A focus on new equipment and packaging options
Reelex coiling is an established method for packaging low voltage copper cables, and is now available as an alternative to spools and reel-in-a-box for many fibre optic cable designs. Having been used to package copper products for more than 40 years, Reelex packaging is a method of winding cables into a self-sustaining, interwoven figure-eight coil.
With no internal structure, coils can be packaged in a variety of containers from simple boxes to plastic film. Less packaging material means less waste, and the materials used are typically 100 per cent recyclable.
Products dispense without twists, kinks or tangles, and the dispensing without inertia or rotation is faster. The company claims that cable installations can be accomplished up to 30 per cent faster than when using spools and reels.
Using a unique configuration of the figure-eight wind, Reelex coiling machines featuring precise tension control are used. This tension control lends itself well to fibre optic cables, as does the accommodation of cable characteristics such as bend radius requirements via several mandrel sizes.
Reelex also offers precision accumulators and dancer designs for rapid response to changes in line tension, as well as fast-reaction payoffs.
The latest versions of the coiling machines can produce coils up to 54cm in diameter (21"), while speciality machines can produce coils up to 101cm (40"). Products up to 13mm (0.5") in diameter are supported.