Italian-based manufacturer Flamar, a recent Molex acquisition, specialises in high performance cabling solutions for machine and process control. Deployed in industrial, automation, robotics, broadcast audio/video, and telecommunications applications, each cable is custom-designed by Flamar from first principles. Vittorio Bogoni, Export Sales Manager, Flamar looks at the company’s history and how it is opening up its market offering for non-customised cabling products.
Founded in 1975, Flamar Cavi Ellettrici was a family-owned company. The company started manufacturing coaxial cable for automotive and satellite applications. However, with its relatively simple design, manufacturing for the majority of this type of cable migrated to China in the mid-80s. Over the years, the company has matured a vast experience developing high quality cabling solutions for industrial automation, robotics, broadcast audio/video, and telecommunications and in applications where a high technical solution is required. Working very closely with its customers Flamar knows and understands the applications which results in the best possible cable solution.
Quality, reliability and accuracy are the key mantras for Flamar; the company’s technologically advanced production facility backed by a flexible organisational structure, enables it to react quickly on a constantly changing market.
RF & Satellite cables
Today, Flamar still manufactures coaxial cable, though more on the sophisticated end of the design spectrum. They are predominantly used for RF signal transmission in fixed or mobile installations, both for industry (network, radio, broadcast) and consumer (HDTV, sound, security) applications. Their precise construction with tight tolerances, combined with use of high quality materials are key factors to guarantee accurate mechanical and electrical characteristics. This is because signal quality is often limited by the cable construction.
Flamar manufactures coax cables with single or double braided shield in plain and tin plated copper. For specific requirements this braid can also be combined with Aluminium/Pet foils with different thicknesses.
In professional broadcasting applications, where high noise immunity is key, more focus is placed on the effectiveness of the shielding. To achieve the optimum shielding efficiency, Flamar has developed a technique that combines a braiding of either Aluminium/Pet or Aluminium foil.
Some high flexibility cables from Flamar are designed with better thermal and mechanical characteristic specifically for OEMs looking to use coaxial cabling in the automation and automotive industry. For these dynamic applications, a foam or solid PE dielectric is used with different density levels.
In addition, Flamar offers coaxial cables with a variety of outer jacket materials, ranging from PVC, non-migration PVC, PE, LS0H materials and PUR, which is both water and UV resistant. They are available in a wide range of colours according to RAL or even custom colours. Printing is also available by ink-jet or by printing wheel.
Multimedia cables
The communication infrastructure is constantly developing, in 1975 it was mainly based on analogue technology and today it is much more digital. Although wireless technologies are more frequently being used for the download of films to tablets and smart-TVs, the majority of digital information being transmitted for multimedia applications is via cable. Typical applications can be seen in sport centres, airports and conference centres, and for high-end applications in media centres, radio and TV stations, live shows and musical productions. Here, these cables have to perform with high precision, maintaining stable impedance values and low dielectric loss.
For optimum transmission quality, Flamar develops and manufactures braided and wrapped shielding in plain copper and tin. The use of very fine copper wires (0.10 mm) in combination with a high performance abrasion resistant outer jacket material, which can be also water and UV resistant, gives a range of products for high-end professional use.
Cables for Industrial Automation
Growing automatization in the industry and the support of robots, automation systems and process control to assist manual production processes makes this range of cables one of the most important ones. A comprehensive range of cables for Sensors, Measurement, Controls, Robotics and Drives applications, assuring excellent performance, quality and durability for this industrial sector, is available from Flamar.
Sensor cables are used to measure weight, temperature, pressure, flow position, level, vibration, and movement and can be terminated to M8 and M12 connector systems. A full range of sensor cables suitable for fixed and moving installations, for a broad spectrum of applications ranging from those found in the hygienic food and medical industries to oil & gas and other hazardous environments, is available.
Suitable for fixed and occasionally moving installations, control cables are mainly used in control and measuring equipment such as assembly line tools, conveyors, control panels and generally where connectivity is required. Ranging from 0.50 mm2 up to 2.50 mm2, control cables are constructed in a way that they are easy to handle, to strip, to cut and to terminate.
Flamar uses copper and tin-plated copper braid, aluminium polyester foils and combinations of these to screen against the effects of EMI. In addition, flame retardant PVC, polyolefin compounds and a wide selection of polyurethanes can be used in combination to achieve a small bending radius, high-flex characteristics, low friction and mechanical stress properties and resistance to oils and chemical substances at a suitable price/performance level.
Cables for Drag Chains
Drag chains or cable chains are special chains designed to protect and guide flexible cable or hydraulic and pneumatic hoses connected to moving automated machines and equipment. Typical applications include machine tools, cranes, car wash equipment, medical and laboratory equipment, automatic warehousing, forklifts, industrial robots and offshore oil rigs. The purpose of these chains is to reduce wear and stress on the cables and hoses, as well as give them good protection against the operating environment and to also help improve operator safety.
For these applications, Flamar offers flexible and hi-flex cables that meet the highest quality levels and are available with UL/CSA approvals. A normal flexible cable might withstand 10,000 to 50,000 cycles, whereas a drag chain cable can handle between 1 and 5 million cycles. A key factor for these cables is that they are rigorously tested to prove operational reliability, which meets all applicable standards and directives.
To achieve these high performance levels, plain and tin-plated copper wires with pitch and stranding optimised for a longer life time are used. PP or TPE extruded insulation reduces cable dimensions and improves the mechanical properties.
Special & Hybrid Cables
Designing and manufacturing custom made hybrid cables, suitable for applications with low voltage and power conductors, together with coax data and transmission elements is one of the key characteristics Flamar is known for. In addition to combinations of copper conductors, these cables can also contain a large number of other components such as pneumatic and hydraulic hoses that integrate aramid fibres for mechanical reinforcement. The integration of many different components into one hybrid cable takes less space and allows a faster installation than traditional individual elements.
Future Developments
As well as developing, manufacturing and supplying custom cable, the company will now offer a range of standard cables. One such cable is the Flamar-Flex cable. Designed for dynamic applications, the cable can operate reliably and safely in extremely small bending radius applications – as tight as 5x outside diameter.
Flamar-Flex cables are designed with performance in mind. Rather than have the insulation applied under pressure it is instead extruded over the copper strand. This makes the insulation easy to strip – especially for larger cross-sections (4 or 6mm2). The special extrusion technique allows space between each copper strands compared to insulation applied under pressure, which typically is very thick and difficult to strip. An additional benefit to the “tube” extrusion technique is that less insulation material is used, making it cheaper, more lightweight and flexible. These cables are tested and proven to more than 5 million cycles.
Another new concept of this cable is its outer jacket, which uses a new type of polyurethane. Typical UL/CSA outer jackets are rated for temperatures up to 80°C, however this new TPU is rated up to 90°C. The new type of polyurethane outer jacket of the Flamar-Flex cable has been tested to temperatures of at least 90°C – the cable is UL/CSA approved (style 21209 / 21757) for temperature ranges of -50 to +90°C. In addition, it is oil-resistant (EN 50363-10, VDE 7472-803/B and UL1581/758), flame-retardant (IEC 60332-1, VW1, FT1, UL Vertical Flame Test) and Halogen-free (IEC 60754-1, EN 50267-2-1, VDE 0472-815).
Naturally future developments will continue to ensure each application has its specific requirements for the cable met. For multimedia/network cables there is the growing demand for higher data rates, for Industrial Automation reliability, robustness and also flexibility is needed, just to mention a few examples. So for the customer the know-how and experience of the cable manufacturer is essential to ensure the needs and requirements driven by the application are met.
