User report cables and energy chains for PCB assemblers: 17 million cycles per year

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• What was needed: chainflex control cables of type CF9 and CF10, servo cables of type CF27, energy chains of type E2 mini, E2 medium and E2/000
• Requirements: High speeds of 300°/s, compact installation with little installation space, reliability in continuous operation
• Industry: Microelectronics
• Success for the customer: In the past, cable failures led to downtime and production losses. Since the replacement of cables and cable routing, the maintenance intervals have been considerably extended.

With a turret head, the "Speedmounter" can pick up up to twelve different components at the same time and assemble the circuit board with them. This is happening at breakneck speed. 
The turret of the IPTE custom mounter moves at a speed of 300°/s, with the head moving in 30° increments each time twelve tools are mounted. The results are shown in comparison with other special mounters. The actual placement performance with this process is significantly higher than with all other machines worldwide.
The demands on the components that perform their service in the special assembler are accordingly high. The focus is always on system availability. The reliability of the individual assemblies must always be given. The suppliers of the parts from which the machines are made also have to face tough tests. As an ISO-certified company, the quality and reliability of suppliers are checked very carefully.
This is not least due to the fact that in the past there were often limitations in the availability of the systems due to cable problems. Downtimes and production losses had to be prevented. A complete weekend to dismantle and replace the cable assembly is not acceptable to any customer.

Today, various chainflex cables and energy chains are used in the "Speedmounter", all of which have been specially developed for moving applications.
For the control cables, IPTE relies on the chainflex CF9 (unshielded) and CF10 (shielded), which, with their minimum bend radius of 5xd, allow them to be used in tight radii in the smallest installation spaces. And they also take up little space in the energy chain. This is because a mechanically optimised TPE jacket material and the core insulation enable small outer diameters. And thanks to the gusset-filled extruded inner jacket, the cables retain their transmission properties even after many millions of double cycles. The control cables are supplemented by halogen-free, flame-retardant and UL-approved servo cables from the CF27 series for supplying the servomotors.
The cables are used in energy chains from the E2 mini, E2 medium and E2/000 series. The E2 medium is subject to particularly high loads. The chain and cables are subjected to around 17 million cycles per year. In order to avoid electrostatic charging in the PCB assembly, all energy chains are supplied in a conductive ESD version.
Overall, the maintenance intervals have been significantly extended by using the energy chain systems and chainflex cables.