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"The polymer bearings are around 40 per cent cheaper. They do not require lubrication and their mass is lower than that of the previously installed composite bearings."
Roland Georgi, design engineer at L&K
For around fifteen years, the base material of the L&K tools has been the extremely resilient Hardox steels from the Swedish steel producer SSAB. Similarly resistant components must also be used in the joints that tilt a high-tipping bucket, for example, or open and close the halves of a grab bucket.
The requirement profile for such bearing points is clearly defined. Dipl.-Ing. Roland Georgi, design engineer and responsible for quality management at L&K: "The bearings must achieve the same service life as the bucket. And they must be maintenance-free."
Here, the designers, who work with modern CAD tools, originally used metallic plain bearings with a sintered-on gliding layer. Five years ago, L&K trialled an alternative to this composite design for the first time and used bearing bushes made of iglidur®. As a "mono-material", this high-performance polymer with incorporated lubricant manages without lubrication over the entire service life and is extremely resilient.
There were or are three good reasons for this choice. "The polymer bearings are around 40 per cent cheaper. They do not require lubrication and their mass is lower than that of the previously installed composite bearings." In fact, mass plays an important role for the designers at L&K: "We manufacture moving components. If the blade is too heavy, the dynamics suffer. That's why lightweight construction is also an important trend for us, but the load-bearing capacity must not be compromised as a result."
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