Soft construction, tough in resilience: New igus cable with cleanroom class 2 for small installation spaces

Standard cables press against energy chains in tight bending radii and thus influence their movement. Due to their soft outer material, the CFSOFT solves this problem. (Source: igus GmbH)

igus expands its range with cables that, due to their low stiffness, are ideal for quick, short strokes at particularly tight radii. In addition to the extremely flexible conductor design, the chainflex CFSOFT uses highly abrasion-resistant, very soft jacket materials to enable high flexibility of the cable. This guarantees a long service life in energy chains even in the smallest installation spaces. The new cable meets the requirements of cleanroom class 2.

The light flexibility of the chainflex CFSOFT is achieved by the specially constructed new igus conductor. The individual wires are made of soft copper and are subjected to a special tinning and silver-plating process during manufacturing, making the overall cable significantly more flexible and softer than conventional flexible cables. This makes the new series ideal for quick deployment in particularly tight installation spaces. Among other applications, in the semiconductor industry, where energy chains are used with very small bending radii. They carry cables during very fast, short strokes of about 0.5 to 1 meter in length, for example at semiconductor wafers. Ordinary cables press against the bending radius of the energy chain and thus influence its movement. Thanks to its easily bendable material, the CFSOFT solves exactly this problem. Because the new cables are designed for a bending radius of 5xd and simultaneously meet cleanroom class 2 standards.

Guaranteed safety despite demanding environments

The CFSOFT offers particularly high planning security, as it has been tested for over three years under realistic conditions in the igus test laboratory, the largest in the industry with 2,750 square meters. The test results are fed back into product development and the online lifespan calculators, enabling igus to be the only manufacturer to offer a guarantee of 36 months or 10 million strokes. The cable lifespan can be determined using the online calculator. The CFSOFT can be ordered as a cut-to-length cable or as a pre-assembled cable. It can be configured with various online tools and adapted to specific applications. As a readychain, it is also available as a ready-to-install component in an e-chain system.