Igus develops quiet, modular cleanroom solutions
igus has introduced e-skin for guiding cables securely and abrasion-free in cleanrooms. The energy chain for cleanroom applications has now been equipped with a softer material especially for compact installation spaces.
The e-skin is made of tribologically optimised, abrasion resistant plastic, has a modular structure, and can be filled quickly. To make the e-skin suitable for use in compact rooms, it has now been fitted with a new soft material. The new e-skin soft can also be used in small installation spaces on short unsupported lengths. For very flat installation spaces, igus offers a new solution with a chamber design: the e-skin flat. Both energy chains were convincing in the noise test in the movement.
In the production of microchips, OLEDs, LCDs, implants, and semiconductors or in the pharmaceutical industry, there are very high demands in a pure manufacturing environment. Therefore, the conditions on the used machine elements as well as on energy supply systems are particularly high.
As a result, igus presented the easily openable e-skin, an enclosed corrugated tube, four years ago. It has the seal of approval Fraunhofer Tested Device of the ISO class 1 and in 2018 received the 2nd prize of the Fraunhofer clean technology award “Clean! 2018”.
The new e-skin soft is based entirely on the modular principle of the proven e-skin. The separable upper and lower shells of the energy chain can be easily put together by a “zipper” to a fully enclosed tube, which is highly dustproof and water-resistant. This guarantees both cleanroom compatibility, quick filling and maintenance of the cables.
igus has now developed the e-skin flat especially for very tight installation spaces, for example in semiconductor manufacturing. The new energy supply consists of a profile with three cable chambers, which are extruded from high-performance plastics. Therefore, it is very flat and allows a very small bend radius and a low clearance height. The profiles can be connected to wider systems. In contrast to alternative solutions, the cables in the e-skin flat are not shrink-wrapped but are inserted into the chambers. In the event of a need for maintenance, the cables can simply be pulled in without having to install a new energy supply system. The user reduces the costs and improves his technology.
In a second expansion stage, the individual chambers are openable from the outside thanks to a zipper system, so that maintenance can be speeded up further. Another advantage: with the new energy supply systems, e-skin flat and e-skin soft, igus offers two cost-effective solutions available directly from stock.
