The iglidur® polymer bearings are designed robust in such a way that the bearings ideally outlast the life of the gripper by around 30 years. "An advantage for our multifunctional gripper, as maintenance costs are reduced and productivity increases significantly." A test in the igus® in-house laboratory, the largest test laboratory in the industry, also proves how wear-resistant the bearings are. Here, the polymer bearings competed against classic metal bearings. Both bearing types pivoted on a gas-nitrided St52 steel shaft - with a load of 30 MPa and a speed of 0.01 metres per second. "The gliding layer of the metal bearings was already worn out after 60,000 cycles," says Stefan Loockmann-Rittich, head of the iglidur® plain bearing business unit.
"The bearings of the iglidur® G series, on the other hand, showed almost no signs of wear even after 200,000 cycles. They are therefore ideally suited for reliable and maintenance-free use over many years." specification, which incidentally also applies to another bearing type that can be found in the multifunctional gripper from GMG: the linear bushings of the drylin® R series (RJM-01-16), which enable controlled and safe linear movement of the gripper linkage. "The igus® bearings convince us time and again, which is why we will continue to rely on the iglidur® polymers in the future," summarises Saadat.