Product category:
Bearings
News Release from: Igus UK | Subject: Aluminium guiding trough system
Edited by the Engineeringtalk Editorial
Team on 08 February 2006
Aluminium guiding in different
configurations
Aluminium guiding trough system comes as basic model or, for instance, for the demanding plant engineering sector, additional system components.
Igus has developed an aluminium guiding trough system as a modular construction kit Wherever self-supporting energy chains glide over travel distances amounting to several hundred metres, they must be guided efficiently and reliably
This article was originally published on Engineeringtalk on 21 Jul 2008 at 8.00am (UK)
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This might be a travel distance of 50m in the high-bay warehouse of a logistics centre, or 500m in seawater-resistant form through the crane installation in a harbour.
Initially, individually manufactured sheet-metal boxes were used, followed by standard steel systems.
Today most users rely on aluminium, even where the use of stainless steel alone prevailed (for example in the food-processing industry) for a long time.
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The main reasons have to do with corrosion resistance, saving weight and quicker assembly, but also with the possibility of being able to attach the energy chain in impact-resistant form to the inner or outer side of the guiding trough.
Depending on the application of the flexible energy supply system, users of the Igus system receive a basic model or, for instance, for the demanding plant engineering sector, additional system components.
Easily assembled, the basic package consists of four parts - trough wall, slide rail, clamp shoe and connector.
The trough wall, which is made of extruded aluminium, is lightweight yet sturdy, seawater-proof and can be used under rough environmental conditions.
The slide rails, included in the delivery package for the system, are securely clicked into a continuous lateral groove and can be detached again.
The clamp shoe is installed internally or externally with only one screw on the base surface or on fastening profiles (available as an option).
Finally, a resilient plastic wedge dampens any impacts.
On the one hand, the solid aluminium mounting brackets (connectors, instead of a plastic wedge) are additional system components for large-scale plants.
These mounting brackets facilitate the installation work, because the trough elements are connected to one another during pre-assembly.
However, in the case of portal robots, machine tools, wood-processing machines or textile machines, plastic wedges are sufficient.
On the other hand, two additional system components provide basic technical advantages for proper guidance of the energy chain.
One of these system components is the lateral plastic slide strip, which - with life-increasing properties - protects the chain against lateral abrasion especially at high speeds of travel.
Gliding along the plastic has a material-strengthening effect at critical points and attenuates sound.
If the running noise requires additional dampening, noise-reducing damping profiles made of EPDM are available. Request a free brochure from Igus UK ...
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