Plain bearings for individually adjustable assembly supports in automotive engineering

• What was needed: iglidur ®-polymer slewing ring bearing
• Requirements: The assembly carrier had to be swivelling, rotatable and movable, the bearings had to be lightweight and at the same time highly resilient as well as require low maintenance and guarantee a long service life
• Industry: Automotive industry
• Success for the customer: approx. 60 assembly carriers were successfully fitted with the polymer plain bearings; they combine the desired weight saving with the high requirements for load capacity, flexibility and service life

In assembly lines such as in the automotive industry, assembly carriers are used on which the vehicle is gradually assembled in several steps. In such an assembly line, such an assembly carrier had to be developed for the assembly of centre consoles of passenger cars (Ford). Due to the high level of flexibility required, high demands were placed on the slide bearings in the application. In order to be able to carry out all the necessary assembly activities in the best possible way, the assembly carrier had to be able to swivel, rotate and slide. Due to the use on an existing assembly line and for ergonomic reasons, the focus was also on minimising the weight of the assembly support. In addition, this and all installed components had to be highly resilient, require little maintenance and still allow a long service life.

Möve-Metall GmbH, responsible for the construction of the assembly carrier, worked with plain bearings from our product portfolio to realise the points described in the problem definition. Specifically, the decision was made to use an iglidur ® polymer slewing ring bearing (PRT-01-100). The function of the bearing is to enable the rotary movement of the assembly carrier. The decisive advantage of the PRT polymer rotary table bearing compared to the steel slewing ring ball bearing otherwise used for this application is its significantly lower weight. Other features include a high load capacity, low maintenance requirements, a long service life and high corrosion protection. A total of approx. 60 such mounting supports with polymer slewing ring bearings are currently in production.