igus has developed a maintenance-free and wear-resistant slewing ring bearing for medium loads that also offers significantly reduced weight and space.

The new bearing is 50% smaller in installation height, 60% lighter and can save users up to 20% in costs. The bearing will be particularly effective in automation, stage technology and control panels. igus, whose headquarters are in Cologne, Germany, runs its North American operations out of Providence, R.I.

Demanding applications

High cycle rates and loads in welding systems, indexing tables or the packaging industry, are extremely demanding for slewing rings. To withstand this, igus has been offering slide-supported slewing ring bearings for 15 years.

The iglide polymer slewing ring bearings (PRT) have sliding elements between the inner and outer bearing rings made of aluminum or stainless steel. The maintenance-free sliding elements made of high-performance iglide J plastic ensure that friction and wear are minimized without lubrication. The high-performance plastic withstands a maximum surface pressure of 35 MPa. In addition, igus has FDA and ESD-compliant versions with no minimum order quantity.

The new PRT-04 range allows users to use slewing ring bearings even in compact installation spaces with medium loads. The bearing takes up to 50% less space and the moving mass is reduced. Compact applications can be implemented, for example, in automation technology, sorting systems, control panels and stage and lighting technology. The sleeker bearing also reduces costs by up to 20%.

The new PRT-04 range is available directly from stock with inner diameters of 50 to 300 millimeters. In addition, igus offers a wide range of accessories for the slewing ring bearings including drive pin, variable rotation limit and toothed ring up to the clamping lever.

The new slewing ring bearings have also demonstrated their long service life in the company’s expansive test laboratory. The data collected in the tests are incorporated in the iglide PRT slewing ring configurator, which allows the customer to quickly select the proper slewing ring bearing as well as calculate the service life for the application.