Preventative Maintenance

are not timely: new standards typically take several years to develop. Without industry standards, system designers often turn to cable manufacturers whose product claims can go unchecked.

Instead of relying on unbridled marketing claims or looking for non-existent industry standards, there’s a better solution. Underwriters Laboratories (UL) created an “objective, science-based assessment” in order to ensure the legitimacy of product marketing claims. UL partners with companies to audit test methods for products used in applications unique to a given market. For participating suppliers, independent confirmation of their marketing claims helps them stand out from less-transparent competitors. For customers, they can separate fact-based claims from the noise. LAPP Sets the Standard: A UL-Verified Test Method LAPP North America has a 55-year history of manufacturing cable products and assemblies for dynamic applications, including 30 years of producing round cable, jacketing and conductors for use with continuous flexing, torsional movement and robotic applications. Over the years we developed stringent continuous flex test methods based on our engineering expertise and have received input from field experts who install cables in industrial environments. Based on our test methods, our continuous flexing cable motion attributes have come to be trusted by contractors, designers, equipment manufacturers and end-users alike a cable’s electrical or mechanical degradation under various conditions. Continuous flex cables are rated according to their design and, through LAPP’s own test equipment, calibrated to function according to a described claim. Each claim is assigned LAPP’s Motion Type Attribute: CF-01, CF-02 or CF-03. LAPP’s Continuous Flex Test Method is UL Verified, so customers can be confident that LAPP products are true to their claims when they see the UL-Verified* mark on corresponding product literature. In fact, LAPP is the only company to achieve UL Verification for its test method for continuous flexing applications. In order to display the UL-Verified mark, UL audited the continuous flex testing methodology to confirm the following requirements were met: LAPP’s UL-Verified Continuous Flex Test Method allows users to estimate a preventative maintenance program based on the cable product’s life cycle performance. LAPP’s research and development test laboratory is an active participant in the UL Client Test Data Program (CTDP) and CSA Supervised Manufacturer’s Testing for Certification Program (SMTC). By participating in both programs and earning the respective marks for its cable products, LAPP has made a full commitment to product quality on a global scale. Inside the Test Laboratory LAPP’s laboratories are equipped with eight cable tracks designed to perform repeated linear motion in order to replicate the requirements of a given application such as bend radius, distance, acceleration, speed and weight. By using the same cable track assembly required by the application in a controlled environment, LAPP can monitor each power, signal or control cable and perform the following tests: • Continuity check. Cables are connected in series to replicate real-world applications to identify possible sources of failure. • Mechanical performance to find physical or visual evidence of failure caused by, for example, improper installation, too many cycles or unsuitable jacket or insulation materials. • Electrical performance to find evidence of cable fatigue or copper conductor degradation caused by continuous back-and-forth motion which can ultimately lead to cable failure. • Specially calibrated equipment. • Well trained laboratory associates. Controlled documentation in compliance with ISO 17025.

LAPP USA • T: 800-774-3539 • www.LAPPUSA.com |

LAPP Canada • T: 877-799-5277 • www.LAPPCANADA.com