently resistance to excessive heat, ignition and spread of fire.

- Construction requirements that affect safeties in treadmills including minimum length and width of front handle bar, two side handrail, foot platform, minimum speed of treadmill, etc., are important and should be specified.

It seems the developing of particular safety standards for treadmills in the scope of IEC60335 is highly required

It has to be noted that in ISO 20957-1 and ISO 20957-6 include references to IEC 60335-1 which are in normative references clauses.

However, they do not introduce any particular par t in scope of IEC60335 series