Intelligent energy chains & smart cables

What new products are there?

Industry 4.0: new smart plastics products

smart plastic innovations 2024 ...
... Experience all smart plastic innovations 2024 such as the contactless condition monitoring for roller chainsEC.IT or the OTA-capable i.Sense module right here:

smart plastics news

Sensors for e-chain®

EC.W

Sensor for abrasion on energy chain

Measures wear on the crossbar, pin/bore connection or sliding foil, depending on the version
Compares defined algorithms with the actual usage data
Can also be used as a stand-alone sensor

i.Sense EC.W service life sensor

EC.PP

Sensor for position-sensitive tension/push force measurement

positioning system integrated in e-chain®
Provides information on position-dependent tensile and shear forces
Position information can be used from the application for other purposes

EC.M

Sensor for movement on e-chain®

Detects values such as acceleration, speed, temperature and cycles
Provides data for calculating the failure-free minimum runtime

EC.I

Non-contact wear measurement of the e-chain®

Integrated in the chain link, the most mechanically stressed component
Measures the percentage wear of the pin/bore connection without contact
Sends a signal when the defined limit value is reached

"What should you consider when selecting e-chain® from a maintenance perspective?"

10 tips for a "maintenance-friendly" energy chain

This short guide provides numerous practical tips and tricks on what this means in concrete terms and what design engineers should consider.

For free PDF download

Smart e-chains®

Finally also for multi-axis & industrial robots ...

... i.Sense TR.B for intelligent breakage monitoring
Robots have long been an integral part of many areas of industrial production - whether welding, painting, soldering or palletising: Industrial robots work dynamically. A flexible multi-axis energy chain such as the triflex® R from igus® makes it possible to guide robot cables safely. In order to recognise potential chain breakages caused by the extreme load in good time and avoid unplanned machine downtime, igus® has developed i.Sense TR.B, the world's first breakage monitoring system for multi-axis energy chains.

Learn more

P4.1 Roller chain

Longer service life thanks to maintenance-free tribopolymer plain bearings in the connection of the chain links
For maximum stress and service life
Travel distances of over 800 m at speeds of more than 5 m/s
Always know how the chain is doing thanks to smart plastic

find out more about the P4.1

E4 chain series for the high load range

sliding, unsupported, suspended use
For robust, demanding applications
inner height from 21 to 350mm
Each chain link consists of 4 individual parts
Can be opened in the inner and outer radius

to the E4 series

E2 chains for the medium load range

Internal heights: 26 to 48 mm
Available in two versions:

Hinged on both sides in the outer radius
Hinged on both sides in the inner radius

Improved weight and dimension ratio compared to the previous series
Up to 55% faster to install than predecessors

to the E2 chains

3D CAD portal for smart plastics

Designing intelligent energy chain systems faster. CAD models for all smart components.

Our intelligent e-chain systems are already being used reliably in many hundreds of thousands of applications worldwide - from beverage vending machines and CNC machines to steelworks. Unsupported lengths can be bridged with ease and long travel distances are conceivable for a wide range of industries.

To the 3D CAD portal

Design energy chains in the 3D CAD portal

To the 3D CAD portal

360° insight into the igus® test laboratory

All smart plastic test setups can be found here by rotating the mouse over the screen.

Smart solutions with chainflex® cable

No additional module is required for condition monitoring (i.Sense) using chainflex® cable.
The system can be operated without additional software during integration and networking.
In these cases, chainflex® cable takes over 3 possibilities of condition monitoring.