igus UK Limited

With live performances at business venues up and dow­­­­n the UK and Ireland the igus drylin delta robot is now officially on tour. It has already visited Aberdeen and Bristol and, in Ireland, Dublin and Galway but fear not – further dates the next three months are scheduled in the East Midlands, Gloucestershire, Wales and the South East.

Remote intervention tooling and subsea engineering specialist, ToolTec has reason to celebrate: Its offshore inspection unit has won the manus award 2019 - a prize awarded by igus for the creative use of high-performance plastic bearings. Second place went to a floating catamaran, and third place to a driver assistance system for people with limited physical mobility.

It has been announced that Kranbau Köthen has built a crane with a lifting capacity of 500 tons and a special design whereby the weight distribution in two axes can be finely balanced using a special shaft end support. Here, signal and energy transmission take place via energy chains and cables from igus.

Oil rigs, gas production facilities, wind farms, port facilities or ship cranes: these applications have very special requirements for safe energy and data transmission. igus offers more than 370 DNV GL certified cables for use in maritime e-chains. Together with the DNV GL, igus has developed completely new test methods and standards for dynamic cables in e-chains.

The motion plastics specialist, igus, has added new sizes to its drylin W exchange range. In addition to size ten, the liners are available in sizes 16 and 20 for drylin W linear guides. Developed for quick replacement of liners in high-frequency applications, the liner can be replaced directly on the rail without dismantling the system. 

Knowing that time strapped design and engineering teams rarely have the chance to venture out to shows and exhibitions, igus now pops in with products, samples, brochure and catalogues. With its mobile display, igus offers the opportunity for engineers to get to know the products that are interesting for them, at their own premises.

The motion plastics specialist, igus, has introduced sealing rings for its maintenance-free plain bearings to provide additional hygiene and protection against extreme dirt accumulation. The seals are available for all igus flanged bearings, making a wide range of application-related material combinations feasible.

Collaborative robots, or cobots, are mainly used as assistants in simple or interactive activities and, in contrast to large and fast industrial robots, work hand in hand with humans. That is why cobot and industrial robot service engineers are already using igus' multi-axis round triflex R e-chains. In addition to conventional metal clamps for industrial robots, igus has developed new plastic mounting clamps that attach the energy chain to the robotic arm both quickly and easily.

Originally his background was in computer gaming, but now Richard ‘Bez’ Beston has become a well-known engineer, turned inventor, in Sunderland as he wants to bring manufacturing back to the North East. After having a successful career in computer gaming deign and even moving to the US to work, Bez said the gaming industry became more like the film industry so he was keen to move on. “I’m terrible once I have achieved something, I get bored. I’ve literally tried all extreme sports.”

Running continuously for 24/7 or standing idle for months on end, these are the two extreme conditions with which the world's longest plastic energy chain operates. At the lignite-fired power station in Tušimice, Czech Republic, the roller energy chain system with a travel length of 615m has been achieving this for ten years now without missing a beat.

Launched back in 2016 the igus smart plastics range was the first step in the Industry 4.0 door at a time where Industry 4.0 was just a buzzword for many companies who wanted to be involved but didn’t have the product like igus. Now the range is still going strong and still developing, it is interesting to look back and see this is where Industry 4.0 started for igus.

  In addition to its drylin E linear axes with DC motors, igus has now developed a cost-effective and easy-to-use control system. Providing simple control and operation of the axes, the dryve D3 controller is for basic types of operation and the dryve D1 for more complex tasks.

Five high-performance wear- and abrasion-resistant plastics as plate stock strips are now offered through igus. In addition to the classic iglidur W300 and the cost-effective J4, the FDA-compliant iglidur A500 material as well as the high-temperature endurance runner C500 and iglidur J350, the specialist for temperatures up to 180°C, complete the range. All sliding plates are available from igus, 15mm thick and 160mm wide.

A decisive step has been taken by igus towards the fire protection in car interior applications with the 3D print material iglidur I3. Not only is the material extremely wear-resistant and therefore an all-rounder for all types of wear resistant parts, it also meets the requirements for the FMVSS 302 fire test. In the tests, the measured calorific value is approximately five times lower than the maximum permitted limit.

As part of the training programme for all new sales recruits at igus, managing director Matthew Aldridge sets a project. The task is to solve an engineering problem using igus products. For new starter Darren Lane, the challenge was to come up with a way of stopping a classic 1962 Land Rover Series IIA throttle ball joint from detaching while accelerating.

Two-wheel motorsport has a whole range of different vehicle classes; down to single-cylinder machines. The limited engine power of these bikes is not a disadvantage, if the weight - namely, the mass to be accelerated - is also reduced considerably. Here, plastic bearings make an important contribution.

Introducing a new tribo-polymer developed especially for clip and flanged bearings typically used in sheet metal feedthroughs, igus has released the new iglidur K230 material. Here high edge loads are common and typical applications are usually in extreme environments. The wear-resistant iglidur K230 material meets all these requirements – it is highly elastic, chemical resistant and withstands moisture.

What do an exoskeleton, an articulated robotic arm and a research project on space debris have in common? Plastic plain bearings are used in all these applications and they were chosen as the three winning applications at the last manus award - which is initiated every two years by igus. Now the starting whistle has been blown – manus award 2019 is now open for entries.

In order to prevent cable management systems seizing up during wintery conditions, igus has developed a new energy chain, called ice-chain. With injection-moulded raised contact points, the chance of freezing to the running surface is significantly reduced along with the associated cost of downtime and maintenance.

A team from the University of Southampton working on submarine technology is receiving engineer support and engineering-grade plastic bearings through the igus’ YES (Young Engineers Support) programme. The Southampton University Human Powered Submarine Society (SUHPS) is a group of students that design, build and test human-powered submarines to compete internationally.