Compact and corrosion-free: plain bearings in a new type of Segway wheelchair

Off the beaten track, many wheelchairs reach their limits: small front wheels sink in on soft ground, while large ones increase the turning circle and reduce agility. Hoss Mobility GmbH has developed a balance wheelchair that works like a Segway and does not need front wheels. Supports are used to prevent it from tipping over even without a power supply. In these and other bearing points, the developers rely on plastic plain bearings from the iglidur® P series.

iglidur plain bearings in the Hoss Mobility wheelchair

Profile

What was needed: Bearing for the extendable safety supports, subsequently also for the seat, backrest shell and armrests
Requirements: robust with high rotational speed and impact loads, resistant to different weather conditions, low weight, small dimensions
Industry: Medical technology, mobility and rehabilitation equipment, wheelchairs
Success for the customer: Bearings made of iglidur® P material are the outdoor all-rounder in the igus® bearing programme thanks to their compact installation size, weather resistance and enormous impact resistance. With them, the safety supports move reliably in the long term, without the risk of corrosion and without lubrication/maintenance effort

iglidur® P
The dimensionally stable all-round bearing for outdoor use with very good coefficients of friction

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Problem

The supports are designed so that they extend within 100 milliseconds in an emergency situation. This happens, for example, if the tyres lose traction or the battery is flat. The bearing points are then subjected to high loads of up to 5,000 revolutions per minute. finding bearings that can withstand this and are compact enough for small installation spaces was a challenge for the designers. As they are used outdoors and off-road, the bearings also have to withstand impacts, direct sunlight, temperatures from -10 to +50°C, snow, rain and dirt. And since every additional gram reduces the battery range, the bearings should be as light as possible.

Conventional metal ball bearings were out of the question due to the above-mentioned requirements, primarily because of their size.

Solution

The perfect solution was found with iglidur ® P plain bearings. They are very compact with a wall thickness of 1 mm and an inner diameter of 12 mm, but still withstand loads of up to 50 MPa. As a result, they withstand the impact on the floor when the supports extend quickly. As in all bearings from igus®, solid lubricants are embedded in them so that no additional lubrication is required. This means that neither sand, dust nor soil can adhere and block or damage the bearing. Even rain or snow pose no threat to the corrosion-free plastic material. This makes the bearings particularly durable and maintenance-free. Hoss Mobility was so impressed by them that they are also used in the cushioned seat, the backrest shell and the removable armrests. The same applies to these applications: minimum maintenance and maximum service life with low size and weight.