igus® e-chain system® P4 - profile rol e-chain®

Details of working principle

Split plastic roller

Because the upper and lower run are offset, plastic rollers do not roll on top of each other, but instead glide past each other. Rollers glide on a smooth, level surface for the entire length of the travel path.

igus® tested

Test 4152 / 3638

Noise and vibration measurement Optimised wear and abrasion. Long service life, improved operating characteristics, reduced noise, damping. "Captive" roller integrated into the side plate.
 

Application example

System P4 on a container crane

Cable guide for the trolley drive (130 m) on a container crane with a P4.56R roller chain. Quiet and reliable System P4 at 2.5 m/s travel speed and acceleration of 0.5 m/s². The P4 chain guides various igus® chainflex® cables of type CF300, CF330 single core, CF34 power cable, CF9 control cable and fibre-optic cables CFLG.

Details of working principle

P4 autoglide crossbar

autoglide crossbars provide the needed offset between the upper and lower run, so that the rollers can glide past each other.

igus® tested

Endurance test - secure guidance

Even speeds up to 10 m/s and more are tested on the long-term at the igus® laboratory.

Application example

System P4 on a handling gantry

The P4 roller e-chain® P4.42R stands up to high accelerations (17 m/s²) and speeds (6 m/s) in continuous use on this handling gantry.

Details of working principle

Wear allowance

Guide troughs invariably result in lateral contact. The wear allowances ensure a long service life for System P4 even at high speeds.

igus® tested

Wear tests

Abrasion tests at the igus® laboratory. The service life of the e-chains® is tested in endurance tests.

Application example

Test stand

Cable test rig in a lab. System P4.42R traveling in glide mode at 5 m/s on a 42 m travel with 2.5 kg/m additional load.

Details of working principle

Special design of the roller links

igus® tested

The uniform pitch of the chain links with and without achieves a quiet rolling motion of the e-chain®.

Application example

Trolley

Smallest chain from System P4, P4.32. In operation, gliding roller, reverse travel, on 40 m of travel. The chain operates at a speed of 3.5 m/s, at an acceleration of 2 m/s².

Details of working principle

Few parts

Few parts and all made from one material - important in high accelerations, as smallest possible clearance/few parts. Same material is optimal in material expansion/shrinking due to temperature differences

igus® tested

Endurance test - secure guidance

Even speeds up to 10 m/s and more are tested on the long-term at the igus® laboratory.

Application example

Maritime research institute

Test plant for optimising ship drives. A gantry pulls ship models at up to 4 m/s. To prevent influencing the sensitive measurement instruments, a low-vibration e-chain® (System P4.80R) is important even at high accelerations and speeds.

Details of working principle

Tongue and groove design

The interlocking feature of the chain links ensures very high torsion stability of the e-chain® and prevents links from spreading apart under push/pull forces.

igus® tested

Endurance test - secure guidance

Even speeds up to 10 m/s and more are tested on the long-term at the igus® laboratory.

Application example

Automated warehouses

System P4 is particularly suited for fast and long travels in confined space applications, such as aisle travel in automated storage and retrieval systems or freezer warehouses. igus® also offers matching chainflex® cables from stock for such highly dynamic applications.

Details of working principle

Special link design

The contour provides for a better unrolling of the e-chain® and for a simpler and secure installation.

igus® tested

The contour of the chain links reduces the polygon effect and thus rolls smoothly. Even the "zigzag" installation type is thereby positively supported.

Application example

Smooth-running due to soft unrolling

Details of working principle

Double, rectangular end stop dog

More than two stop dogs cannot be, or can barely be synchronized. The rectangular geometry facilitates significantly better force distribution than on a rounded stop dog (formula for surface pressure, p=F/A). The entire P4 family is equipped with dual rectangular stop dogs.

igus® tested

Tensile test with Zwick

We test every energy supply system with a "tweak testing machine" at the igus® laboratory for compressive/breaking strength to provide reliable specifications on max. additional load and unsupported length
More than 30% tensile strength

Application example

System P4 on a container crane

Cable guide for the trolley drive (118,5 m) on a container crane with a P4.56R roller chain. Quiet and reliable System P4 in continuous use at travel speeds of 240 m/min. The P4.56R has an additional load of 2.6 kg/m and is harnessed with the following igus® chainflex® cables, CF330 1x25mm² single core, CF9 12G2.5mm² control cable, CFLG.12G fibre-optic cable and CF11 data cable.

