Captive screws with availability in the US (CE Machinery Directive)
Captive screws with availability in the US (CE Machinery Directive)
(OP)
I need to update all of our major product lines to meet CE safety requirements. I'm focused on getting all of the fixed guards fastened with captive fasteners, per the directive.
Lacking big production quantity, I need to either modify a commercial screw to retain a captive washer or buy a system off the shelf. There seem to be lots of options in really small sizes but even M8 seems to be uncommon. I've seen a couple of systems that look good but are sold only from Germany (SaveTix) and I'm nervous about availability both short and long term.
Application:
Currently we fasten stainless sheetmetal guards to cover an opening in a steel or iron housing. The guards have holes pre-drilled, and then at assembly we match drill into the housing and hand-tap threads. Then a stainless 1/4" or M8 bolt and washer are used to fasten the guard. We're happy with the match drill and tap and want to switch to bolts that stay captive in the guard. Smaller bolts are not desirable for durability and because I need to stay with wrench sizes the maintenance guys will have handy.
I'd love to hear from others because I'm sure we're not the only people in the US building/selling machinery according to CE.
David
Lacking big production quantity, I need to either modify a commercial screw to retain a captive washer or buy a system off the shelf. There seem to be lots of options in really small sizes but even M8 seems to be uncommon. I've seen a couple of systems that look good but are sold only from Germany (SaveTix) and I'm nervous about availability both short and long term.
Application:
Currently we fasten stainless sheetmetal guards to cover an opening in a steel or iron housing. The guards have holes pre-drilled, and then at assembly we match drill into the housing and hand-tap threads. Then a stainless 1/4" or M8 bolt and washer are used to fasten the guard. We're happy with the match drill and tap and want to switch to bolts that stay captive in the guard. Smaller bolts are not desirable for durability and because I need to stay with wrench sizes the maintenance guys will have handy.
I'd love to hear from others because I'm sure we're not the only people in the US building/selling machinery according to CE.
David





RE: Captive screws with availability in the US (CE Machinery Directive)
Have you checked this company? http://www.accuratescrew.com/Captive-Screw-Assembl...
RE: Captive screws with availability in the US (CE Machinery Directive)
Doug
RE: Captive screws with availability in the US (CE Machinery Directive)
Note that these are not the same thing as "sems" because the washer gets assembled after the screw is passed into the guard.
I have reviewed the accurate screw offerings and it appears they have captive socket head cap screws in M8x1.25 thread.
http://www.accuratescrew.com/CatalogPage.aspx?Prod...
Savetix of Germany is another:
http://www.savetix.de/uk
RE: Captive screws with availability in the US (CE Machinery Directive)
RE: Captive screws with availability in the US (CE Machinery Directive)
Thanks for all of the ideas so far, and hopefully someone else can benefit from this.
I get the impression this is a rich, immature market and if a company comes up with a clean, simply, affordable design they could become the de-facto standard solution. The "Kleenex" of the CE machinery fastener market. Until then though we have to shop carefully.
RE: Captive screws with availability in the US (CE Machinery Directive)
There is an issue here: the latest CE directive does require in some cases that the fasteners can only be opened by tools. Thumb- and wing- heads are not permitted in these cases. There is some disagreement as to which situations dictate tool-only fastenings, so I'm just defaulting to tool-only styles to be safe.
David
RE: Captive screws with availability in the US (CE Machinery Directive)
What is Engineering anyway: FAQ1088-1484: In layman terms, what is "engineering"?
RE: Captive screws with availability in the US (CE Machinery Directive)
We've got a batch of M6 size Savetix fasteners on the way. I'm anxious to give them a go.
RE: Captive screws with availability in the US (CE Machinery Directive)
PEM has captive screws to M6 in the catalog.
RE: Captive screws with availability in the US (CE Machinery Directive)
For outdoor-use machinery and long-life equipment, I prefer the Savetix because it's larger, easier to install, and replaceable. I'll report on my results once our first order comes in and is tested.
RE: Captive screws with availability in the US (CE Machinery Directive)
This can make installing panels with several of these screws tricky.
That said it looks like the length of plain shank is customer specified so may not be so bad.
What is Engineering anyway: FAQ1088-1484: In layman terms, what is "engineering"?
RE: Captive screws with availability in the US (CE Machinery Directive)
One advantage of their system is that while I'll be dependent on them for washers, but I can modify standard bolts to serve as screws. The washers were very affordably priced so we can afford to keep a big box of them on hand.