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Double protection against dirt: felt seals for iglidur plain bearings

Photo by igus GmbH

Sand, dirt and abrasive dust are heavy loads for bearings and shaft. Therefore igus has now developed an additional safety concept for its lubricant-free iglidur plain bearings: Seals made of felt. Simply placed on the collar of the bearing, they protect against the penetration of dirt and thus reduce maintenance intervals and machine downtimes.

Plain bearings in agricultural engineering and construction machinery often do not have an easy life: They are exposed to high loads, wind and weather as well as dirt. Not easy, especially for bearings made of metal, because they must be greased regularly to prevent the bearing from failing, corroding or dirt destroying the bearing position. Users therefore like to fall back on the iglidur plain bearings made of tribo-polymers from igus, since they have incorporated solid lubricants and thus do not require external lubrication. They are also corrosion-free and insensitive to dirt. In order to additionally protect the bearings from the penetration of sand and dirt, the motion plastics specialist has now developed felt seals for its iglidur plain bearings.

“The advantage of felt is that dirt is further compressed in the felt structure when penetrating. So no sand or dirt can get into the bearing and shaft,” explains Stefan Loockmann-Rittich, head of the iglidur plain bearing division. “By using iglidur plain bearings with the seals, the user can save maintenance intervals, lubricants and thus costs. At the same time, no lubricating grease is released into the environment,” says Loockmann-Rittich. Should initial lubrication still be required, the felt ensures that the grease remains in the bearing and is not contaminated. The felt seal also proved its good sealing function in the company’s own 3,800 square metre test laboratory. Here an iglidur plain bearing sealed with felt under sand achieved a service life 50 times longer than an iglidur plain bearing without seal, and the shaft also showed significantly fewer wear marks with felt seal than without. The first customers came to the same results in their own tests in practice.

Also well protected from media

If a plain bearing is exposed to media, igus also has plastic sealing rings in its product range. The plastic seals the plain bearing so that no liquids such as aggressive cleaning agents can reach the bearing or the components behind it. igus offers the plastic sealing rings in an all-rounder material for all igus flanged plain bearings and in an FDA-compliant material for use in the food industry.

For more information, please visit: https://www.igus.com/