1974L0347 — EN — 27.11.1979 — 001.001 — 1
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►B COUNCIL DIRECTIVE
of 25June 1974
on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the field of vision and
windscreen wipers for wheeled agricultural or forestry tractors
(74/347/EEC)
(OJ L 191, 15.7.1974, p. 5)
Amended by:
Official Journal
No page date
►M1Commission Directive 79/1073/EEC of 22 November 1979 L 331 20 27.12.1979
Corrected by:
►C1Corrigendum, OJ L 226, 18.8.1976, p. 16 (74/347)
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COUNCIL DIRECTIVE
of 25June 1974
on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to
the field of vision and windscreen wipers for wheeled agricultural
or forestry tractors
(74/347/EEC)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic
Community, and in particular Article 100 thereof;
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission;Having regard to the Opinion of the European Parliament(
1);
Having regard to the Opinion of the Economic and Social
Committee(2);
Whereas the technical requirements with which tractors must comply
pursuant to national laws relate, inter alia, to the field of vision and
windscreen wipers;
Whereas these requirements differ from one Member State to another;
whereas it is therefore necessary that all Member States adopt the samerequirements either in addition to or in place of their existing rules inorder, in particular, to allow the EEC type-approval procedure whichwas the subject of Council Directive No 74/150/EEC (
3) of 4 March
1974 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating tothe type-approval of wheeled agricultural or forestry tractors to beapplied in respect of each type of tractor,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:
Article 1
1. ‘Agricultural or forestry tractor' means any motor vehicle, fitted
with wheels or ►C1endless tracks ◄and having at least two axles,
the main function of which lies in its tractive power and which isspecially designed to tow, push, carry or power certain tools, machineryor trailers intended for agricultural or forestry use. It may be equippedto carry a load and passengers.
2. This Directive shall apply only to tractors defined in the preceding
paragraph which are fitted with pneumatic tyres and which have twoaxles and a maximum design speed of between 6 and 25 km/h.
Article 2
No Member State may refuse to grant EEC type-approval or national
type-approval of a tractor on grounds relating to ►
M1 ◄
windscreen wipers if these satisfy the requirements set out in the Annex.
Article 3
No Member State may refuse the registration or prohibit the sale, entry
into service or use of tractors on grounds relating to►
M1 ◄windscreen wipers if these satisfy the require-
ments set out in the Annex.
(1) OJ No 28, 17. 2. 1967, p. 462/67.
(2) OJ No 42, 7. 3. 1967, p. 620/67.
(3) OJ No L 84, 28. 3. 1974, p. 10.
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Article 3a
1. With effect from 1 May 1980 no Member State may, on grounds
relating to the field of vision of tractors:
— refuse, in respect of a type of tractor, to grant EEC type-approval, to
issue the document referred to in the last indent of Article 10 (1) ofDirective 74/150/EEC, or to grant national type-approval,
— or prohibit the entry into service of tractors,
if the field of vision of this type of tractor or of these tractors complies
with the provisions of this Directive.
2. With effect from 1 October 1980 Member States:
— may no longer issue the document referred to in the last indent of
Article 10 (1) of Directive 74/150/EEC in respect of a type oftractor in which the field of vision does not comply with theprovisions of this Directive,
— may refuse to grant national type-approval in respect of a type of
tractor whose field of vision does not comply with the provisions ofthis Directive.
3. With effect from 1 January 1983, Member States may prohibit the
entry into service of any tractor whose field of vision does not complywith the provisions of this Directive.
▼
B
Article 4
The amendments necessary for adapting to technical progress the
requirements of the Annex shall be adopted in accordance with theprocedure laid down in Article 13 of Directive No 74/150/EEC.
Article 5
1. Member States shall put into force the provisions necessary in
order to comply with this Directive within 18 months of its notificationand shall forthwith inform the Commission thereof.
2. Member States shall ensure that the texts of the main provisions of
national law which they adopt in the field covered by this Directive arecommunicated to the Commission.
Article 6
This Directive is addressed to the Member States.
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ANNEX
FIELD OF VISION
DEFINITIONS AND REQUIREMENTS
1. DEFINITIONS1.1.Field of vision
‘Field of vision' means all forward and lateral directions in which the
driver of the tractor can see.
1.2.Reference point
‘Reference point'means the position, fixed by convention, of the tractor
driver’s eyes notionally located at a single point. The reference point issituated in the plane parallel to the longitudinal median plane of thetractor and passing through the centre of the seat, 700 mm verticallyabove the line of intersection of that plane and the surface of the seatand 270 mm in the direction of the pelvic support from the verticalplane passing through the front edge of the surface of the seat andperpendicular to the longitudinal median plane of the tractor (Figure 1).The reference point thus determined relates to the seat when unoccupiedand fitted in the central position specified by the tractor manufacturer.
1.3.Semi-circle of vision
‘Semi-circle of vision'means the semi-circle described by a radius of 12
m about a point situated in the horizontal plane of the road verticallybelow the reference point, in such a way that, when facing the directionof motion, the arc of the semi-circle lies in front of the tractor, while thediameter bounding the semi-circle is at right angles to the longitudinalaxis of the tractor (Figure 2).
