FEATURE ELECTRICAL SAFETY CABLE SEALING AND ELECTRICAL SAFETY
Roxtec UK managing director Clive Sharp explains the importance of protecting factory equipment through case studies involving Yaskawa Europe’s robotics plant in Germany and international baking firm Haas-Meincke in Denmark
R
oxtec’s lightweight seals are designed to protect equipment with
an organised cable entry seal which can be opened for easy maintenance and equipment upgrades. The openable seal design provides a solution for top or bottom high cable density entries to cabinets in harsh and high temperature environments. Roxtec’s sealing solutions can be used
for all types of cables within power and control and by machine builders in various challenging and demanding applications.
QUICK CABLE REPLACEMENT When designing the spreaders, extruders and ovens for the global baking industry, Haas-Meincke was keen to incorporate a cable sealing solution which could keep dust out and prevent water from entering and damaging equipment during high pressure hosing. Haas-Meincke developed the machines to ensure high reliability in production and a high level of hygiene. However, its former cable sealing solution, using cable glands, often gave rise to problems due to the accumulation of debris. Roxtec seals now ensure that cable failures are less frequent, which helps avoid unnecessary machine downtime. If a cable should fail, replacement is quick and easy even if the cables are of different sizes and pre-terminated at both ends. Haas-Meincke now consciously designs its products to incorporate Roxtec seals right from the start. A key advantage is that Roxtec can offer a 100pc integrated solution for those machines with stringent requirements for water-tightness and ease of cleaning.
A TAILOR-MADE SOLUTION Another recent project requiring a durable and flexible cable seal solution for factory equipment involved Yaskawa Europe’s
18 AUTUMN 2017 | INDUSTRIAL COMPLIANCE
The cable seals can be used across different challenging and
demanding applications
manufacturing plant in Germany. When developing new paint and door opener robots, Yaskawa Europe realised it did not only need cable entry seals for bonding, grounding and protection against gas, dust and explosion, it also needed spare capacity for more cables. During the development process, it became clear to the Yaskawa designers and engineers that it would neither be space nor cost- efficient to use big cable glands in metal plates. It would be too hard for system integrators and end-users to drill new holes and add cables if needed. In this case the system integrator, Eisenmann, was looking for a solution that would allow easy addition of cables. After investigating many cable sealing solutions, very few had all the features that were required, such as being certified for classified explosive areas.
SEALING SOLUTION ON DEMAND Yaskawa selected Roxtec as a possible supplier. There was, however, a challenge: the standard Roxtec seals would not fit the special opening designed for the
previously used cable gland plate. Meanwhile, time was running out – and the day for the very first delivery was rapidly approaching. Roxtec delivered a customized SFX BG Ex seal to Yaskawa Europe as soon as the certification documents needed were available. The cables used include power cables, encoder cables and air hoses for the robot as well as an application cable from the customer side. The Yaskawa paint robot MOTOMAN MPX3500 and door opener robot MOTOMAN MPO10 were later presented at the Automatica tradeshow in Munich – equipped with Roxtec cable entry seals and certification labels demonstrating their high level of performance. The solution and response from Roxtec was well received by Yaskawa because it was fast and efficient. This is important due to Yaskawa’s short lead-in times for product development and delivery. The firm further sent samples back to colleagues in Japan, who are now using Roxtec products.
Roxtec
www.roxtec.com
STAY SAFE WITH TOOLBOX TALKS
Keep up to date with the most recent changes to Health & Safety Guidelines for safe electrical maintenance with the latest ToolBox Talks on Safe Isolation from Martindale Electric at your workplace. With around 1,000 serious accidents in the
workplace each year and 16 per cent of all fatalities linked to electricity, it is clear to see how following simple safe isolation procedures and using the correct equipment can keep your team safe and avoid heavy penalties of up to £10m for non compliance. Providing valuable expertise and advice, the
ToolBox Talks from Martindale Electric cover the practical implications of recent changes to the standards and discuss what it takes to stay compliant with the latest HSE guidelines when installing and maintaining electrical plant and equipment. Suitable for maintenance teams, installation
engineers and those responsible for electrical safety, Martindale Toolbox Talks offer participants a free 20 minute educational talk and Q&A session with no further obligation. Designed to fit in with the challenging time
constraints of the workplace, which can often make training courses difficult, the talk can be planned to fit around schedules and conveniently arranged to take place on-site,
minimising costly down time. ToolBox Talks are free of charge and open to all
electrical safety personnel. As an added benefit, all registered attendees will also receive a pack of follow up complimentary notes for further reference. Register now to reserve your place.
Martindale Electric
www.martindale-electric.co.uk
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