Today, an extremely robust polymer chain from igus® GmbH, Cologne, is used to safely guide the system's hoses throughout the entire journey. This is the maintenance-free model E4.350 from the particularly robust E4.1 series, which can be opened on both sides and has proven itself in countless applications. It demonstrates its versatility in composting and sewage treatment plants, tool and construction machinery, crane technology and wood processing, among others.
With an inner height of 350 mm and an inner width of up to 800 mm, the E4.350 is the largest plastic energy chain in the world to date. For use in the most demanding "Heavy Duty" applications, it can easily handle heavy and, if necessary, stiff loads and is highly wear-resistant, corrosion-free and resistant to oil and seawater. In order to minimise rolling resistance, sliding rollers made of the tribo-optimised plain bearing material iglidur®, which demonstrates its strength in a wide range of applications, prove their worth as a special design on the opening webs. The friction of the hose in the chain is significantly reduced, thus guaranteeing stability.
In addition to the energy supply system, a corrosion-resistant guide trough and floating moving end are used. They are used to compensate for any lateral offset tolerances. The energy chain, which is filled with hose and cable, is always safely guided along its entire length in all weathers. Despite the difficult operating and environmental conditions, there have been no failures to date.
To ensure the operational safety of the bridge construction, the plant manufacturer also decided to invest in an electronic monitoring unit. The Push/Pull Detection System diagnostic tool (Push Pull Force Detection System), which has proven its worth particularly on long travel distances, measures the push/pull forces of the energy chain online every four seconds and compares them with a calculated target value. In the event of malfunctions, the system can be stopped automatically with the help of the diagnostic tool to prevent damage.