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Product category: Engineering Business News and Views
News Release from: Igus UK
Edited by the Engineeringtalk Editorial Team on 20 June 2000

Igus gets results from its R and D

As well as the production, sales and distribution of maintenance free plain bearings for rotational and linear movements, Igus has an intense research and development program.

As well as the production, sales and distribution of maintenance free plain bearings for rotational and linear movements, Igus has an intense research and development program More and more of our customers discover each day the advantages of the maintenance free plain bearing materials developed by Igus, whether the bearings are used for simple pivoting mechanisms or in complex medical equipment and expensive commercial installations

The design engineers at Igus soon realised that the innovations were wide and varied.

An important consideration is that Igus is inventing what did not exist before.

Materials which have a higher resistance to wear, a lower coefficient of friction, or which can run at high temperatures and high surface speeds without lubrication.

On the other hand there is also research on the performance of bearings running in a variety of environments, with special emphasis on the tribological properties.

Initially this does not sound very exciting, but when it is realised that an iglidur X plain bearing becomes increasingly resistant to wear with rising temperatures the subject starts to get interesting.

Such surprises are not infrequent, consequently it is important to re-measure the various factors in the test and to measure their influence.

As there are a number of inter dependant factors it is necessary to complete a large number of tests.

For example, taking the four most important factors: load, speed, temperature and shaft material, only three variations of each criteria result in a need for 81 tests.

Also, to statistically prove the results the number of tests required automatically doubles.

And what's the idea? More than 2500 tests are completed every year by the Igus laboratory, most of which have a duration of 100 hours or more.

The data from several thousand documented standard tests are the basis for the calculations and recommendations for our customers.

Each user of bearings really has only one question: What is the lifetime of the bearing in my application? A definitive answer for all bearing solutions would make the decision obvious.

The lifetime of ball bearings can be calculated in advance as rolling bearings are generally one of the most studied and analysed machine elements.

As the largest world-wide producer of polymer bearings, Igus has taken the responsibility to make plastic plain bearings calculable.

The vision of the engineering designer who calculates the lifetime of their bearings online on the internet becomes a distinct possibility.

Already consultants from Igus are using expert systems to make a statement regarding the suitability and lifetime of bearings.

One of the new products presented at the Hanover show the DryLin N flat guide NK-02-80, is a nice example for lifetime data which is already available.

The new flat slide in the DryLin range carries on the theme of sliding combinations which has been tried and tested over many years.

The iglidur J sliding elements glide on an anodised aluminium extrusion, a combination which has been tested hundreds of times.

Already lifetime calculations can be made and customers who require a lightweight and flat linear slide will be given detailed technical information.

DryLin NK-02-80 is very flat (only 12mm high) which allows it to be used in the most confined spaces.

Another advantage is the low weight, the rail only weighs 1140g/m and the carriage 100g.

The 80 mm wide linear slide system has been developed for a wide range of applications in the handling technology industry.

The aim was to produce a linear slide which could be easily fitted and which requires only one rail for many tasks.

Even large moments which can arise from off centre driving forces or from overhanging loads can be applied.

If narrower slides are used - where the rail width rather than the carriage width is important - often an additional parallel rail is required to support the moment.

As well as leading to higher costs this also makes assembly more difficult as the rails need to be aligned.

The new flat linear slide achieves a static load capacity of 1000 N in each direction.

The width of 80mm means that the slide is compatible with the common standard profiles which are used for machine building.

The sides of the slide rail will not overhang the edges of the standard profile resulting in a neat finish.

The hole spacing of 40mm again ties in with the common standards used in aluminium profile systems.

As well as developing new materials, the inventors of maintenance free bearings at Igus concentrate of testing bearings and linear slides.

With the help of continuously updated expert systems our customers will soon be able to calculate the lifetime of their bearings with electronic catalogues or online via the internet. Request free introductory details about products from Igus UK ...

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