What is a servo press?

A servo press uses servo motors for precise force and position control during forming operations.

How do I calculate servo press tonnage?

Use our free tonnage calculator at servopress.club/tonnage-calculator.html

Servo Press Safety Standards: CE, OSHA, and ISO Requirements

admin

## Applicable Standards

Servo presses must comply with multiple safety standards depending on market:

**Europe (CE marking):**
- Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC
- EN ISO 16090-1: Machine tools safety — Machining centres
- EN ISO 13849-1: Safety of machinery — Safety-related parts of control systems
- EN 62061: Safety of machinery — Functional safety

**North America:**
- OSHA 29 CFR 1910.217: Mechanical power presses
- ANSI B11.3: Safety requirements for power press brakes (also applied to servo presses)
- CSA Z142: Code for power press operation (Canada)

## Safety Performance Level

For servo press safety functions (E-stop, two-hand control, light curtain), the required performance level is typically PLe / Category 4 per EN ISO 13849-1.

This means:
- Dual-channel safety circuit
- Cross-monitoring between channels
- Automatic fault detection
- Mean time to dangerous failure (MTTFd) > 100 years per channel

## Required Safety Functions

1. Emergency stop (Category 0 or 1 stop)
2. Two-hand control (Type IIIC per EN 574)
3. Light curtain or safety gate (Type 4 per IEC 61496)
4. Safe torque off (STO) on servo drive
5. Safe stop 1 (SS1) — controlled stop before STO

## Annual Safety Inspection

All safety functions must be tested annually by a qualified person. Test results must be documented and retained for the life of the machine.

jim_applications

The most commonly missed safety requirement: the safety-rated monitored stop (SS1) function. CE requires that when a guard is opened, the press performs a controlled stop (decelerate to zero, then remove power) rather than just cutting power immediately. Most modern servo drives support SS1 but it needs to be configured and tested. I see it misconfigured on about 30% of installations I audit.

carlos_stamping

Budget tip: get the safety assessment done BEFORE ordering the press. We ordered a press for a CE-marked line and then discovered we needed additional safety relays, a safety PLC upgrade, and modified guarding. Added $35K and 6 weeks to the project. If we'd done the assessment first, the vendor could have included it in the original package.