Thursday, March 6, 2014

Tips for Designing Cable Carriers



Of all the machine design details to worry about, cable carriers probably dont top your list. Yet if you care about the reliability and uptime of moving machines, it pays to devote extra engineering attention to the carriers and the components within them.
A well-designed cable carrier will dramatically extend the life of cables and fluid power supply lines by protecting them from damaging bends, crimping, abrasive wear and crushing.
Unfortunately, some cable carriers are poorly-designed and can trigger the very same cable and supply line failures they were supposed to prevent, causing expensive machine downtime. The potential for failures can largely be avoided by following a collection of simple carrier design guidelines developed by our Systems Group.
Over the years, our engineers have designed, built and delivered thousands of populated cable carriers that have been implemented in a wide variety of servo and VFD applications on packaging, automotive and other industrial machines.
Here are some basic tips for designing populated carriers:

         Calculate. Determine the minimum bend radius and clearances of all the components that will fill the carrier. Define the optimal carrier length and location of the fixed mounting points.
         Weigh. Distribute the weight of the fill components within the carrier. Take the time to calculate the weights of individual components, and place the heaviest components on the outside of the carrier.
         Influence. Consider the operating environment. Chemical exposures and thermal conditions can influence the design of cable carriers.
         Divide. Split the carrier into separate cavities so the cables and hose can all move independently of one another.
         Get Help. Involve your cable and carrier vendors in the design process. They work with carriers every day and can offer additional engineering expertise that will help you design a carrier that will go the distance.
For detailed engineering guidelines, download our technical paper on cable carrier design.
 http://www.lappusa.com/PdfLoginSignup.aspx?PDF=PDF/Lapp_WP_cable_carriers.pdf&pk_campaign=Blog&pk_kwd=cable%20carrier

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