ROPE GUIDE TYPES

Rope guides are crucial for the smooth and safe movement of stage curtains, stage backdrops, lighting and other technical elements during a performance.

You can find an overview of the different types of rope guides used in stage technology here.

Single track system
Double track system

Skidding rail

Rail system without cable drive. The parts to be moved are pulled by hand to open or close. The simplest way of opening curtains or moving e.g. backdrops on a curtain track.

Lateral cable guide

The cable is guided to the side of the rail.

  • Standard for KING, JOKER 95 and TRUMPF 95
  • For flat and/or narrow installation situations: lower overall height and narrower overall than the overhead cable guide, for example
  • Due to its design, the easiest of all cable guide types to implement and therefore the most cost-effective variant

Please note the following points:

  • Only suitable for single-track, straight rail systems up to 12 meters in length
  • The rope can only be supported in its returning part (for two-part curtains = 1/2 rail length)
  • Overlapping of the curtain sections is only possible by using overlap brackets
  • Special feature of KING: independent movement of two trolleys on both sides of a rail

Overhead cable guide

The cable is guided above the rail along its entire length.

  • For straight and curved rail runs of any length with overflow
  • No sagging of the traction cable

Bottom cable guide

The cable is guided underneath the rail through the carriages.

  • For KING: for straight track systems up to 12 m long with overflow. For lengths of more than 12 m, we recommend the overhead cable guide
  • With JOKER 95, longer system lengths can also be realized

Rear-fold technology (fold-back technology):

  • For KING and JOKER 95, this type of rope guide ensures that the curtain or painted/printed leaflet is moved off the stage in a stretched state and only folds in the storage space.

Double, over head cable guide

This is a further development of the overhead cable guide, with all its advantages, and has two independent cable guides.

  • Two trolleys can be moved independently of each other on one rail
  • Curtain sections with different speeds and/or travel paths can be realized on one rail system, e.g. for asymmetrical opening patterns

The opening types are variable:

  • A curtain section can, for example, be opened from left to right as well as from right to left (1)
  • The curtain can be moved along the track in a stretched or pushed together position (2)
(1)
(2)

Overflow

In double track systems, the curtain overlap is realized in the overlap area by two parallel tracks running past each other. This means that the length of the overlap is variable and not limited.

Curtain overlaps are available in all sizes thanks to double track guides. The standard overlap is usually calculated at one meter.

Overlap

The curtain overlap is realized with single track systems in the overlap area by mounting 2 overlap brackets on the trolleys of the two curtain sections.