Electricity + Control October 2017

CABLES + ACCESSORIES

:KHQ ( FKDLQV Carry Sensors

+DUDOG 1HKULQJ LJXV *PE+

(Images courtesy: igus GmbH)

Reduce maintenance and costs with foresight given by smart plastics.

I ntelligent energy chains and chainflex cables can inform you when they need to be replaced. The isense series of igus GmbH combine sen- sors with monitoring modules offer predictive maintenance for production. Unforeseen machine failures and imminent downtimes are detected, and appropriate maintenance can be initiated thus avoiding expensive production losses. The digital networking of machines and prod- ucts makes it possible to continuously collect data about the status of machine components and in- tegrate them with other systems. With predictive maintenance, production processes become sim- pler and safer, since the constant monitoring of all machines and components means that faults and wear are detected are predicted before failure. As a result, measures for the maintenance and repair of affected parts can be initiated at an early stage. This reduces expensive downtimes demanded by periodic maintenance. The predictive maintenance is therefore an important element within Industry 4.0. Manufacturers in the automotive industry in particular are asking for components for Produc- tion 4.0. Only the products are missing.

Avoid machine downtimes At the Hannover Messe, igus presented smart plastics for the first time with the name ‘isense’ - intelligent components for the factory of the future. The isense series include various sensors and monitoring modules in or on the plastic com- ponents of the energy chain. Energy chains and the chainflex cables inside them supply energy and data to machines and plants. If these parts suddenly fail, the system would be stopped. An interrupted production run costs the plant operator dearly. It is understandable that plant managers want to prevent such possible failures. This is pos- sible with the wear monitoring isense EC.W(ear): A sensor chip embedded in the opening crossbar of the e-chain continuously measures the status of the gliding e-chain during the travel. If the abrasion is so advanced that the end of the service life of the chain is near, the sensor reports by triggering a signal. A nearby antenna unit receives the data by radio and passes it on to a reader module. This processes the antenna signal and then reports it to the central communication unit called icom. The icom module prepares the data and forwards it to

Take Note!

igus has introduced smart plastics called ‘isense’. isense has been devel- oped for ‘intelligent com- ponents for the factory of the future’. The isense series en- sures that unforeseen machine failures and imminent downtimes are detected in good time to avoid expensive production losses.

1

2

3

Thanks to smart plastics from igus, unforeseen machine failures and immi- nent downtimes are detected in good time for an appropriate maintenance to be in- itiated and in this way expensive production losses are avoided.

28 Electricity + Control

OCTOBER 2017