Revised ANSI B11.3-2012 Standard for Machine Safety Requirements for Power Press Brakes

Power press brake technology is continuously evolving, and this standard reflects the most commonly used and time-tested state of the art at the time of its approval.

The revised standard, which was released in October, is “ANSI B11.3-2012 American National Standard for Machines – Safety Requirements for Power Press Brakes,” and is available from Omron Automation and Safety (STI; Fremont, CA).

New topics included in this revision are the ‘close proximity point of operation AOPD’ safeguarding devices, and a means of safeguarding referred to as ‘Safe Speed.’ In addition, this revision incorporates the B11 Accredited Standards Committee’s ‘FASTT’ initiative which defines common language to be used by the entire series of ANSI B11 standards.

Consequently, many definitions of common terms contained in the previous edition of B11.3 can be now be found in the ANSI B11.0 and ANSI B11.19 standards. This initiative also significantly impacts clauses 4, 5, 7, 9, and adds a brand new clause 10 and Annex I on training.

The 2012 standard was revised by the B11.3 Subcommittee and approved by the B11 Accredited Standards Committee for submittal to the ANSI Executive Standards Council as an American National Standard. The standard was then approved by the American National Institute on July 20, 2012.

Scope
The requirements of this standard apply to those machines classified as power press brakes (referred to simply as “press brakes”), which are designed and constructed for the specific purpose of bending metal. To achieve this purpose, the press brake is provided with a plate-type ram and a plate-type bed with provisions for attaching standardized press brake tooling.

When used for operations other than bending material, other standards may provide additional information and requirements for the specific use or application.

History
The original B11.3 standard was approved in 1973 and revised in 1982 and again in 2002. In the 2002 document, powered folding machines were included in the scope of the standard because they were similar to press brakes in that they are metal bending machines and they were not covered by any other standard. During the current revision process, the subcommittee determined that powered folding machines have evolved into multi-axis machines that process metal in numerous ways, many of which are unlike a press brake.

Additionally, there is now a type-A standard, ANSI B11.0, which can be used in conjunction with the type-B standard ANSI B11.19 to provide guidance for the safe use of machines in general. It is for these reasons that the subcommittee decided to exclude powered folding machines in the scope of the 2012 ANSI B11.3 standard.

In 2008 ANSI B11 was published, later renumbered B11.0, with the long term objective to reorganize the B11 family of standards by gathering the requirements common to many or most of the B11 standards into a single document while retaining the machine tool specific requirements in the machine-specific standards. This B11.3 standard is intended to be used with ANSI B11.0 and ANSI B11.19. The requirements of all three standards must be met as applicable to a particular machine.