Igus equips 1000th ship-to-shore crane

Motion plastics specialist, igus is currently celebrating the feat of having equipped its 1000th ship-to-shore crane with a plastic energy chain system. The company claimed that this demonstrates the increasing use of lightweight, long-lasting plastic components for crane applications. The company outlines a number of reasons why its energy chain (e-chain) systems are proving very popular. In fact, through the use of its rolling energy chains, the service life of components can be increased and the drive power required to run them can be reduced. Moreover, by using a roller, the coefficient of friction on long travels drops dramatically when the upper run of the chain runs on the lower run; thereby, upto 57% of the required drive energy can be saved while moving the energy chain system, said head of industry management cranes at igus, Theo Diehl, adding that the noise and vibration levels can be reduced drastically. Detailed monitoring of the condition of the energy chain system is also possible. For example, the company‘s EC.M module can be mounted on the moving end of a chain to automatically record acceleration, speed, temperature, and the number of cycles completed and also alternatively its EC.W wear sensor measures the wear on the e-chain.