Please choose your delivery location

The selection of the country/region page can influence various factors such as price, shipping options and product availability.

View all locations

Go to www.igus.com

myigus

Shopping Cart

(0)

My contact person

e-chains®, chainflex®, cables, harnessed systems readychain®

+27 11 312 1848

Send message

dry-tech® bearing technology

+27 11 312 1848

Send message

Change selection

See all contacts

ZA(EN)

Fibre optic cable - flexible & resistant

For some electricians, fibre optic cables are a mystery. As a rule, copper is used to conduct current signals in cable technology. Fibre Optic Cables send information with light, or rather light signals. It all works much like Morse code. The conductive medium in the cores is not copper, but glass or plastic in various fibres. All of them have cladding to allow light refraction. The side of the fibre reflects the light so that it travels along the cable. Fibre Optic Cables, like other cables, are available in various mechanical designs. We can thus offer a durable solution for your applications.

Buy fibre optic cables

Fibre science for our fibres

Our fibre optics section covers many different types of conductors. All cables are based on two types of fibre. One is the gradient glass fibre. The other is the glass fibre in a gel-filled cavity. The glass fibres are divided into OM (optical multimode) classes. These classes differ in transmission rate, referred to as Gigabit Ethernet. Our cables are of class OM2 or OM3, depending on type. They are also available in various fibre diameters, comparable to the cross-sections of copper cables. Our fibre optics have 50/125µ and 62.5/125µ for multimode fibres and 9/125µ for single-mode fibres. Multimode means that the fibre can transmit multiple light spectra. The single-mode fibre transmits only one light beam.

Why the fibre optic cable is the bus line for long distances etc.

Can glass move? Yes, it can – it can move very well. If it is designed correctly. Four reasons for a fibre optic cable in the e-chain. First, there is data volume. Compared to the common field buses used in automation technology, this is almost unlimited for a fibre optic cable. As a rule, two fibres are used, one for the outward and one for the return journey. Interference from other electrical sources can also be ruled out since no signal couples into the optical fibre. Glass is also suitable for long travels. Bus systems based on copper quickly reach their limits beyond 50m. A fibre optic cable can be used beyond 1000m. What is particularly surprising is the extremely small radius that our cables can achieve. With conventional bus systems that use copper, such as Profinet, all of these points can lead to transmission problems and subsequently to cable failure.

Small radii

Small radii are the greatest challenge in bus technology. Since the distance between the cores inevitably changes during movement, the capacity also changes, and transmission no longer works. But this is not the case with an optical fibre in the CFLG.LB cable. The distance between individual cores can change in movement without transmission losses. What is important is that few forces act on the actual fibre. We achieve this by using very short fibre strands in the cable and absorbing forces with special strain-relieving elements. This gives the cable and each fibre a strain-relieving braid. The result is impressive. In our laboratory tests, we achieved 50 million double strokes in a bend radius of 35mm (factor 4.2xd). Take a look at the test, and you will also discover many other highlights.