The multi-spindle lathe from Gildemeister Italiana won the golden Vector from Igus. A total of eight pre-assembled energy chains ensure that the cables and hoses are guided safely in a very small installation space.
The heart of the automatic lathe from Gildemeister Italiana, a subsidiary of DMG Mori, is the spindle drum with six spindles for simultaneous machining of several workpieces. The drum moves the workpieces precisely and quickly to the tools. It takes just 0.65 seconds for one of the six spindles to move to the next position. To return to the starting position after processing in the six stations, the drum needs to be turned back by 300°. The unit, which weighs over three tons, only needs 1 s to do this. The solution for the safe energy supply for all six spindles is an energy supply system that follows the rotation of the drum and enables the linear movements of the spindle drums. A total of eight Igus energy chains, 64 cables and 73 hoses are used in the multi-spindle automatic lathe.

Silver and bronze go to Austria and Germany

The silver Vector Award goes to AlpinaTec from Austria for its work on the Fraunhofer Institute's Gestra project. Gestra is a radar-based system for searching and mapping space debris. A complex rotary energy guide is used specifically for the azimuth axis and a double chain system on both sides for the elevation axis.

The bronze Vector Award goes to Grenzebach Maschinenbau for its friction stir welding system. Both the energy and media supply within the welding head and the connecting structure had to be flexible. The coupling of a Twister belt with the R4 energy guiding chains proved to be a creative and fail-safe solution for the compact installation space.

Igus is presenting the green vector award for the first time this year. The prize goes to a sustainable drinks machine from DropWater Co. and the sewage sludge turner from Huber SE.

© Igus

Premiere: The green Vector Award

The green Vector Award is celebrating its premiere this year as an award for particularly sustainable energy chain projects. It is endowed with 1000 euros and goes to the company DropWater in the USA and the German company Huber SE. DropWater receives the award for a vending machine that fills drinks into compostable containers at the touch of a button. The water for the drink does not have to be transported as the machine has a water connection. A prefabricated readychain ensures safe line routing for the linear robot used.

Huber SE, on the other hand, uses solar energy to dry sewage sludge in a water treatment plant in Egypt. The solar drying process reduces the mass and volume of dewatered sticky sludge to around a quarter and turns it into granules. The plant is used to recycle drinking water from the polluted Bahr-El-Baqar canal system for 500,000 people. Igus energy chains with Chainflex cables are used in 128 units over a travel distance of 100 m to ensure a fail-safe power and energy supply for the automatic plant.