In order to increase the uptime of crane systems and gantries, igus has now combined its core competencies in the areas of plain bearing technology and energy chains. In the P4.1 roller chain for long travels, newly developed tri-bologically optimised plain bearings ensure lubrication-free mounting of the individual chain links. This significantly prolongs the service life of the energy chain. Optionally, the P4.1 e-chain can be part of the igus predictive maintenance concept with a new isense wear sensor.

The P4 system has been the solution for demanding applications
for many years. The P4 roller chain series has already proven itself in over 1,000 crane and gantry applications worldwide, with travel distances of up to 800 metres, high speeds of more than five metres per second, and several million cycles with low vibration and low noise. Using rollers integrated in the chain link, the friction is reduced to a minimum and the service life prolonged to the maximum. Due to the offset between upper run and lower run, the plastic rollers are not rolled over, but roll past each other to allow very smooth running. As a result, the coefficient of friction decreases and the drive power is reduced by 57 percent. Users like the world's largest crane manufacturer ZPMC have been relying on the reliable profile roller chain for many years. With the new lubrication-free and maintenancefree plain bearings made of high-performance plastics, igus has now developed the e-chain even further.

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