Mechanical Components

Only a few years ago small wind turbines were manufactured using simple mechanical design and control technology. Today this has evolved into increasingly high-tech products which compare well with larger systems. Currently small wind turbines are used mostly for the power supply of houses, geographical measuring stations or on boats, to support heating systems and feed power into home grids. Going beyond that, experts predict a prosperous future for wind energy in electricity production in developing countries. The “Antaris 2.5” small wind turbine looks set to have a great future – profiting both technically and economically from the igus polymer plain bearings.

The reasons why HepcoMotion is so widely specified for marine and offshore engineering projects will be clearly demonstrated on the company’s stand at Offshore Europe ‘09. Stainless steel and corrosion resistant linear motion systems, a new heavy duty addition, proven circular and continuous motion products and the ability to design and manufacture complete sub-systems continue to give HepcoMotion the edge in this demanding sector.

Parker Hannifin announces an extensive range of competitively priced Parker quality replacement filter elements. The new elements are fully interchangeable with a wide range of Hydac filters, but with immediate availability, low price and equivalent or better quality. Par<>Fit interchange elements allow users to acquire all their replacement elements from one quality source regardless of the original equipment manufacturer.

NSK Ltd has developed new low-torque ball bearings for hybrid vehicles featuring a 50–65(percent) improvement in frictional loss compared to conventional bearings. NSK designed the new product specifically for use in hybrid vehicles — a growing market due to improvements in fuel efficiency and rising environmental awareness — and expects annual sales of more than 3 billion yen by 2013.

HepcoMotion has an exceptionally wide range of products to cater for every linear motion need. That presents any website designer with a challenge. It is no easy task creating a framework that is both clean and easy to navigate whilst accommodating comprehensive information on so many products. Nevertheless, that is exactly what has been achieved in the new HepcoMotion website.

Fort locks from EMKA are expected to be of special interest for many types of low cost applications – such as recessed handles for vehicle storage boxes, or key locks for cabinets/lockers, desks, filing cabinets and cupboards.

Aerotech has added a new vertical translation stage to its ANT range of ‘nanotranslation’ linear position stages providing 500 mm/sec speed, 1 g acceleration and a positioning resolution between 2.5 nm and 1.0 µm over a 25 mm or 50 mm travel range. The new ANT-LXV vertical translation stage combines Aerotech’s latest direct-drive linear servo motor, encoder feedback and bearing technology with advanced axis calibration in a design that includes an integral pneumatic counterbalance to ensure totally smooth, stiction-free vertical motion.

A new and very speedy method for securing chipboard or timber tops onto work bench frames made of Item Line-8 aluminium profiles is now available.

Item GmbH has recently introduced a T-Slot Slider into its Line-8 aluminium machine kit system. The Slider consists of a zinc die-cast body 80mm long and 40mm wide, fitted with free-running plastic inserts. This Slider neatly dovetails into the Item 8mm slot with a surprisingly small amount of play, to give a robust low-friction linear slide in any Line-8 profile. No additional lubrication is required, and the slide can be used under difficult ambient conditions (dust, humidity etc.)

The life of a bearing, within linear systems, can be seriously compromised in a harsh, washdown environment due to the ingress of corrosive fluids and loss of lubrication and this is precisely the reason why DualVee Washdown Wheels have been developed. Available from HepcoMotion these wheels actively repel liquid making them ideally suited for food and beverage applications as well as any high speed waterjet cutting application.