From cable glands to hygiene hoses and cable entries systems:
how PFLITSCH is consistently expanding its Hygienic Design portfolio
In the food industry, it is often the seemingly insignificant details that determine the quality of a design. Where cables are routed through machine or enclosure walls, stringent hygiene requirements must be balanced against limited installation space and the need for installation to be as straightforward as possible during the construction or maintenance of a system.
This becomes particularly challenging when several pre-assembled cables need to be installed. With the CABseal clean, PFLITSCH is expanding its existing Hygienic Design portfolio to include a split cable gland designed specifically for this application. In this interview, Jörg Sokat, Head of Product Management at PFLITSCH, explains how this new development fits into the existing range and what practical benefits it offers to designers, plant manufacturers and operators.
Mr Sokat, why did PFLITSCH develop the CABseal clean?
Our customers in the food industry now expect end-to-end solutions for their hygiene concepts. With our EHEDG-certified cable glands, hygienic protective conduits such as the Hygiene hose, and our enclosed cable trunkings and wire-tray trunkings made of stainless steel, we already offer a comprehensive range of products for hygiene-sensitive applications. With the CABseal clean, we are expanding this portfolio with another component. Our aim was to offer customers a suitable solution within our Hygienic Design product range, also for the installation of multiple pre-assembled cables.
What makes this particular application so demanding?
The challenge usually arises when several pre-assembled cables need to be installed. In principle, several individual hygienic-design cable glands can be used for this purpose. However, this requires sufficient installation space, which is often not available, particularly in compact machine designs.
Furthermore, having several individual cable glands side by side makes the design more complex and cable routing more complicated.
The situation becomes particularly challenging during maintenance or retrofit work: if pre-assembled cables need to be retrofitted or replaced, conventional, non-separable solutions often reach their limits.
In such installation situations, users have, to some extent, previously relied on cable entry systems from other manufacturers. With the CABseal clean, they now have a hygienic alternative available from the PFLITSCH portfolio. For customers, this means one thing above all: they can implement their entire cable management system in sensitive food applications using coordinated solutions from a single supplier.
Splittable cable entrie systems are already available on the market.
What sets the CABseal clean apart?
For us, it was crucial not to define hygiene solely in terms of FDA-compliant materials or the blue colour scheme. In hygiene-critical applications, it is equally important how easily a component can be cleaned and how the design details are executed.
That is why the CABseal clean has been specifically designed for ease of cleaning. The hygienic design complies with EHEDG guidelines. The frame, cable glands and blind plugs are made from FDA-compliant materials, and their resistance to standard cleaning agents has been confirmed by Ecolab. Furthermore, the CABseal clean has been tested and certified by Fraunhofer IPA for emissions in accordance with Cleanroom Class 1 as per ISO 14644-1. Depending on hygiene requirements, versions with special hygienic screws made from 1.4404 stainless steel are also available.
Another advantage is the deliberately simple system design: the frame seal is already integrated, so no additional covers or other components are required. At the same time, the flexibility typical of CABseal is retained. The frame is divisible, can be fitted with different cable glands and can be reopened and refitted at any time during maintenance work or retrofitting.
The CABseal clean thus meets several requirements that are of particular importance in practice: ease of cleaning, high packing density, flexible configuration that can be adapted to changing requirements even at a later stage, and simple installation.
Why is the splittable design so important for pre-assembled cables?
Pre-assembled cables, particularly those with larger connectors, cannot usually be installed using simple cable glands or cable glands with screw threads. Thanks to the split design of the CABseal clean, the cables can be installed without having to dismantle the connector.
This is a particularly practical advantage in existing installations. When additional components are integrated or cables are replaced, the split-type cable entry provides the necessary flexibility without the need for time-consuming modifications to pre-assembled cables.
Is the CABseal clean primarily of interest for compact machine designs?
Compact installation scenarios are an important application scenario, as there is often only limited installation space available for several individual cable glands. However, the benefits extend beyond this. This solution is always a viable option when several pre-assembled cables need to be installed in splash zones and product-free areas within production facilities in a way that complies with hygiene standards, saves space and is easy to fit.
What message would you like to convey to design engineers and plant operators?
Hygienic design does not mean using the same solution for every application. The key is to select the most suitable type of cable entry and cable routing for the specific installation situation.
Our aim is to provide customers with suitable and coordinated solutions for a range of hygiene-critical applications. The CABseal clean contributes to this, as it offers the option of introducing multiple pre-assembled cables. It thus provides greater flexibility for designers and plant engineers without compromising the fundamental principle of a consistent hygienic design concept.For many customers, however, correctly categorising their specific requirements is at least as important. Not every application requires the same hygiene standard. That is why, right from the planning stage, we help our customers select the solution from our Hygienic Design portfolio that is best suited to their plant and installation situation. In this way, they receive not just a product, but personalised expert advice tailored to their specific application.