Details of working principle

Brake mechanism

Simple principle, but extremely effective. A wedge-shaped contour in the e-chain® stop dog dampens the stop dog noise of the e-chain®.

igus® tested

Noise test

Y= dB(A)

Application example

Noise test

P4 noise measurement in the igus® lab on long travel at a clearance of 1 m to the application.

Details of working principle

Double, rectangular end stop dog

More than two stop dogs cannot be, or can barely be synchronized. The rectangular geometry facilitates significantly better force distribution than on a rounded stop dog (formula for surface pressure, p=F/A). The entire P4 family is equipped with dual rectangular stop dogs.

igus® tested

Vertical stop dog, large pin

By shifting the stop dogs, the force is guided through three points, namely the two stop dogs and the large pin, instead of absorbing the force centrally. This reduces the load of the individual elements, pins und stop dogs, effectively to 1/3.

Application example

Failure testing at the igus® lab and in outdoor testing

We test every energy supply system with a "tweak testing machine" at the igus® laboratory for compressive/breaking strength to provide reliable specifications on max. additional load and unsupported length. A 1,320 km long test run was completed in an outdoor test at a travel of 120 m and a speed of 6 m/s.

Details of working principle

Cable friendly polymer crossbars

Smooth, cable-friendly inner contour and rounded crossbars provide for a long service life of the cables and hoses. The interaction of the tribo-optimised plastics of the opening crossbars with the jacket material of the installed cables results in the best service life pairing of tested cables.

igus® tested

Cable wear in plastic crossbars:

Jacket materials of different materials show the best wear results in plastic crossbars. Moreover, compared to aluminum crossbars, these are not subject to plastic deformation with external impact force.

Application example

HHLA 10 years of igus® chainflex® deployment on container cranes

Details of working principle

Cable friendly polymer crossbars

Smooth, cable-friendly and rounded contour provides for a long service life of the cables and hoses. In addition, a better and more cable-friendly interior separation can now be implemented with less standardized components.

igus® tested

Wear tests

With the new rounded separators, the wear of the cables could be almost halved.
 
Test 3748Separator 301 compared to new version 45.1
The matching pair of plastic and jacket material also turns out to be the best here.

Application example

In this case, the rounded plastic opening crossbars help to extend the cable service life.

Details of working principle

Wear pad

igus® tested

Every e-chain® achieves at least 10,000 km running performance on long travel - often much more. This is a "promise" that we've been fulfilling since years.

Application example

Long operating times

System P4 in use on the power supply system for a container stacker. The P4.56R travels at 3.3 m/s and an acceleration of 0.3 m/s², across a distance of 112 m. The system guides 3 igus CFCRANE 1x50mm² mid-voltage cables, one CF330 1x120mm² single core, one CF10 7G1.5 and a CFLG.12G fibre-optic cable.

Details of working principle

Variety in cables

Flexible cables in e-chains® require individual specifications to withstand many cycles, high speeds and accelerations as well as demanding environmental conditions. EMC safety and compliance with standards and directives such as NFPA 79, UL, CSA, VDE, Inter- and Profibus are also a necessary requirement today. The igus® chainflex® range extends from energy chain-compatible control cables, servo cables, motor cables, medium voltage cables, up to bus cables, data cables, encoder cables and fibre optic cables.

igus® tested

Complex tests of all chainflex® cables in moving operation

All chainflex® cables are always tested in practice. This means in the e-chain® or in motion, such as here in the igus® climate chamber at -40°C.

Application example

Reliable function in all axes

Since 15 years in long travel distances with a high number of cycles, the chainflex® cables are added with braiding in bundles, abrasion-resistant, gusset-filling pressure extruded outer jacket They are able to meet even the most demanding needs.

Details of working principle

Dual lock

Proven and extremely secure snap-open system. You loosen the crossbar by two simple lever movements. The crossbars thus reliably hold even with thick filling and can still be easily opened.

igus® tested

Rip-off test

The max. retention force on each opening crossbar is tested in rip-off tests under real-world conditions. This can also take place under the influence of oil or other liquids.
 
Test 3577Pull-out strength Cross bars: > 2700 N

Application example

System P4 on long travel

P4.80 profile roller chain on long travel with three extension links and high filling. The opening crossbars reliably retain the cable package in the chain.