How cable caterpillars from igus are becoming champions of energy conservation

Links of roller cable tracks reduce energy consumption for E4.1 cable track series with 37%

Good news for users of the igus E4.1 cable crawler series: newly developed roller-cable crawler links reduce the required drive power by 37%. This allows customers to reduce their electricity costs in times of sharply rising energy prices.

Wholesale electricity prices are skyrocketing. This is a serious challenge to the competitiveness of many industrial companies, so saving electricity is on the agenda. This applies to entire production lines, individual machines or components such as cable tracks that guide cables and hoses for energy, data and hydraulics in industrial plants. As a rule, the upper loop of a cable caterpillar slides over the lower loop. On short travel distances, energy is not a problem because igus' high-quality plastics ensure low-friction operation. With longer travel distances (several hundred meters and longer) and a high payload (up to 100 kg/m), the coefficients of friction increase and thus so does energy consumption.

E4.1R: Rolling instead of sliding saves energy

For 20 years, igus has offered cable tracks for long travel paths, where the upper barrel rolls over the lower barrel, reducing friction and wear. "Because of rising prices and energy costs, many industrial companies have become interested in cost-saving measures. They wonder how operating costs can be reduced with the components used, such as cable tracks - especially for long distances with high additional loads," says Jörg Ottersbach, head of the cable tracks business unit at igus. "Our answer is that we also offer a version of our E4.1, the E4.1R, with integrated rollers. This series is one of our best-selling cable beads and a universal solution for 90% of sliding applications." Rollers reduce drive power to 37% - savings that minimize energy requirements as electricity prices rise. A nice bonus is that the E4.1R runs smoother, with less noise and vibration, thanks to rollers. The roller-cable track links are also fully compatible with the entire E4.1 series modular system, so that, for example, indoor linear robots in the machine industry can be retrofitted. In addition to internal heights of 42 and 56 mm, a height of 80 mm is available for the E4.1R. Add several widths and radii and you have a total of more than 900 variants for individual applications.