Re: US consumer products design reference - what inventors should know
- From: Chris Jones <lugnut808@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 26 Sep 2007 22:40:04 +0100
tns1 wrote:
Charles wrote:
"tns1" <tns1@xxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:KSdKi.127105$Mu5.112334@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
What safety or design codes are required in US consumer products?
To narrow it down lets say home appliances using either wall or battery
power 120vac max with digital/analog circuits but no intentional
radiators. For example: food processors, foot massagers, stereo equip.
If I were the inventor of the Vego-Pedi-Pod(tm), and wanted to mass
market them, how would I find the applicable laws and codes? Any books
that walk you thru the process?
I am aware of a few safety and regulation agencies such as CE, UL, CSPC,
FCC. While CE codes seem to be the law overseas, UL and CSPC codes appear
to be only suggestions, and afaik, not requirements. In the case of the
UL, they are expensive requirements since the cost to even read them
approaches $1k per document (what a scam).
So far the only real requirements I have seen for this category of
product is FCC part 15. Surely there are more?
If it is not a medical device or a device to be used in an explosive
environment (or other iffy situations) and does not radiate so as to
potentially interfere with other applications/devices and is
line-operated, the biggie is UL Approval.
Then, of course, there is the area of potential liability. Infant
monitoring devices are just one example. One must tread carefully in
such areas.
Yes, it wouldn't do to have the Vego-Pedi-Pod(tm) remove someone's
toenail while they are tuning the equalizer! But you are right, toddlers
and lawers go hand in hand. Potential liability has kept more than one
great product off the market.
I was wrong about the CPSC. Some of their recommendations have become
law, but they cover a very limited range of products (bicycles, lawn
darts, power cords). While the UL seems to have categories for a wider
range of products, the website states that submission of products to be
tested is strictly voluntary and that if there are any laws requiring
compliance to UL code, they can't be bothered to keep track of them. Too
busy counting money ya'know.
It does seem like lots of products have the UL mark, but then again,
many don't. With 1000's of products on the market I have to assume there
is some publication or source these designers and manufacturers have
followed to meet just the regs applicable to their product for the
markets they want to sell in. I just haven't found it yet.
This standards thing has gone beyond ensuring that products are safe, has
become a whole parasitic industry. By making it complicated enough, you
now probably have to hire some consultant, just to tell you which $1000
standards you need to buy, which will then tell you to do things you were
going to do anyway, and then you can look forward to the cost of the
testing.
If this product is for technically minded users, maybe you could do it as a
semi-assembled kit, which probably avoids some of the difficulties, at the
expense of requiring a lot more customer support.
If there were a government that really wanted to have a lot of start-ups,
then that country would either buy outright, or create from scratch a
complete set of standards, make them as strict in every respect as the
strictest of the widely used standards in the rest of the world, declare
that they are legally adequate standards for products sold in their
country, and then place the lot in the public domain.
I think that it would be interesting if someone were to compile a list, by
country, of the overhead cost of starting company and selling an electronic
product, the "null product" - where we assume that the design itself is
trivial, but just count the cost of buying standards, health and safety
audits, compliance testing fees, government bribes^H^H^H^H^H^Hregistration
fees, WEEE registration etc. If this list were published every year, it
might focus the attention of certain politicians on the reason why they
seem to have so much trouble reducing unemployment and achieving positive
balance of payments.
Chris
.
- Follow-Ups:
- References:
- Prev by Date: Formula-Bank
- Next by Date: Re: US consumer products design reference - what inventors should know
- Previous by thread: Re: US consumer products design reference - what inventors should know
- Next by thread: Re: US consumer products design reference - what inventors should know
- Index(es):
Relevant Pages
|
