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Wire & Cable ASIA – September/October 2016
Industrynews
MANUFACTURING and processing
machinery that handle large, long items
frequently use overhead gantries to
transfer the material to, through and
from the processing line. Often these
gantries have to travel significant
distances, whilst requiring electrical
cabling to power their motors and
sensors.
The conventional cable management
method is to have the cables mounted
above the line using festoons
supported by steel rails. As the gantry
traverses down the line, it pulls the
cables along with it on multiple trolley
mechanisms.
Jacquet Weston Engineering (JWE), a
Berkshire, UK-based manufacturer of
surface finishing equipment, looked to
igus® for support with its continuous
improvement programme. JWE has
been manufacturing metal finishing
process plants for over 40 years,
supplying all sectors of the industry
from the traditional subcontract
market of acid and alkali zinc to the
specialist aluminium treatment and
aerospace industries with sulphuric,
tartaric, chromic, boric and hard
anodising processes.
igus recommended its E2/000 e-chain®
system, used by a large number of
manufacturers worldwide, to address
cable management on all of JWE’s
lines utilising transporters to dip metal
jigged components into the process
solutions. This removed the need for
the overhead cable loops and trolleys,
offering increased efficiency and
reliability to the processing line, whilst
the absence of cable loops also
satisfied customer requirements for
health and safety. The overall height
of the equipment was reduced,
allowing greater flexibility for machine
placement within a facility.
The 1500 series e-chain can be used
for guided travels of up to 75m. It can
be opened from either side for cable
insertion, and is suitable for both
vertical and horizontal installations.
The e-chain is placed into horizontally
mounted 2m-long guidefast guide
troughs, the segments being
connected together with clips that
ensure good alignment. This e-chain
product is used extensively in industry
for replacing festoons as it can be
easily installed to the side of an
I-beam or bulkhead rather than
mounting on top like a traditional
e-chain trough, thus saving on
installation height.
The E2/000 e-chain is a fourth
generation product for igus, utilising
years of accumulated experience. It
offers quick installation, mechanical
stability, low audible noise operation,
minimal maintenance and a long
service life for cables. JWE opted to
use a fully harnessed readychain®
system, complete with chainflex®
cables.
igus – UK
Website:
igus support for improvements
❍ Jacquet Weston Engineering used igus’s E2/000 e-chain® system