DryLin linear bearings exceed expectations of packaging equipment manufacturer
February 26, 2009 by Miles Budimir
Filed under Linear Bearings
EAST PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Igus® Inc. announced that Matrix Packaging Machinery has chosen it’s DryLin® R linear bearings on its chief product line, the G Series packaging machines that includes the Matrix Proteus, Mercury and Ares.
Matrix manufacturers vertical, form, fill and seal (v/f/f/s) packaging equipment, which handles a wide range of products from green beans to candy to detergent.
Matrix’s G Series machines operate in many diverse environments, which compelled Matrix to find a bearing that would operate seamlessly while in continuous contact with environmental elements such as dust, dirt and water. Matrix chose DryLin® R linear bearings made of highly engineered plastic so they need no lubrication or maintenance. DryLin R bearings are formulated for long-life and consistently low friction.
Matrix uses DryLin R sleeve bearings designed for easy installation and removal in the most extreme applications, such as those seen by Matrix packaging machines. The bearing is comprised of two parts: a plastic liner made from igus’ iglide J200 material that can be pushed easily onto the shaft and a split aluminum adapter that fits over the liner.
This particular bearing delivers many advantages for both Matrix and its customers. Installation time is greatly reduced because Drylin R eliminates the need to remove the shaft from its housing. If replacement is necessary, the adapter shell opens effortlessly and only the plastic liner needs to be replaced. This feature saves the customer time, and in some cases, can reduce replacement part costs by 90 percent.
With DryLin R, Matrix customers rarely experience bearing failure on their machines. The company’s expectations were exceeded when DryLin R endured seven million cycles on its G Series with little to no noticeable wear, and to date, some of the machines have surpassed the 10-million cycle mark with DryLin R still in operation.
In the past, Matrix employed metal ball bearings in its packaging machines. After encountering scored shafting and grease leaks on some machines, Matrix made the switch to DryLin R. After doing so, the company has noticed little to no shaft wear and a slight increase in production due to the lighter weight of DryLin.
Matrix uses DryLin R linear bearings on its G Series machines, which are capable of reaching up to 160 cycles per minute. DryLin R manages loads up to 15 pounds on each machine, while operating at a speed of 750 feet per minute. Matrix machines also use iglide Z from igus, a line of plastic bearings suited for applications with high temperatures, extreme loads and high surface speeds.
Linear bearings and guide systems provides design freedom and flexibility to customers
February 26, 2009 by Miles Budimir
Filed under Uncategorized
EAST PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Igus® Inc. offers a maintenance-free alternative to re-circulating ball bearings and cumbersome, expensive linear guides. DryLin® linear bearings and guide systems are wear-resistant, self-lubricating, contamination and corrosion-free and have a low coefficient of friction.
Igus manufactures four styles of linear guide systems, including DryLin T, DryLin N, DryLin W and DryLin linear slide tables. DryLin T consists of a hard-anodized aluminum, T-shaped rail, an adjustable carriage made of clear-anodized aluminum and gliding elements made from igus’ iglide J polymer material blend, to form a lightweight unit. DryLin T can be used in both automation and material handling applications, and due to its corrosion-resistant, lubrication-free features, is ideal for food, medical and clean room technologies.
Some additional features of DryLin T include:
DryLin N, a lightweight, low-profile linear guide system, is designed for both high-speed and short-travel applications. Plastic gliding elements run in an anodized aluminum rail, which enables maintenance-free operation. The guide system also boasts a small mounting height and width.
Low cost bearings for high-speed scanning
February 24, 2009 by Miles Budimir
Filed under Linear Bearings
EAST PROVIDENCE, R.I. – January 29, 2009 – Imaging Business Machines LLC (IBML) uses iglide® polymer plain bearings in its line of intelligent document-scanning platforms. The low-cost, self-lubricating bushings withstand the paper dust created by the scanners and the six-day, 24-hour operation schedules frequently demanded of them.
IBML’s main goal is to ensure organizations—such as financial institutions, health insurers, federal agencies and state governments—benefit from intelligent, high-speed scanning and imaging technology. The Alabama-based company uses igus®’ iglide J and iglide G300 plastic sleeve bearings to rotate the conveyor belt inside its ImageTrac scanners. The bearings do not require lubrication and so do not cause problems or machine failure from dust and grease build-up.
Benjamin Bush, project engineer at IBML, confirms, “One of the reasons we use iglide bearings is because of their ability to deliver a clean performance. Another reason is that iglide gets the job done at a fraction of the cost.”
iglide J bearings operate at speeds up to 1,968 feet per minute (fpm) in linear motion and 197 fpm in rotary motion. They incur little to no wear on a range of shaft materials as they have an extremely low coefficient of friction.
iglide G300 is an economical, highly wear resistant bearing suited to both oscillating and rotational movements in many different applications.
All iglide bearings are maintenance and corrosion free, dry running, dirt, dust and chemical resistant, and are available from stock.