igus - press release
manus 2005 - three times as many entries
Offshore application wins the "2nd plastic plain bearings Oscar" - Awards
ceremony on the igus exhibition stand in Hanover - Creative design ideas
At the igus (Cologne) exhibition stand at the
Hanover Industrial Fair, the winners of the
"manus - 2nd competition for plastic plain
bearing applications" were announced at a
festive ceremony, followed by a party, on 13th
April. The joint initiative saw igus team up with
the Institute for Composite Materials
(Kaiserslautern), among others, and was again
looking for new initiatives in bearing technology, based on lubrication-free polymer plain
bearings. Compared with the 1st manus
competition in 2003, three times as many
entries were received - some of which were
exceptional. Not an easy task for the academic
jury (including Professor Margot Ruschitzka,
President of the Cologne Science Forum). The
manus competition has also been very
successful in the USA as well as in Great
Britain/Ireland and is currently underway in Italy.
45 kg lightweight against 9 t steel giant
Manfred Worms from the company Tuboscope
Vetco (Deutschland) GmbH in Celle won the gold
manus and 5,000 euros for the use of plastic plain
bearings in inspection equipment in the
demanding offshore sector. So-called "drilling
risers", which are connecting elements between
the drilling platform and the sea bed, are used
during the oil and gas drilling process under some
of the toughest conditions conceivable (corrosion,
abrasion, erosion, deformation) and under
maximum mechanical loads. A patented inspection
device was built for regular inspection work on
these risers. This device uses plastic plain
bearings in both its centring system and highly
sensitive sensor system.
Silver and bronze
The silver manus and 2,500 euros went to Helmut
Meyer (Reifenhäuser GmbH, Troisdorf) for his new
design of an "economical, stable, corrosion-proof
and maintenance-free calibration cage" (Meyer) in
PM1105-GB/April 2005
Picture PM1105-01: Tuboscope Vetco (Deutschland) GmbH, Celle
Winner of the gold manus 2005: Manfred Worms from Tuboscope Vetco
(Deutschland) GmbH, Celle, relies on plastic plain bearings in a
patented inspection device in the demanding offshore sector.
a blown film plant. In this case, low-wear and
low-friction plastic plain bearings, pedestal
bearings and linear bearings are used in
combination with hard-coated aluminium shafts.
Finally, Thomas Strieker, an engineer at SilenceAircraft in Verl, was awarded the bronze manus
and 1,000 euros. He consistently uses polymer
plain bearings in the design of a light aircraft
named "Twister", built as a composite fibre
honeycomb sandwich structure.
20 years of in-house polymer research
The aim of the joint initiator, igus GmbH, is to
continually open up new creative areas of application for plastic plain bearings together with
engineers, technical designers and inventors.
According to conservative estimates, 250,000
tonnes of conventional lubricants, the equivalent of
igus - press release
8,000 lorries full, pollute the environment in
Germany every year. "This is where highperformance polymer bearings can set environment-related trends while significantly reducing
costs at the same time," explains Gerhard Baus,
manager for plastic plain bearings at igus. For
more than 20 years now, igus has been carrying
out in-house polymer research. Year after year
more than 5,000 trials are carried out and more
than 100 new materials tested. Frank Blase,
Managing Director at igus: "We have recorded the
results in an extensive database which now allows
us to predict the service life of our plain bearings
accurately and extremely reliably. If there are no
test data available for the shafts used, trials can be
carried out at short notice."
Calculate service life online
Just one example is how igus developed a new
plain bearing material for a vehicle lighting system
application, with a thermosetting pin, within only
eight weeks last year. Depending on customer
requirements, the plastic compounds are matched
to parameters, such as high pressure resistance,
vibration damping, shaft material and low friction
values. Gerhard Baus: "Our motivation is to
develop lubricant-free and thus maintenance-free
bearings that cost less and work longer." To this
end, igus has even been giving design engineers
and other users the opportunity to make their
choice of the right bearing, based on empirically
verified calculable service lives - available online
since 2001.
manus 2005 - a quick glance at further applications: world record vehicle, bottle packing
machine, artificial knee joint, Olympic winner
An incredibly wide range of applications for plastic
bearing technology were submitted by post and
e-mail to the manus 2005 jury.
From beaters for use in liquid media in biogas
plants to a derailleur for mountain bikes for
Olympic champions, a drive chain for a retractable
mast for shearing elevating platforms and artificial
knee joints. From an elevator system for domestic
properties to a circular saw and electric
motor-driven children's car; autonomous mobile
PM1105-GB/April 2005
robots to a concrete pipe mortising machine. From
the steering rods of a hydrogen-driven
world-record vehicle to veneer composition
machines, ultra-speed handling equipment,
pneumatically driven grippers in bottle packing
machines and a sealing bench to check the
quality of heat exchangers.
Picture PM1105-02: Tuboscope Vetco (Deutschland) GmbH, Celle
Plastic bearing joints in a highly sensitive sensor system.
Picture PM1105-03: Reifenhäuser GmbH, Troisdorf
Silver manus 2005: Calibrating cage in a blown film plant. All linear and
rotary movements are solved using plain bearings made of high-performance polymers. (Prizewinner: Helmut Meyer, Reifenhäuser GmbH,
Troisdorf).
igus - press release
Picture PM1105-04: Silence-Aircraft, Verl
The bronze manus 2005 went to Silence-Aircraft. Engineer Thomas
Strieker consistently uses plastic plain bearings in the design of a light
aircraft named "Twister", built as a composite fibre honeycomb sandwich
structure.
Picture PM1105-07: igus GmbH, Cologne
Winners of the golden manus 2005 (from left): Manfred Worms and
Reinhold Kammann (both Tuboscope Vetco Deutschland GmbH), and
Gerhard Baus (Manager, Plastic Bearings, igus GmbH)
Picture PM1105-05: igus GmbH, Cologne
Presentation of the manus 2005 award: Top row (from left): Hans
Joachim Tönnes, Hans Meyer (both Reifenhäuser GmbH), Matthias
Strieker (Silence.Aircraft), Gerhard Baus, Frank Blase (both igus GmbH).
Bottom row (from left): Reinhold Kammann, Manfred Worms (both
Tuboscope Vetco Deutschland GmbH), Thomas Strieker (SilenceAircraft), Prof. Dr. Margot Ruschitzka (Cologne Technical College)
Picture PM1105-08: igus GmbH, Cologne
More than 500 guests attended the great manus party at the igus
trade-fair stand in Hanover. The guests celebrated and danced,
accompanied by live music, until midnight.
PRESS CONTACT
André Kluth
Corporate Communication Manager
igus GmbH
Spicher Str. 1a
D-51147 Köln
Tel. +49 (0) 22 03 / 96 49 - 611
Fax +49 (0) 22 03 / 96 49 - 631
[email protected]
www.igus.de
DIN ISO 9001
Picture PM1105-06: igus GmbH, Cologne
Congratulating the winners (from left): igus Managing Director Frank
Blase, Manfred Worms, Reinhold Kammann (both Tuboscope Vetco
Deutschland GmbH), Gerhard Baus, Manager, Plastic Bearings (igus
GmbH)
PM1105-GB/April 2005
The terms “igus“, “Chainflex“, “Easy Chain“, “E-Chain“, “E-Chain Systems“,
“E-Ketten“, “E-KettenSysteme“, “Energy Chain“, “Energy Chain Systems“, “Flizz“,
“ReadyChain“, “Triflex“, “TwisterChain“, “DryLin“, “iglidur“, “igubal“ and “Polysorb“
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