1.4.►
M1 Masking effect
‘Masking effect' means the chords of the sectors of the semi-circle of
vision which cannot be seen owing to structural components such asroof-pillars, air intakes or exhaust stacks and the frame of the wind-screen.◄
1.5.Sector of vision
‘Sector of vision' means that part of the field of vision bounded:
1.5.1. at the top,
by a horizontal plane passing through the reference point;
1.5.2. in the plane of the road,
by the zone lying outside the semi-circle of vision, and forming the
continuation of the sector of the semi-circle of vision, the chord ofwhich is 9 ·5 m long, perpendicular to the plane parallel to the longitu-
dinal median plane of the tractor passing through the centre of thedriver’s seat and bisected by that plane.
1.6.Swept area of the windscreen wipers
‘Swept area of the windscreen wipers' means the area of the outer
surface of the windscreen swept by the windscreen wipers.
2. REQUIREMENTS
2.1.General
The tractor shall be constructed and equipped in such a way that, in road
traffic and in farm and forest use, the driver has an adequate field ofvision, under all the usual conditions pertaining to highway use and towork undertaken in fields and forests. The field of vision is consideredadequate when the driver has, as far as possible, a view of part of eachfront wheel and when the following requirements are fulfilled.
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2.2.Checking of the field of vision
2.2.1. Procedure for determining masking effects
2.2.1.1.►M1The tractor must be placed on a horizontal surface as shown in
Figure 2. On a horizontal support level with the reference point, theremust be mounted two point sources of light, e.g . 2 × 150 W, 12 V, 65
mm apart and symmetrically located with respect to the reference point.The support must be rotatable at its centre point about a vertical axispassing through the reference point. For the purpose of measuring themasking effects, the support must be so aligned that the line joining thetwo light sources is perpendicular to the line joining the maskingcomponent and the reference point.
The silhouette (deepest shadow) overlaps projected on to the semi-circle
of vision by the masking component when the light sources are switchedon simultaneously or alternately must be measured in accordance with1.4 (Figure 3). ◄
2.2.1.2.►
M1Masking effects must not exceed 700 mm. ◄
2.2.1.3.►M1Masking effects due to adjacent structural components over 80
mm in width must be so configured that there is an interval of not lessthan 2 200 mm — measured as a chord of the semi-circle of vision —between the centres of two masking effects. ◄
2.2.1.4. There may be no more than six masking effects in the semi-circle of
vision and no more than two inside the sector of vision defined in item1.5.
2.2.1.5.►
M1Outside the sector of vision, masking effects exceeding 700 mm
but not exceeding 1 500 mm are, however, permissible if the compo-nents causing them cannot be redesigned or relocated: on each side theremay be a total of either two such masking effects, one not exceeding700 mm and the other not exceeding 1 500 mm, or two such maskingeffects, neither exceeding 1 200 mm. ◄
2.2.1.6. Blind spots caused by type-approved rear-view mirrors may be disre-
garded if the design of these mirrors is such that they cannot be installedin any other way.
2.2.2. Mathematical determination of masking effects for binocular vision:
2.2.2.1.►
M1as an alternative to the procedure set out in 2.2.1, the accept-
ability of individual masking effects can be determined mathematically.The requirements of 2.2.1.2, 2.2.1.3, 2.2.1.4, 2.2.1.5 and 2.2.1.6 shallapply in respect of the size, distribution and number of the maskingeffects;◄
2.2.2.2. for binocular vision with an inter-ocular distance of 65 mm, the masking
effect expressed in mm is given by the formula:
v=b−6 5
a×1 2 0 0 0+6 5
in which:
a is the distance in millimetres between the component obstructing
vision and the reference point measured along the visual radiusjoining the reference point, the centre of the component and theperimeter of the semi-circle of vision;
b is the width in millimetres of the component obstructing vision meas-
ured horizontally and perpendicular to the visual radius.
2.3. The test methods referred to under item 2.2 may be replaced by others if
the latter can be shown to be equivalent.
2.4. Where, in the case of masking effects, Article 8 (3) of Directive No
74/150/EEC is to be applied, the procedure used shall be that givenunder item 2.2.2.
2.5.Transparent area of the windscreen
►
M1For the purpose of determining the masking effects in the sector
of vision, the masking effects due to the frame of the windscreen and toany other obstacle may, in accordance with the provisions of 2.2.1.4, beconsidered as a single effect, provided that the distance between theoutermost points of this masking effect does not exceed 700 mm. ◄
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2.6.Windscreen wipers
2.6.1. Tractors fitted with windscreens must also be equipped with motor-
driven windscreen wipers and the area swept by these wipers mustensure an unobstructed forward view corresponding to a chord of thesemi-circle of vision at leas t 8 m long within the sector of vision.
2.6.2. The rate of operation of the windscreen wipers must be at least 20
cycles per minute.
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Figure 1
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Figure 2
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Figure 3