Energy supply for a heavy duty lathe: durable despite chips and dirt

• What was needed: three-dimensionally movable energy chain from the triflex® TRC series, closed e-chain® from the R2 series, chainflex®-cable
• Requirements: durable and particularly available energy supply despite chips and dirt
• Industry: Machine tool manufacturing
• Success for the customer: closed energy chains protect the internal cables from chips and dirt while ensuring ease of installation and availability

The TUR 3MN heavy-duty lathe from Polish company FAT HACO enables workpieces up to 1,600 mm long and weighing up to 15,000 kg to be machined. The headstock of the lathe has a modern, compact design. The high-performance spindle offers maximum accuracy and rigidity with heavy loads and ensures an outstanding surface quality of the machined workpieces. FAT HACO was looking for a suitable solution to safely move the cables and hoses for the machine's power and data transmission. Firstly, this had to be able to withstand the swarf and dirt generated during operation of the lathe. At the same time, the manufacturer was looking for components that could guarantee particularly high availability and a long service life.

In addition to three-dimensionally movable energy chains from the triflex® TRC series, closed e-chain® series R2 are now used to protect the internal cables from chips and dirt. At the same time, the lid can be easily opened and closed using a screwdriver. This ease of assembly and the availability and durability of the chains were the decisive factors for FAT HACO to opt for energy chain systems from igus®. In the meantime, all metal chains have been replaced by plastic energy chains from igus®. Inside the energy chain, the machine tool manufacturer uses chainflex® cables. These have been specially developed for moving applications in e-chain® and withstand the continuous movements safely trade show. igus® even guarantees this with a 36-month warranty on all chainflex® cables.