Conductor line retrofit with autoglide 5
Christian Strauch | 26. January 2022
Storage and retrieval units are often in use for more than 20 years. In the meantime, the units, like all machines, are regularly maintained, inspected, repaired and cleaned in a more or less fixed cycle whereby an electrical or mechanical retrofit is sometimes necessary.
The conductor line in the aisle is an important part of a storage and retrieval unit. Without a conductor line, there is no current, and, without current, the SRU does not move.
Conductor lines are subject to a certain amount of wear. The current collectors (carbon pads) have to be replaced regularly as they eventually “wear out”.
At some point, however, this is no longer enough because the busbar system itself also wears out. The more it becomes worn, the faster the current collectors wear out as well. It’s a vicious circle that ends in the entire busbar system having to be replaced after 10 to 15 years of operation unless one wants to spend vast sums of money and time on maintenance.
Now there are two options: Either one replaces the old busbar system with a new one or one changes the technology completely and opts for an energy chain, namely the new autoglide 5 from igus.
With the autoglide 5 chain, one has all the advantages on one’s side:
- Retrofit: the busbar system can be replaced with an energy chain in a single day. Installation of the autoglide 5 is child’s play and can be completed in no time (experienced fitters can do it in one hour)
- In future, no more maintenance! The energy chain is almost maintenance-free; only a visual inspection is necessary from time to time
- The energy chain is clean, reliable and safe. No more open stranded wires, no more generation of fine dust, which is generated due to abrasion of the carbon collector pads in contact with the busbar system.
- All types of media (power, control and data cables plus other media) can be safely and reliably guided in one single system.
Of course, the best choice for the operator of a storage and retrieval unit is to directly order a new system with the autoglide 5. No more maintenance and therefore no expensive downtimes.
What more could one ask for…?!
For more information on the autoglide 5: https://www.igus.eu/info/autoglide5