Fast carousel ride for medicines

• What was needed: drylin® W profile guides and drylin® steep thread with plastic nut
• Requirements: Highest possible service life in 24/7 operation, low abrasion due to conveying unpackaged medicines, completely lubrication-free linear and cam guidance, tight cam radii, minimised vibrations and low noise levels
• Industry: Medical technology
• Success for the customer: The material pairing of drylin® W and iglidur® J ensures maintenance-free and wear-free operation of the circulation system over a long service life. This has been confirmed by Rowa's tests to date with the first prototypes of the circulation system.

Several hundred patients, who stay in hospital for an average of seven days, must be supplied with the required medication reliably and without errors around the clock. Every hospital pharmacy has to cope with this task. This presents them with a challenge that requires a great deal of organisation, administration, personnel and testing technology. However, pharmacies in private practice are also faced with the challenge of supplying care facilities and elderly people with a large number of medications according to increasingly customised medication plans. In future, this effort can be simplified and at the same time made safer - with the Rowa Dose System, a development from Becton Dickinson Rowa Germany GmbH.
A "fast" circulation system, which must also be characterised by high availability, is a prerequisite for the rapid and error-free provision of medicines at the blister unit. The highest possible service life in 24/7 trade show operation was therefore in the Rowa designers' catalogue of requirements, as was low abrasion - after all, the downpipes convey unpackaged medicines.
For the same reason, a completely lubrication-free linear and cam guide was sought. Other important aspects in the selection process were the ability to negotiate tight curve radii and the lowest possible friction, which not only saves drive energy but also minimises vibrations and keeps noise levels low.

The solution was found - not for the first time in the development of Rowa systems - in the igus® bearing and drive technology construction kit. Drylin® W profile guides made of hard-anodised aluminium are used as horizontal guides for the downpipes, albeit in an extra wide or high version that can absorb higher tilting forces and ensure stable guidance of the downpipe at all times. igus® has now included this variant in its standard programme.
A "real" special solution is used on the narrow sides of the circulation system. Here, 180o curves with a radius of only 80 mm have to be realised. This is only possible with customised milled parts, which igus® manufactures for this application. The tight curves also require specific plastic glides that can master the entry into the tight curve even at high speeds.
The customised design also made it possible to implement another special function: The guidance can be opened on the narrow sides in order to replace individual bearings. This requires production with very high precision, because the plain bearings pass over this cut-out every time - and at high frequency, because each Rowa Dose system contains several hundred drylin® W 10 guide elements with sliding foils made of the high-performance polymer iglidur® J with incorporated lubricant.