The main testing standards for indoor fitness equipment are EN 957 of the European Union, ASTM F1250 of the United States, JIS T1214 of Japan, AS 4092 and so on. Among them, EN 957 formulated by the European Union is the most complete and rigorous, and is also the safety specification most commonly used by foreign buyers to require manufacturers to design and produce their products. We take EN 957 as the main axis to introduce the safety inspection of indoor fitness equipment
We do not explain each individual indoor fitness equipment one by one, but distinguish the standard with its safety test requirements into: safety test, static test and dynamic test to make a comprehensive introduction.
▲ Indoor fitness equipment safety test
Safety inspection includes external structure inspection, safety mechanism and anti-lock mechanism. The inspection of external structure mainly includes:
(1) Shear points and pull-in points that endanger the safety of users
(2) to prevent hands and feet into the sink point
(3) Protection of sharp edges and corners
(4) temperature rise test
(5) cumulative weight safety inspection and other five parts. Almost all fitness equipment in parts (1), (2) and (3) must be included in the inspection. Pull-in tests are often performed using test fingers or test feet. This part must refer to EN 71 and EN 292 for test fingers.
The temperature rise test is commonly used on aerobic exercise equipment such as stationary bicycles and treadmills. Some exercise equipment measures the maximum temperature of the surface accessible to the user during a endurance test. Safety TESTS OF ACCUMULATED WEIGHTS ARE COMMONLY USED ON MUSCLE/STRENGTH TRAINING EQUIPMENT. The PLACEMENT OF THESE weights and the height of their ACCUMULATED weights also have safety concerns.
Safety agencies and anti-lock agencies are often used in the safety inspection of muscle/strength training equipment. Safety agencies, especially for emergency stop devices, are more stringent, such as the emergency stop switch of treadmill regulations and emergency disengagement measures.
▲ Static detection of indoor fitness equipment
The static test can be divided into three parts: load test, stability test and important component test. The whole structure load test can be divided into two parts: internal load test and external load test. Internal load test is used to simulate the load exerted on the structure of the training equipment by the user during normal use. External load testing takes into account the load that may be placed on the training equipment. Sometimes this test is expressed in terms of static load only in the standard. Overall structural load testing may have different requirements depending on the class H or Class S used.
Internal load test is usually applied to the position with the most frequent force under normal use to measure its elastic deformation or permanent deformation degree by a multiple of the body weight (100 kg). For the stress state of the cantilever beam type, the deformation shall not exceed 1/150 of the length of the cantilever beam, and the stress state of other types shall not exceed 1/100 of the length. The external load test is applied to the position with the maximum force or bending moment at times the maximum load indicated by the manufacturer (or other calculation method) to measure the amount of deformation or to observe whether there is damage.
To test whether the tr the stability of the whole structure is usually measured by human body. The purpose is equipment is likely to cause structural instability (toppling or toppling) in the direction of motion or other directions provided by the equipment under normal use. Stability tests are commonly performed on aerobic training equipment and if the equipment can be adjusted the structure must be taken to extremes situation to test. For example, the structural stability of the treadmill is tested by a 100kg tester, at the speed of 8 ~ 10km per hour, between +/-10 degrees in the direction of motion and 5 degrees in the direction of non-motion. If the treadmill height is adjustable, needing to test the maximum and minimum height that can be adjusted.
Common important components in muscle/strength training equipment are: pulley/rope set, rope, rope and belt, barbell, grip, foot pedal, etc. Common important components in aerobic training equipment are: handlebars/vertical bars, grips, flywheels, free wheels, seats/VERTICAL bars, pedals or foot platforms, etc. In some major components under load there are different safety requirements for class H and class S equipment. In EN 957, the safety of these components which directly or indirectly bear the load of the user is specially formulated according to the different training equipment and corresponding test methods. Some of these special requirements, such as ropes, belts and chains to prevent breakage, should have a safety factor of six times the maximum possible tensile strength.
Key points of inspection:
• Corner (radius of corner is greater than 2.5mm)
• Pipe ends (all accessible pipe ends should be sealed with cargo pipe plugs)
• Counterweight weights (limited as required, no sway)
• Adjust or lock fastener (function should be absolutely reliable)
• Cable and pulley (in accordance with national standards and customer requirements)
• Handle and turn handle (in line with national standards and customer requirements)
• Component assembly (no wrong parts, missing parts)
• Power cord, plug, display screen, etc. (refer to electrical inspection standards)
Appearance attention to details:
• The surface should not be obvious scratches, bumps, deformation, etc., the color is uniform and consistent
• The welding site has gnawing edge nodules, cracks, pores, welding leakage, etc., the surface of the cable and the metal clip should be smooth, no pitting, rust, etc., and the connection should be firm
• The surface of the product is smooth, without obvious burr