design
basics
Static, flexible, high-flex, continuous-flex - what's the difference? Unlike cables that you often
see alongside home appliances or purchase from hardware stores like the one pictured
below, high-flex and continuous-flex cables are designed specifically for moving
applications. Continuous-flex cables are designed to operate inside cable carrier
applications on automated or otherwise moving machinery.
Unlike high-flex or flexible cables, continuous-flex cables are often seemingly very
stiff, which is due to their engineered design and high-strength materials used to
ward off breakage for millions of cycles. Continuous-flex cables are manufactured
and sold in a massive range of types, sizes and quality levels, so performance can
vary dramatically.
This guide will walk you through the anatomy of a continuous-flex cable, the design guidelines
that maximize performance and service life, R&D methods and testing procedures, and how selection and
installation, partnered with design, can mean the difference between an application running a few thousands
cycles and tens of millions of cycles of reliable performance.
Continuous-flex
cable anatomy
What is a continuous-flex cable?
Strain-relief center element
Quality conductor insulation
Pressure-extruded inner jacket material
Optimized braided shield
Jacket material (usually PVC, PUR, or TPE
Short-pitch cabled conductors
1. Strain-relieving
The
protect
2. Conductor
The
and
strand
conductor
of cycles.
are
applications.
the insulated
surface
2
