Energy chains
A quick and easy individual solution: igus, the motion plastics specialist, offers a wide range of online tools (among other things) to streamline the process. They include the “e-chain expert”, which enables interested parties to assemble an individual energy chain system in just three steps. Price, service life and delivery time are displayed. For the first time, users now have the option of configuring their e-chain with the intelligent i.Sense EC.W wear sensor directly. This gives customers a complex, ready-to-connect e-chain system that includes real-time condition monitoring – in just a few clicks.
Cleanroom-compatible energy chains from the e-skin flat series still qualify for the highest cleanroom class even after 1.5 years of continuous use and 60 million double strokes. A test, unprecedented in the industry, led to this result. It was carried out in a cleanroom laboratory set up by motion plastics specialist igus in cooperation with the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation (IPA).
igus has developed Module Connect, a space-saving plug-in connector for connecting electric cables, fibre optic cables, and pneumatic hoses. It is primarily used wherever a large number of cables are connected in energy chains and space is at a premium. For free, individual plug-in module configuration, igus has now added 180 individual parts for Module Connect to its online shop.
One quick tug and the power cable rolls up: with the e-tract 2.0 automatic retraction system, igus wants to make charging on wallboxes a bit more convenient for e-car owners. The special feature: thanks to the ingenious interplay of two guide rollers, long extension lengths are possible with limited installation space.
Loads, high speeds and the most adverse environmental conditions: energy chains often have to withstand severe stresses. Safe cable guidance is a challenge, e.g. for very long travels like those in large crane systems. To ensure even greater system safety in such cases, igus now offers users the i.Sense EC.B with a new rope hoist sensor for intelligent condition monitoring for chains of 35 metres or more.
Container cranes in ports around the world will be even more powerful and fail-safe in the future. This is due to the fact that igus is launching P4HD.56.R – a new heavy-duty energy chain prepared for long travels, high speeds, heavy cable loads and Industry 4.0.
Robots have long been an integral part of many areas of industrial manufacturing – and their range of tasks continues to grow in the wake of digitalisation. Whether for welding, painting, soldering or palletising, industrial robots work dynamically. A flexible 3D energy chain such as the triflex R from igus makes it possible to guide robot cables safely. To detect potential chain breaks due to extreme loads in good time and to avoid unplanned machine breakdowns, igus is presenting i.Sense TR.B, the world’s first breakage monitoring system for 3D energy chains at automatica 2022.
Good news for users of the igus E4.1 energy chain series: newly developed roller chain links reduce required drive power by 37%. This allows customers to reduce their electricity costs in times of sharply rising energy prices.
Since 2019, igus has been using its chainge recycling programme to give old energy chains a new life. Now, the motion plastics specialist is taking things a step further. Recycling begins at assembly. To avoid industrial waste, igus is organising return delivery of worn-out energy chains – and returning them to the material cycle.
Constant relubrication of metallic bearing points in the food industry costs time, money and increases the risk of contamination. Maintenance-free igubal spherical bearings from igus are an economical and safe alternative. Now, the motion plastics specialist is introducing a new model for higher loads. It is equipped with a stainless-steel housing, a self-lubricating polymer inner ring and a stainless-steel spherical ball. This allows for higher-load applications to be converted to future-proof tribo-technology.