CAN bus cable for moving applications

Reduce downtimes with CAN bus cables

CAN bus (Controller Area Network) is a fieldbus system developed by Bosch, which was presented in 1986 together with Intel. The goal was to reduce the cable harnesses in cars to save costs and weight. Over time, various CAN protocols became established, especially in security-related areas. For 1994 automation technology, the CANopen protocol was introduced by Bosch.
 
Application areas for CAN bus cables

CAN bus is mainly used in automation technology. In addition, CAN bus systems are also found in industrially used vehicles such as forklifts or lifting work platforms.

Cables for CAN bus applications from igus For applications in the energy chain, it is necessary to use CAN bus cables with fine stranded wires. In addition, a cable structure tailored to the movement in the energy chain is necessary, so that secure data transmission is guaranteed over the years. This is why chainflex cables have become established especially in equipment and machines such as robots, packaging machines, production machines and machine tools.
 
The chainflex cable product range from igus offers a variety of CAN bus cables. In total there are 13 different CAN bus cable types from 7 different cable ranges available for different applications. All chainflex CAN bus cables have been developed for continuous movement in the energy chain. Depending on your requirements, you can choose between different PVC, PUR and TPE outer jackets. The different bus cable series offer different performance levels, so that the right cable can be chosen for each application area in order to achieve the maximum service life. All chainflex CAN bus cables have one thing in common. All chainflex cables are subject to the same quality standards. Here it does not matter whether it is a cost-effective cable of the CF888 range, or a cable for the highest demands and smallest bend radii as is the case with the CFBUS.LB range. Therefore, igus GmbH also gives a 36 month functional guarantee on all chainflex CAN bus cables with a service life of up to 10 million double strokes.
 
Transmission lengths The topic of the maximum transmission length of bus cables is often underestimated. In general, caution should be exercised, as the maximum cable length can vary greatly depending on the type of cable. A cable for fixed installation always has a lower dampening than flexible cables, which is designed for permanent movements. As a result, the transmission length is lower than with a cable for fixed installation.
 
Depending on the cable range, chainflex CAN bus cables are mechanically designed for travel distances of up to 400m or more, but the data rate of the bus system decreases with increasing cable lengths. For fixed installation, copper cables can reach up to 500m. Then the maximum transmission speed is still 125 Kbps, while with a cable length of 40m a data transfer rate of 1 Mbps is still possible. For highly flexible CAN bus cables for the energy chain, our experience shows that one cable length can be significantly shorter. Depending on the transmission speed, up to 50m is possible for a moving CAN bus cable. However, this length may vary up and down depending on the environmental conditions and application requirements.