igus unveils innovatively designed Energy Tube at MACH 2010 RX E-Tubes repel chips and feature easy-to-open lids for quick access

About the RX energy tube range, Justin Leonard of igus UK says: “All chips, whether coarse or tiny, fall off so that the cables and hoses within are almost one hundred percent protected”. The RX E-Tube is particularly well-suited to short, self-supporting lengths such as those found inside machine tools.

Despite its impermeability, the RX E-Tube is easy to open and includes an inner separation system that has been optimised to reduce abrasion on the cables to a minimum. The original RX40 has a large interior height of 52mm, and the enlarged range now includes the RX48 (62mm inner height) and RX56 (73mm inner height). The tubes lids are opened in the outer radius using a flat screwdriver and turning the clip locks anti-clockwise by 180 degrees. The separation system has three vertical separators and a horizontal shelf for the safe and separate routing of cables and hoses. Since the cables remain accessible at all times with the RX E-Tubes, maintenance and machine downtimes are kept to a minimum.

Custom solutions are also available to satisfy small reverse bending radius and high temperature conditions. Made of special igumid HT material, the high temperature option ensures that even red-hot chips, up to 850 °C, fall off without damage to the E-Tube.

The RX E-Tubes can be delivered directly to the machine as “ReadyChains”, assembled to size and fitted with cables and hoses, suitable connectors and even including a new guide rail. Says Leonard: “With the help of pre-harnessed, ready-to-fit energy supply systems, assembly times decrease and storage costs drop considerably.”

The RX40 E-Tubes have also won the “IF Product Design Award 2010”, which was presented at this year’s Hanover Fair. Jurors of the International Forum Design Award, which is recognised as a label for good design, selected igus after assessing 2,486 products from 38 countries. As a world leader in the design and manufacture of closed plastic energy tubes, Leonard adds: “Our award-winning RX model has broken the mould in E-Tube design and tops available impermeable standards.”

igus will be exhibiting at MACH in hall 5, stand number 5679, where examples of igus RX40 and ReadyChains will be on display. Fully qualified igus engineers will be on hand to discuss energy chain and polymer bearing requirements, as well as demonstrating the latest products from igus.