September 21, 2017 – igus has further expanded its range of Ethernet cables for use in energy chains and now offers 27 different cables at seven price points. With the largest global portfolio of Ethernet cables for moving applications, igus offers its customers the right selection for any application. All cables at igus are available from stock in 24 hours, with a 36-month guarantee for durability and no minimum order quantity surcharge.

Due to increasing automation in production processes, the volume of data that needs to be transmitted between individual functions is also increasing. Movement also plays an increasingly important role in modern production processes. For this reason, specially designed cables must be used. “Since requirements differ between applications, we are offering a complete product range of Ethernet cables specially designed for moving applications,” explains Rainer Rössel, Manager of the chainflex business area at igus. “No matter what the required mechanical and electrical performance, users can count on reliable, tried-and-tested cables and select the most affordable cable from our product range that will work in their application. This includes anything from transmission standards CAT5 to CAT7 or from simple linear to complex three-dimensional movements. Even applications with particularly high torsion forces can be fulfilled, which means we have a suitable Ethernet cable for virtually any situation.”

The igus product range includes a total of 27 cables, from the affordable chainflex CF888 with a guaranteed service life of up to five million strokes, right up to the new chainflex CFROBOT8.052, the first robot cable that complies with the CAT7 standard. As is promised for the entire CFROBOT product range, igus guarantees a durability of five million torsional movements.

In situations where cables are fitted in static installations, commonly used Ethernet cables get the job done. But the service life of these cables is severely restricted when used in moving applications. The bus cables, developed by the motion plastics specialist igus, are always optimised for movement to provide the best possible transmission properties. The cables for linear movements are stranded with optimised strands and are available in six different jacket materials (from PVC to TPE), depending on the quality required. For cables from the CFROBOT product range, the components within the cable are guided loosely so that the cable can move safely when the wires and shielding twist together and apart. To demonstrate that these special designs and materials prove themselves in real-world applications.

igus inspects all cables at its 2,750 square metre in-house test laboratory by conducting more than two billion test cycles per year. Aside from electrical resistance values, which are determined using the specially designed AutÙMeS system from igus, these test sequences are also used to continuously monitor Ethernet-relevant values. The reason this is done is that the data transmission quality of the cables can cause significant problems over long periods of movement if the cables are poorly designed or manufactured. Thanks to the continuous tests that igus conducts, customers can be certain that chainflex cables will work for the duration of the guaranteed service life.