High temperature cable carriers in operation

Rugged, high-temperature energy tube on a portal milling machine

The material, igumid HT, repels chips with temperatures up to 1,562° F without leaving so much as an indent in the cable carrier. A switch manufacturer’s portal milling machine was retrofitted with a fully enclosed ‘energy tube’ cable carrier made from this material. Despite the enormous amounts of hot flying debris, it operates without a problem.

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Fully enclosed cable carrier energy tube in a portal milling machine for the switch building

Streetcar switches

A made-to-measure streetcar switch manufacturer has - besides sawing and drilling facilities and milling benches - a CNC-controlled portal-milling machine, which has been in use since 2002. The milling machine relies on a fully enclosed energy tube cable carrier to protect the cable from hot chips. Due to the extreme conditions, the old cable carrier system was normally worn out after a maximum of nine months.

The old energy tube was replaced with a high-temperature energy tube from igus®. igus® introduced its material ′igumid HT′ at the beginning of 2006, which repels hot chips even at 1,562° F without leaving a trace on the cable carrier. All igus® E2 and E4 energy tubes that can be snapped open along both sides are available in this high temperature material.

The E4 system was chosen due to its large unsupported length.

Modular design and cost-efficient solutions for many industrial sectors

With a length of 61 links, a travel distance of 9 m and a speed of maximum 33 ft/min, the E4 system is used with standard mounting brackets due to its large, unsupported length. It is supplemented with integrated strain relief and interior separators and tiewrap plates neatly guide the cables. All these components positively affect the stability and durability of the whole cable carrier system.

The fully enclosed energy tube allows a quick and easy installation by snapping open the tube lid with a screwdriver. The easily accessible cables mean that maintenance time and machine downtimes are minimized. The enclosed system safely protects cables from dirt, humidity or heat.

Guide trough with high temperature cable protection

The enclosed energy tube makes hot chips showers completely unproblematic. They do not leave behind burn or melting marks. This energy tube can be quickly installed or retrofitted in hardly any time.