PLASTIC LINEAR BUSHINGS MANUFACTURERS IN INDIA

Igus is a Plastic linear bushings manufacturers in India. It also manufactures many other plastic components such as drag chains or e-chains, continuous-flex cables, bearings, robotic components, linear guides, and cable carriers. There are bought and used by various industries including pharmaceutical, steel, automobile, packaging, power plants, mining, defense, automation, ports, automotive, etc.

There are two basic types of bearings viz., plastic linear bearings and recirculating ball bearing systems. Igus manufactures a wide range of products under each of these types. This article from Igus tells you which kind of bearings to use for your specific application.

Linear bearings

Linear bearings are again of different types viz., open and closed guides, and plain bearing and rolling bearing. Basically, a linear guide system has two parts: a leading part and a guided component. The leading component is a round shaft or a profile rail. The round bushings and guide carriages are guided. The variation is in the type of sliding, rolling or bearing translation.

Rolling bearings

Rolling bearings usually function as per the principle of a recirculating ball bearing system. Hence, these are also referred to as recirculating ball bearingsor recirculating ball bearing guides. The rolling elements comprise of small steel balls, which circulate axially in a ball channel.

Which one to use- plastic linear bearings and recirculating ball bearing systems?

Ø  One of the major differences between linear plain bearings and rolling guides is lubricant usage. Rolling bearings need a permanent lubrication in order to reduce corrosion and friction. Incorrect or lack of lubrication can damage a rolling bearing. A linear bearing requiring lubrication needs maintenance. The guide carriage would need re-lubrication approximately every 3 to 6 months.

Ø  Plastic linear plain bearings are embedded with micro-fine solid lubricantsin the matrix of the polymer.During the initial period of their operation, a small portion of this solid lubricant particles get evenly distributed to the shaft surface, and thus lubricating it. So, these bearings do not need maintenance, and can be used even in adverse environmental conditions.

Ø  The best quality of rolling bearings is their high precision. Their bearing clearance is 0.001 mm to 0.01 mm. But for linear bearings, it is 0.02 to 0.15 mm.So, the latter is not recommended for use in CNC machining, machine tool manufacturing,or electronics production.

Ø  Dynamic applications, applications where every single gram counts, applications that have more number of cycles, etc. would benefit from low weight bearings. Bearings made up of heavy metals have a very high weight. Plastics linear bushings manufacturers in India manufacture these 5 times lighter than steel, yet maintaining their toughness. 

Ø  Steel bearings are corrosive in nature. Stainless steel bearings have better corrosion resistance. On the other hand, plastic bearings are entirely corrosion-free. So, these are ideal for use in working environments containingalkalis, salt solutions and mineral acids.

Ø  Applications requiring high speed would benefit from using linear bearings than rolling bearings. For, the maximum speed of linear bearings is 30 m/s, whereas that of rolling bearings is 5–10 m/s.

Hope the above given info is useful to you, and will guide you in selecting the right bearing for your application. Igus manufactures and distributes a wide range of bearings, each with specific set of properties to suit your need.