Cyber-Weld buys its 10,000th readycable from Igus
Robotic welding machine specialist Cyber-Weld’s last purchase of 100 Igus readycable drive cable assemblies for its machines marked a milestone, being the 10,000th order for the product series. These highly flexible cables provide power and signals to the robotic head, grippers or other attachments and are usually mounted externally to the robotic arm. Particularly on a 6-axis robot, this cable is subject to a great deal of rigorous movement, which can lead to premature failure if incorrectly specified.
“We expect the cables to outlive the mission time of the installed robotic system, which is approximately 10 to 15 years,” says Mike Jones, general manager of Cyber-Weld. “Igus is always helpful and is happy to come onsite to look at our requirements, which is a big plus factor for us. A local supplier with a good reputation, Igus also helps us shorten our lead-times.”
The readycable assembled drive cables series has bending radius from 7.5 times outside diameter. Harnessed cables are tested in Igus e-chain cable carriers through many millions of cycles. There is a choice of servo cables, signal cables and feeder cables with a total of seven cable quality levels for the same electrical requirement, offering an affordable and durable solution for all applications. The readycable assembled drive cables also have a number of certifications and regulatory conformities including UL, CSA, CE Desina. These extremely reliable cables are designed for high stress applications and are also available with flame and oil resistance.
Robotic welding advantages
Robotic welding systems have been widely used in large scale automated manufacturing facilities, particularly in the automotive industry, for a number of years. Faced with cost-down pressures from their customers, small metalworking job shops are now starting to consider implementing automation. When the operating costs of robotic welding are compared to manual welding the results are now clearly in favour of the robot. Additional benefits of automating are increased productivity, more consistent welded joints and improved quality.
Cyber-Weld provides a simple cost analysis to its potential customers. Using manual welding, the overhead burdened cost is around £35k per annum for a single shift, with an average ‘Arc On’ time of 25%. The average robot ‘Arc On’ time is 75%, three times that of a manual welder, resulting in an additional 200% production capability. With an entry-level robot and operator costs of £17.5k, the payback time is less than 12 months.
About Igus readychain cables
It is no contradiction to say that good cables cost less. Fast delivery throughout the world is a significant purchase criterion, and Igus can provide that with a presence and stock in more than 40 countries. This saves time, money, part storage capacity and is applicable to 1,040 Igus cable types, which can be ordered without any minimum quantity purchases or surcharges.
In the Igus test facility in Cologne, numerous parallel tests are conducted under the most severe conditions. Presently more than 2 billion double strokes and 1.4 million electrical tests are carried out per year, with the test results stored in an extensive data-base, providing precise and reliable data about actual service life. The test data for e-chains, cables, and also for ready-assembled systems, are so extensive that Igus has secured a functional guarantee for its variety of e-chain systems based on the particular application.
The Igus reputation appreciated by Cyber-Weld comes from this extensive testing and more than 25-years of industry experience in continuous-flex cable. Further information and the on-line readycable product finder can be found on the Igus website, including searches by machine producer and cable type.
Visit the Igus website for more information on readychain cables.
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