Sensors for smart chainflex® cables

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Experience all smart plastic innovations 2024 such as the non-contact condition monitoring for roller chainsEC.ITortheOTA-capable i.Sense module right here:

Industry 4.0: new smart plastics products

Industry 4.0: new smart plastics products

Recording of the smart plastic online seminar

This time our specialist Richard Habering addresses the following questions:

What are smart cables?
How do you use the technology?
What requirements must be met?
Where do customers already use them?

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Cable quality monitoring CF.Q

Avoid unplanned system downtimes due to cable failures when using chainflex® cable outside the chainflex® warranty conditions!
Recognise mechanical stress of chainflex® cable under extreme operating conditions at an early stage.
Plan maintenance work cost-effectively in advance

Request CF.Q

How CF.Q works

The isense CF.Q module is used for the early detection of changes in the electrical specification of chainflex® cables due to the mechanical load during operation in a igus® e-chain system®. For this purpose, the electrical resistance of a dedicated conductor loop is measured during operation. Temperature-related changes in resistance are compensated for by means of PT100 measurement at the installation location of the cable. Data is continuously analysed by igus® 's own microprocessor-based algorithms. These form both arithmetic and sliding mean values of the measured resistance values approx. 50 times per second and analyse these in a temporal context.
If the system detects a permanent change in the electrical specification, it recommends replacing the cable as soon as possible by switching a potential-free contact. If the cable is not replaced, the system switches off the system as a precaution in the event of a complete core rupture.

For later investigations, the system logs all measured values that led to the warning and switch-off.

Possibilities to integrate CF.Q:

Variant 1

as a sacrificial cable

With this variant, you still need space to run an additional cable in the e-chain®, as the CF.Q is run as a "sacrificial cable" in the e-chain®.
All cores of the cable are "connected in series" and connected to the measurement input of the module.
Advantage: All cores are measured, so there is no need to select the most frequently used core.
Disadvantage: Regardless of the production batch and assembly method, cables from the same production batch can also achieve different lifetimes.

Variant 2

Unused core of a cable

In the cable to be monitored, two unused cores are defined as measurement cores and, if necessary, routed to the measurement connections of the CF.QA module using a shielded extension cable.
This often requires a modification to the connector assembly, as the two cores must be led out of the connector at the cable entry on the distributor side.
Advantage: The cable actually used by the customer is monitored
Disadvantage: The original cable often has to be replaced by a variant with two additional cores, which usually increases the cable diameter, and the apparently "weakest" core should be selected.

An I4.0 success story from the field

Application: Bread packaging machine
What was needed: smart energy management
Requirements: preventive cable monitoring
Product: CF.Q top-hat rail module
Area of application: Automation of any kind
Success for the customer: The company GHD Georg Hartmann Maschinenbau was looking for a reliable energy supply system including preventive monitoring for its packaging machines in order to avoid machine failures

Go to the application report