Rosales v. Depuy Ace Medical Co

In Rosales v. Depuy Ace Medical Co. (2000) 22 Cal.4th 279, the California Supreme Court defined the term "die" as follows: "The term 'die' clearly denotes not all material-forming tools, but a subset of such tools. The devices described in dictionary definitions of 'die' generally share two pertinent characteristics. First, they impart form to the material by impact or pressure against the material, rather than along the material. Second, they impart to the material some version of the die's own shape. The two characteristics are logically related, since the die, acting by impact against the material, can only alter the form of the material where it impacts it, necessarily leaving an impression or cutout of its own shape (unlike a linear cutting blade that, moving along the surface of the material, can be directed to cut out any desired shape). The first characteristic (impact or pressure against or through the material) particularly describes dies used in presses and hence limits the term as used in section 4558, subdivision (a)(4); but, because the first characteristic necessarily implies the second, it is proper to treat the second characteristic as a test of whether a tool is a die within the meaning of section 4558, subdivision (a)(4)." (Rosales, supra, 22 Cal.4th at p. 285.) The Rosales court then defined "die" as "a tool that imparts shape to material by pressing or impacting against or through the material, that is, by punching, stamping or extruding" as opposed to "a tool that imparts shape by cutting along the material in the manner of a blade." (Ibid.) The Rosales court further noted: "It may be that one or more types of dies referred to in the quoted dictionary definitions are exceptions to the above general principles in that they act to shape material by means other than by pressing or impacting against or through the material. Assuming that to be so, however, we nonetheless do not believe the Legislature intended the term 'die' in section 4558, subdivision (a)(4)--a die used in a power press--to be understood more broadly than as a tool that imparts shape to material by pressing or impacting against or through the material, that is, by punching, stamping or extruding. Indeed . . . the Legislature presumably believed the operation of power presses without point of operation guards to be particularly dangerous, because a press typically forms or cuts the material by use of high pressure or strong impact of the die against or through the material, using a 'powerful pressing or stamping motion which can cause serious crush injuries.' In defining a 'power press,' for purposes of section 4558, in terms of a 'die,' the Legislature patently intended to embody the characteristic that differentiates 'presses' from other 'material-forming machines,' i.e., the use of a tool that imparts shape to material by pressing or impacting against or through the material, that is, by punching, stamping or extruding." (Rosales, supra, 22 Cal.4th at pp. 285-286.)