Compact cable guidance in innovative impregnation system for electric motors

• What was needed: plastic-energy chain E4.1 (series E4.80) with chainflex® motor cable, designed as a reverse bend radius rotating energy supply, supplied as a pre-assembled and ready-to-install readychain®
• Requirements: The system has a compact design and requires a space-saving energy supply that allows 180° swivelling. It must reliably keep up with the high machine output in continuous operation.
• Industry: Automotive industry
• Success for the customer: Even with the support of the E4.80 energy chain and chainflex® cable, a 45 % more compact design was realised with an increase in production quantities of up to 25 %.

This innovative and newly patented impregnation system from VAF GmbH is set to set new standards. It is used in the automotive industry in the series production of electric motors and is used to insulate electric motors to increase their durability and performance. It has been specially designed for the application of high-quality insulation in the field of high-voltage drives. The stators of the electric motors are treated in the machine using the hot-dip impregnation process. This involves heating the stator windings using electric heat, which requires up to 1,000 amps per phase. The energy supply for supplying the current heat should enable a pivoting movement of 180°. As the machine was to take up as little space as possible in the customer's production halls, the energy supply also had to fulfil particularly tight space requirements. And both the cable and the cable routing had to ensure reliable continuous operation and guarantee a high level of planning security. As the OEMs process around 1,000 to 2,000 electric motors per day and per product, a failure would be very costly.

The innovative concept was realised using an E4.1 energy chain (E4.80 series) and a chainflex® motor cable running in it. The plastic energy chain is highly rigid and resilient, which means that it functions reliably over the long term, even in hot environments, with a high aerosol content in the air and in continuous operation. Equally important was the low space requirement. The cable guide was designed as a reverse bend radius chain, i.e. an energy chain with a reverse bend radius. It rotates in a compact rotary module and allows the required rotation of 180°. All cables, including the energy chain, were supplied as a pre-assembled complete system - as a readychain® energy supply - ready for installation. This saves installation time and costs. The energy supply has thus become an important part of the new concept of the plant, which envisages a particularly efficient system with higher output, smaller footprint, lower energy requirements and reduced air consumption. And this has been achieved: The production quantity could be increased by up to 25 % compared to similar machines, with a 45 % more compact design and 80 % less air consumption.