Robots are on the rise in automated manufacturing. Robust data cables are essential for seamless data communication. U.I. LAPP GmbH has recognized the need. With the new ETHERLINE ROBOT PN FC Cat.5e with Fast Connect structure, the company offers a flexible Industrial Ethernet cable especially for robot applications. The robot cable can be easily assembled and installed with the appropriate tools. Less time spent equals less cost.
Lapp paves the way for further automation
The world’s leading supplier of cables, wires as well as cable accessories paves the way for further automation of manufacturing processes and thus the Smart Factory with the ETHERLINE ROBOT PN FC Cat.5e. The use in industrial robots demands a lot from Ethernet cables in particular.
Seamless data communication of the feedback loops between sensors and on the robot arm, the robot controller as well as its connection to the control systems must also be guaranteed for horizontal linear movements combined with torsion. LAPP has developed the highly flexible Cat.5e Ethernet cable for precisely these requirements of a continuously moving application with torsional stress.
This is suitable for PROFINET applications according to type R. The new variant has a Fast Connect (FC) connection. And thanks to a simple design trick, it is even easier to assemble and install. For users, fast assembly is an important criterion.
ETHERLINE cable offers up to 50 percent time savings
Thanks to the Fast Connect design with inner jacket, the cable can be quickly adapted. With the help of LAPP’s FC STRIP tool, it can be stripped to the exact dimensions required for connector assembly in a single processing step, while at the same time exposing the cores to be connected.
The copper braid is also cut to the correct dimensions. The tailor-made FC STRIP assembly tool is supplied by Lapp on request. Its knife blades can each be adjusted so that their penetration depth into the cable at hand and their spacing are perfectly matched. The cable is thus ideally prepared for connector assembly in a single operation. In this way, time savings of up to 50 percent are possible during assembly.
Testing in the Lapp test center
The cable was thoroughly tested in LAPP’s own test center. This has state-of-the-art testing equipment and apparatus. Many years of experience in handling data cables are added to this. One test example is the TicToc bending test, which is mandatory for type R cables. Another example is the constant monitoring of electrical transmission parameters according to IEC 61156-6 during the lengthy test procedure for drag chain tests.
Thanks to UL/CSA certification, the new ETHERLINE ROBOT PN FC Cat.5e with Fast Connect design may also be used in the North American region. It is also suitable for EtherCAT and EtherNET/IP applications.
