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Supply: igus
igus is launching a brand new vitality provide system for SCARA robots in cleanrooms: the Clear SCARA Cable Answer is made from tribologically optimized high-performance plastics and works virtually particle-free in keeping with ISO Class 2 even in high-speed functions. It is usually stronger and extra user-friendly than basic corrugated hoses.
In electronics manufacturing, tiny particles invisible to the bare eye can wreak havoc, ruining digital parts, semiconductors, and shows. Subsequently, it’s vital that machines like SCARA robots, which transfer quickly alongside 4 axes in beneath a second, generate as little friction and contamination as potential.
Throughout these high-speed functions, there may be all the time a threat that tiny particles will detach from corrugated hoses and tubes. Sustaining ultra-clean manufacturing situations is important to stop microscopic contaminants from damaging electronics.
Simply as microscopic particles can silently destroy manufacturing in electronics, contamination is a continuing risk that have to be guarded towards vigilantly. With machines transferring at excessive speeds under a second, any friction dangers releasing particles that would probably destroy delicate electronics and parts. By minimizing contamination, producers can keep away from catastrophic harm on the smallest scales.
“Discovering a solution to information cables and hoses on a SCARA robotic in a cleanroom is a science in itself. Quick actions are pure stress for the fabric, which releases unwelcome abrasion particles,” says Matthias Meyer, Head of the triflex and Robotics Enterprise Unit at igus.
Because of this, igus has added a cleanroom variant to the SCARA Cable Answer vitality provide system, which it initially developed in 2020.
“The brand new Clear SCARA Cable Answer is a cleanroom-compatible vitality provide system for high-speed functions – dependable, compact, straightforward to make use of, and fast to retrofit,” says Meyer.
ISO Class 2: hardly any particles within the surrounding air, even with the wildest movementsThe core of the brand new cleanroom vitality provide system is the e-skin mushy, a modular e-chain cable service that guides cables and hoses in an arc from the robotic’s vertical arm to the tip effector. Its separable higher and decrease shells could be mixed to type a closed, dust-proof, water resistant tube. This ensures that particles from the cables and hoses don’t get into the encircling air from the within – even throughout the wildest actions.
“To scale back stress on the cables and enhance their sturdiness, we’ve got offered a rotating mount for the connections to the mounted and transferring ends of the vitality provide system,” says Meyer. “That’s what is particular in regards to the vitality provide system. On the similar time, the rotary bearings are designed to be virtually particle-free, even throughout probably the most dynamic actions.”
The e-chain itself can be particularly abrasion-resistant due to tribologically optimized high-performance plastic. Its ISO certification by Fraunhofer Institute consultants confirms this. The Clear SCARA Cable Answer has ISO Class 2, which means that it’s so abrasion-resistant {that a} most of 100 particles as much as a measurement of 0.1 microns could be present in one cubic meter of air throughout operation. For comparability, a sheet of paper is 80 microns thick, or 800 occasions as thick as a particle.
Clear SCARA Cable Answer as an alternative choice to basic corrugated hosesWith its new vitality provide system, igus presents an alternative choice to basic corrugated hoses, which has two different benefits moreover cleanroom compatibility. First, the skinny corrugated hoses most frequently used with the SCARA have hardly any inherent rigidity and are, due to this fact, prone to kinking. There isn’t a bearing to soak up torsion and might tear simply.
“In contrast to corrugated hoses, the Clear SCARA Cable Answer helps itself and has a novel rotary bearing. This makes it ultimate for brief unsupported lengths and extremely dynamic functions,” says Meyer. “The oval chain geometry is very advantageous when lateral forces are utilized because it presents extra energy.”
Customary SCARA vitality provide options use static connections on the transferring and stuck ends. This results in pointless fatigue on the corrugated tube at each factors and elevated put on on the cable package deal. The Clear SCARA Cable Answer makes use of rotary connections at each ends, which all however eliminates mechanical stress on the vitality provide system. With the excessive speeds seen in Scara functions, this enchancment is a sport changer.
The second benefit over the corrugated hose is that the zipper precept makes the Clear SCARA Cable Answer straightforward to open, enabling customers to insert cables and hoses shortly. An elective inside separation gives extra safety that corrugated hoses can not. Upon request, the client can obtain the brand new cleanroom vitality chain as a ready-to-connect full system with igus chainflex cables. Greater than 900 extremely versatile cables of IPA Class 1 can be found.