Penn Elcom at Prolight+Sound 2019

Global flightcase hardware manufacture and innovator Penn Elcom highlights four new products at the Prolight+Sound 2019 expo in Frankfurt next week on stand C43 in Hall 4.

The company says it will maximize opportunities and the show's reputation as a central European hub as a rental, staging, and AV industry hub to make new contacts and consolidate existing business, and is also looking forward to welcoming visitors from the Middle East, Asia, and further afield like Australia and the Pacific Rim.

Penn's new UltraFlite case panels are a 100% recyclable trail-blazing product that will become its next generation flightcase standard, and of interest to all sectors of the AV and staging community.

Also new is the Vulcan Shockmount Chassis, bringing affordable military strength stabilization to rack mounting scenarios; while a new range of Penn's MOL automatic positioning latches and lid-stay hinges utilizes WeatherSeal technology; and last but not least, also new is a striking yellow cover available for Penn's popular CROSS 3 cable protector.

The new 100% recyclable next-generation UltraFlite case panel has been developed following two years of extensive R 'n' D and Penn's vast experience and will be of interest to anyone who has kit needing to be flightcased.

The new and technically advanced UltraFlite material features a honeycomb structure that makes it tough, light, durable and resistant to liquids and weather.

It has been created for the needs and demands of contemporary and future flightcase builders, who can dramatically reduce average case weight by an incredible 30 - 40 percent by including UltraFlite in a case design.

This will also save some trees! Switching to UltraFlite will mean less wood is needed globally across the flightcase industry, the company says. Taken collectively this is a massive potential impact.

UltraFlite is billed as an alternative to ply in terms of utility or strength, and the panels can be cut, drilled, and punched just like traditional flightcase panels.

The hardened skin is a highly stretched polypropylene fibre composite sandwiched around a hexagonal core -- so a flightcase built with UltraFlite will resist impact and liquids including chemicals and is well suited for numerous weather scenarios like rain, humidity and moisture.

As well as making it sustainable, the panel's skin and honeycomb structure need fewer resources to produce, and their longevity means that less panels will be used and needed over the lifespan of the equipment being protected.

Enhanced lightness also equals less transportation costs with less fuel consumed to get the kit from show to show.

Another new technically enhanced product from Penn gives affordable military grade protection against impact, shock, and vibration.

The patented design utilizes hollow triangular sections of high tensile tempered aluminium alloy, bringing an amazing strength-to-weight ratio to any size of chassis, the company says. A 6U rack, for example, weighs just 3kg, and 2U to 18U kit sizes are available with no loss of strength.

Delicate and sensitive devices and kit can be added with confidence to rack enclosures without having to upgrade to heavier and more expensive steel chassis, the company says.

Tested to the truly industrial parameters, the Vulcan chassis will keep its contents safe from drops, shaking and impact during transportation or storage, the company says.

Building a rack is quick and easy using Penn's logical and straightforward slide-and-lock technique.

This has been developed by Penn Elcom to helps create seamless flightcase latches and hinges that help close lids even tighter, eliminating any gaps, and with the assistance of a tiny rubber membrane making the case interior dust and water resistant, keeping the contents safer from ingress when closed.

Manufactured using Penn's latest CNC technology, flightcases can be safer and more secure than ever before using these new MOL latches and lid stays.

The latch is mounted in a generous recessed dish for use on large-sized cases. Tough PennBrite zinc plating offers protection against corrosion and gives that cool distinctive PennBrite finish.

The fixing holes are 10mm (3/8 of an inch) away from the central split of the dish, making it well suited for use with hybrid edge extrusions.

Following popular demand, Penn adds a brand-new striking bright "hazard" yellow cover selection for its innovative CROSS 3 cable protector.

CROSS 3 is a cable protection product launched by Penn Elcom, which is tough, durable, fire-retardant, aesthetically pleasing, the company says, and useful for any festival, concert, show, event, or exhibition environment -- indoors or outdoors.

This three-channel "crossover" product is manufactured from Thermoplastic Polyurethane (TPU), chosen for its strength, high resistance to abrasion, flexibility and recyclability.

Serious weight capacity ensures that all type of vehicles -- including a standard 44 tonne artic -- can safely drive over CROSS 3 ... as well as vans, cars, bikes, forklifts, cherry pickers, scissor lifts, mobile cranes, and other mechanical handling devices, tractors, all-terrain vehicles, golf buggies and a wide selection of tracked and wheeled site vehicles ... that's virtually everything on wheels, plus, naturally humans and animals ... keeping crew, artists, the public, and equipment safe.