High-performance bearing in lifting chair

To ensure that this medical chair can withstand high loads, iglidur® bearings are used.

With this chair from Liftup A/S, elderly or weak people can be lifted up again after a fall without great effort. Conventional ball bearings broke due to the slow movement of the lifting mechanism and the high load. Only since the conventional bearings have been replaced by plastic plain bearings has the chair functioned reliably and trouble-free.

Profile

What was needed: iglidur® plastic plain bearing
Requirements: The bearings must withstand high loads during the slow raising of the chair
Industry: Medical technology, mobility & rehab
Success for the customer: The iglidur® bearings today bring three concrete advantages in the application: They are robust and withstand the high forces permanently, are lightweight and cost-effective compared to conventional ball bearings.

Problem

The Raizer is a medical chair from the Danish manufacturer Liftup, which is designed to help elderly and physically disabled people in emergency situations to get up without help from others.
The device can be easily assembled and operated by just one person. The built-in mechanism can lift people who have fallen safely and effortlessly within a few minutes. As the Raizer is as flat as a couch in its starting position, the person can be quickly transferred to the device. Then it's the chair's turn: the mechanism pulls the flat chair legs towards each other and the Raizer slowly and safely stands up. Naturally, the chair and in particular the bearings of the chair legs are subjected to particularly high forces, as they not only have to bear the weight of the person, but also reliably perform the very slow raising process. Standard bearings were therefore out of the question for the manufacturer.

Solution

Since particularly high forces act on all components in the medical chair, but especially on the central bearings at the upper end of the chair legs, a particularly robust solution was required.
The manufacturer finally decided in favour of iglidur ® plastic bearings, which are used in three different types at a total of six points in the device.
Compared to the originally planned ball bearings, the iglidur® bearings have three specific advantages that were decisive here:
The bearings are designed for particularly high loads and work reliably and safely under these circumstances.
They are also particularly light. In order to ensure the easiest possible handling, great attention is often paid to the weight of medical equipment. The lightweight plastic bearers make a decisive contribution to this goal.
Last but not least, Liftup has also been able to save on purchasing costs compared to conventional ball bearings.

Overview of iglidur plastic plain bearings