igus UK is promoting its pikchain, a continually revolving chain with integrated cable and hose supply to drive and control actuators individually. In the woodworking industry pikchain is especially advantageous, enabling concurrent running tasks such as drilling, stacking, milling, de-stacking, coating, drying and sorting to be carried out much faster, enabling engineers to increase output by up to 30 per cent.
pikchain is more efficient than conventional handling and conveyor applications because of its continuous circular motion. Other systems that use linear motions for pick-and-place tasks are inefficient, losing time to wasted start and return runs.
Vibration free, pikchain can move smoothly at a continuous speed of between 2 and 3m/s. Maintenance-free travel of up to 30m can also be achieved, with the maximum load per transport chain link being approximately 5kg. Each link can be controlled individually.
In addition, pikchain can be equipped with any type of tool that receive their respective signals to operate accordingly, for instance grippers, suction cups, sensors, depending on the customers' requirements.
To watch a short animated video of pikchain visit www.igus.co.uk/smartconveyorsystem.