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igus® has been manufacturing engineered plastics for 50 years, and develops each of the materials and all technology behind its products. Committed to using its innovative polymer materials to develop products that provide creative solutions and exceed customer expectations while delivering fast, accurate service. igus®’ polymer blends are used throughout its range of product lines of cable carriers, plastic bushings, spherical bearings, and linear bearings, guides, and slide tables. With constant advancement and technological breakthroughs, igus® is continually expanding its range of materials, and performs rigorous testing to ensure every product meets and exceeds industry standards. igus® sales engineers are available throughout North America for on-site technical support, friendly customer service is available 8am – 8 pm, and igus® offers over 80,000 parts in stock, ready to ship as early as that day. igus® also offers 3D CAD files, samples, and online tools, all completely free.
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igus Announces Winners of Cable Carrier Competition
POSTED 05/25/2012
Don't Miss These Industry-Leading Events!
East Providence, RI - igus® announced the results of its third global vector award competition during this year’s Hanover Industrial Fair. The winning applications, which included a loading/unloading press, a pump on a rotating bridge and an edge-banding machine, received awards at a special ceremony.
igus received 162 vector entries from 27 different countries. Contestants hailed from the US, Canada and Europe, to China, India, Korea, Singapore, and Brazil. All the applications submitted can be found at www.vector-award.com.
The judging panel included expert scientists and engineers from ZVEI (the German Central Association of Electrical Engineering and Electronics), WZL (Laboratory for Machine Tools and Production Engineering), the Institute of Technology at RWTH Aachen University, and the Ministry of Transportation (TÜV Rheinland).
Gold: KUKA Cobra
The gold vector award and 5,000 Euros in prize money went to KUKA Systems for its KUKA Cobra machine, which loads and unloads presses at lightning speed. It is comprised of two basic elements: a robot and a linear axis. The new concept makes it possible to increase press output capacities and reduce the distance between presses.
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The machine uses igus’ E6 Energy Chain® cable carrier featuring special connectors that make the KUKA Cobra design extremely compact. The cable carrier also delivers quiet operation with little vibration. It is a perfect match for the dynamics of the KUKA Cobra, which must quickly and precisely pick up components to transport them between presses.
Silver: The Amoras project
The silver vector award and 2,500 Euros in prize money went to Joury van Gijseghem from DEME (Dredging, Environmental and Marine Engineering) for his Amoras project.
The plant concerned handles nearly 50,000 tons of sludge per year, which is dredged up for shipping routes in a harbor in Antwerp, Belgium. A key component is an arch-shaped, rotating bridge that spans 492 feet. High-performance, mobile pumps fastened to the bridge force the sludge from a sedimentation basin through enormous hoses – up to 12 inches in diameter – for additional treatment.
igus’ E4-350, considered one of the world’s largest plastic cable carriers, is used to guide the hoses over the whole length of the bridge. A steel cable carrier was not an option since it would add too much weight to the already heavy structure of the bridge. A plastic cable carrier, which is extremely lightweight, was the ideal solution. The E4.350 system also features special crossbars with integrated rollers to reduce abrasion.
Bronze: Edge-banding machine
The bronze vector award and 1,000 Euros in prize money went to Fabio Ferri from SCM in Italy, which creates, produces and distributes technologically advanced solutions to process a variety of materials. The company used Twisterband, a fairly new rotary cable carrier from igus, to guide cables and hoses on an edge-banding machine. The tool processes wood, PVC, polypropylene, and aluminum by using a number of different movements to follow the contour of the given material. It rotates up to 1,440 degrees on its own axis in both directions, which required a cable carrier that is lightweight and able to cope with the complex movements.
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Twisterband replaced an electro-pneumatic distributor, which was too heavy, too expensive and not flexible enough. It is ideal for the application because it can not only handle rotary movements up to 3,000 degrees, but is also lightweight and economical.
The gold vector went to KUKA Systems for its KUKA Cobra machine, which loads and unloads presses at lightning speed. The machine uses igus’ E6 Energy Chain cable carrier featuring special connectors that make the KUKA Cobra design extremely compact.
The silver vector award and 2,500 Euros in prize money went to Joury van Gijseghem from DEME (Dredging, Environmental and Marine Engineering) for his Amoras project. The arch-shaped, rotating bridge, which spans 492 feet, uses igus’ E4-350 plastic cable carrier to guide the hoses over the whole length of the bridge.
The bronze vector award and 1,000 Euros in prize money went to Fabio Ferri from SCM in Italy, which creates, produces and distributes technologically advanced solutions to process a variety of materials. The company used Twisterband, a fairly new rotary cable carrier from igus, to guide cables and hoses on an edge-banding machine.
162 entries from 27 countries competed for the vector awards. igus® announced the results during this year’s Hanover Industrial Fair. Winning applications included a loading/unloading press, a pump on a rotating bridge and an edge-banding machine.
About igus
igus develops industry-leading Energy Chain cable carriers, Chainflex® continuous-flex cables, iglide® plastic bushings, igubal® spherical bearings, and DryLin® linear bearings and linear guides. These seemingly unrelated products are linked together through a belief in making functionally advanced, yet affordable plastic components and assemblies. With plastic bearing experience since 1964, cable carrier experience since 1971 and continuous-flex cable since 1989, igus provides the right solution from over 80,000 products available from stock. No minimum order required.
igus, Energy Chain, Chainflex, iglide, igubal, and DryLin are registered trademarks of igus Inc. All other company names and products are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.