Hygienic Cable Connections Made Easy

What’s the most important thing to bear in mind when designing systems for hygienic manufacturing environments? Smooth, stainless steel surfaces might be one answer. But more fundamentally, hygiene requires attention to detail.

Take cable glands, for example.  Standard models, while suitable for most industrial settings, typically have exposed threads, tiny openings and protruding surface features that make them less than ideal from a hygiene standpoint.  Recently, our engineers have turned their attention to these easy-to-overlook cable gland details. The result is a new hygienic cable connector called SKINTOP® INOX.

Made from food-grade 316L stainless steel,  SKINTOP® INOX features enclosed, sealed threads. And its exterior surfaces have no gaps or protruding features that can trap particulate or microbes. Even the number of tooling flats, which blend seamlessly with the surrounding housing surfaces, have been reduced to just two. SKINTOP® INOX cable glands finally feature integral food-grade silicone o-rings for IP 68 protection at 5 bar.

Aside from their outward appearance and internal seals, the new hygienic glands meet the same high performance and ease-of-use standards as our other SKINTOP® products. These include:

*  Operating temperature range of -30° to 100° C.

*  Wide clamping range of 7 to 13 mm with M20 x 1.5 threads.

* Compliance with ISO 14159 standards for machinery hygiene.

The first SKINTOP® INOX models, which were introduced last month, are intended for use in splash zones and not for direct contact with food or pharmaceuticals. Models for use in washdown and direct contact applications will be introduced soon.

Download the technical specifications for SKINTOP® INOX here.

Challenges of high-acceleration servo motors

As machine tools get faster and faster, there’s a growing need for high-acceleration servo systems. These servo systems obviously require more robust motors and mechanical components. 

What’s less obvious is that they also need power and signal cables that have been designed to withstand acceleration-related stresses.
 
Lapp's brand new new lineup of high-acceleration servo cables, includes ÖLFLEX® SERVO FD 796 CP.  

 
This high-acceleration cable’s features include extra-fine Class 6 copper stranding, polypropylene insulation, non-woven wrapping, tinned copper braiding and a polyurethane jacketing. The cable optionally contains either one or two control pairs.

The new cable supports accelerations in excess of 5g and travel speeds up to 5 m/sec. Travel distances can range up to 100 m. Intended for flexible applications, it has a minimum bend radius of 7.5 x OD.
 
Other than its outstanding ability to withstand high accelerations, FD 796 CP behaves much like any other high-performance servo cable. It resists oil and flame to UL standards. Temperature range for flexible applications is –40 to 80ºC.


If you’d like to learn more the cable design challenges that result from high accelerations, download our latest white paper.

New Servo Cables Withstand High Accelerations

As machine tools get faster and faster, there’s a growing need for high-acceleration servo systems. These servo systems obviously require more robust motors and mechanical components. What’s less obvious is that they also need power and signal cables that have been designed to withstand acceleration-related stresses.


At the IMTS Show next month (Booth E–4624), we’ll have Lapp technical experts on hand to discuss the effects of high acceleration motion on cable lifecycle and performance. We’ll also be showcasing our brand new lineup of high-acceleration servo cables, including ÖLFLEX® SERVO FD 796 CP.

This high-acceleration cable’s features include extra-fine Class 6 copper stranding, polypropylene insulation, non-woven wrapping, tinned copper braiding and a polyurethane jacketing. The cable optionally contains either one or two control pairs.


The new cable supports accelerations in excess of 5g and travel speeds up to 5 m/sec. Travel distances can range up to 100 m. Intended for flexible applications, it has a minimum bend radius of 7.5 x OD.

Other than its outstanding ability to withstand high accelerations, FD 796 CP behaves much like any other high-performance servo cable. It resists oil and flame to UL standards. Temperature range for flexible applications is –40 to 80ºC.


Download out latest whitepaper if you’d like to learn more the cable design challenges that result from high accelerations