Hygienic design energy chain in high-performance slicing plants

Profile

• What was needed: TH3 e-chain® in hygienic design
• Requirements: high availability requirements with high utilisation of all components and fast, intermittent movements within the system; resistance to the cleaning agents and chemicals used in the system
• Industry: Mechanical engineering, packaging
• Success for the customer: Chain solution is easy to clean, FDA-compliant and withstands the chemicals used without any problems trade show; the energy chains have been running for more than two years without any complaints; other product requirements for plain bearings, linear bearings and other semi-finished products also come from a single source

The medium-sized company Dipl.-Ing. Schindler & Wagner GmbH & Co. KG develops and designs high-quality machine systems such as the high-tech slicer-checkweigher machine combinations, which are used for slicing, portioning and weighing a wide variety of meat and cheese products. The high-performance slicers are characterised by the globally unique "SCHIWA walk-in design". This allows the operator to enter the interior of the machine in an upright posture and, for example, to remove the blade in an upright position when changing blades. As all surfaces have to be cleaned daily, the machines are characterised by a completely open design and easy accessibility. The new hygiene design was created for SCHIWA at the end of 2017, when the philosophy "Only what you can see, you can clean" was applied to 'uncover' and visualise as much of the machine parts as possible.
The new machine concept influenced all the details - including the cable routing to the grippers that guide the cheese to the cutting blade. Whereas previously the cables were fed through somewhere in a makeshift manner and then fixed with loops, a more suitable solution was later sought. The high performance of the machines in particular places great demands on cable routing. The 4-spindle slicer from SCHIWA, for example, delivers up to 6,000 cuts and 240 packs per minute with a guaranteed technical availability of 98.5 %. Approximately three tonnes of cheese per hour can be processed on one machine. The system's grippers move back and forth intermittently for 20 hours a day, which places an immense load on the pipework. All the necessary media such as pneumatics, sensors and electrics must be safely accommodated in a guidance system. They were also looking for a solution made of materials that are resistant to cleaning agents and have an open design that is easy to clean.

In the search for a suitable cable guide, they found what they were looking for at igus®, with whom the machine manufacturer has had a long-standing partnership. Special solutions made of bar stock, iglidur ® plain bearings and drylin® linear guides are also installed in the company's own systems. "The quality, the flexibility and also the cooperation simply fit, so it was clear to us from the outset that igus® would also be the first point of contact for this energy chain," says Martin Hüttenrauch, Sales Manager at SCHIWA.
The TH3 type e-chain® has been in use ever since. This hygienic design e-chain® is used wherever the highest hygiene requirements prevail and cables and hoses need to be routed safely. It is easy to clean, FDA-compliant, has no screw connections and is ideally suited for aggressive cleaning agents and chemicals. With the up to four fixed interior segments of the e-chain®, cables and hoses can be laid neatly separated from each other and still have sufficient clearance for cleaning. Another advantage of the TH3 e-chain® is the rounded edges, which prevent dead spaces and the resulting germ formation. The screw-free construction and open design also raise hygiene standards, as they make the system easier to clean.
The TH3 energy chain was first used in SCHIWA's 4-spindle slicer. "We have been using the energy supply for more than two years and have not had any complaints. They are exactly what we wanted. The cables are guided securely and the blue chain is also a real eye-catcher," says Tobias Wahl, Head of Mechanical Development at SCHIWA. The choice of blue colour also follows the idea of "optical detectability", an increasingly important requirement in food technology.