EAST PROVIDENCE, R.I. – November 8, 2005 – The winners of the 2005 Mini manus Online Plastic Bearing Design Contest have been crowned. Applications ranged from medical technology to sports innovations and off-highway equipment.
Top honors and the Gold manus award were given to Kesmac Inc., a Canadian manufacturer of commercial turf equipment, for its use of the iglide ® R flange plastic bearing from igus ® Inc., the industry-leading developer of iglide plastic bearings and DryLin ® linear bearings and guide systems. Kesmac uses iglide R to replace 28 bronze bushings in the 14 pivot points on the Kesmac 11 Gang Reel Mower. “We needed a replacement that was interchangeable with the bronze bushings,” said Evan Hopkins, an engineer at Kesmac.
“We also needed a bearing that would not require grease, because customers do not want grease falling onto freshly cut grass, for cosmetic as well as environmental reasons. The iglide bearings eliminate the need to grease the 14 points, which decreases maintenance time. Using iglide R also eliminated the machining costs required for the grease nipples.”
Second place and the Silver Manus award were given to Waters Corp. of Milford, Mass., an international developer of analytical laboratory instruments and equipment. Waters used DryLin N linear guide systems from igus in its Alliance HPLC separation system. The DryLin rail is used in the linear actuator, which moves a needle to precise positions during the injection cycle.
The actuator had to be redesigned due to continual problems, including binding and loss of positions, which resulted in increased warrantee costs and customer downtime. “With DryLin we have a reliable system and a more compact design,” said Mike Higgins, Senior Mechanical Engineer for Waters Corp. “Now installation is simple because we no longer have to remove the top cover and we also lowered the overall cost of the application.” BC2A Design Inc. in San Jose, California is the recipient of the third place Bronze manus award.
The company is being recognized for its pioneering use of iglide G300 plastic bearings in brake calipers for consumer and professional racing bicycles. The brakes are made with the highest-quality materials that must function in all weather conditions, including rain and dust while being as lightweight as possible. The iglide G300 is a low-cost, lightweight solution that meets all the requirements of the application. “The iglide plastic bearings will last longer than the traditional steel-backed, PTFE bearing solution commonly used, and they weigh only one-third as much,” said Bryan Buck, President of BC2A Design, Inc.
“The iglide G300 bearing, with its unique combination of low friction, long life, low weight and low cost answered all of our concerns and is now used in both pivot points in the dual pivot caliper design.” Winners of the Gold manus receive a $500 cash prize. Second place Silver manus winners receive $250 and third place Bronze manus winners receive $100. All will receive a certificate of recognition.
Check out the full details of these applications at www.igus.com/minimanus.asp . Manus was developed to uncover applications using plastic bearings in new and challenging ways to achieve superior technical and economical performance.
It also aims to educate the industry on the merits of plastic as a viable material for use in machinery components and to showcase the multitude of ways plastic bearings can support the most complex, or the simplest applications—and every kind in between. Other manus contests have been held across the globe, including the original manus contest held in Germany.
Please visit www.manus-wettbewerb.de to learn more about the latest German contest and www.manus-igus.co.uk/ for information on manus UK.
Visit www.manus.igus.com to view the winners of the 2004 North American manus contest.
About igus
Igus Inc., founded in 1985 and based in East Providence, R.I., develops and manufactures industry-leading plastic cable carriers, continuous-flex cables, plastic bearings and linear guide systems. With more than 28,000 products available from stock, the company meets the motion control and machinery component needs of customers worldwide.
Product lines include Energy Chain Systems® to protect and house moving cables, Chainflex® continuous-flex cables, iglide self-lubricating, oil-free, plastic bearings, DryLin linear guide systems and igubal® spherical bearings. For more information, contact igus at (800) 521-2747 or visit www.igus.com .