Monitoring system for operating an energy chain

A monitoring system for operation of at least one energy chain for guiding at least one line between a first connection point on a base and a second connection point, relatively movable thereto, on an entrainment member, comprising:

• the at least one energy chain which forms a movable strand, a stationary strand and a deflection bend therebetween;
• at least one sensor to generate at least one output dependent on a condition of the energy chain;
• an evaluation unit which evaluates the at least one output of the sensor, the evaluation unit to monitor whether a fault condition occurs during the operation of the energy chain;
• and
• the sensor which operates without contact and is arranged such that the sensor interacts from a distance with at least a subregion of the deflection bend and/or a subregion of the movable strand, to generate an output that is dependent on a position and/or a speed of the interacting subregion(s) of the energy chain, wherein the sensor is arranged stationary to detect a condition variable of the movable strand and/or of the deflection bend, wherein the sensor is configured with an induction loop and interacts with a subregion only in a fault condition.