Maintenance requirements identified in advance with the new smart plastics linear guide

Intelligent igus sensors monitor the wear of the sliding oil of the linear plain bearings, increasing reliability

Detecting slide film wear in linear systems at an early stage was the goal of the engineers at igus, who have now developed a new, intelligent linear guide. A sensor in the bearing sliding oil measures the individually determinable wear limit and triggers an alarm when this limit is reached. This allows maintenance to be planned in advance and unexpected system failure to be avoided.

When should I replace my bearing? This question is constantly asked by operators of systems in which linear robots and linear guidance systems are used. From packaging machine and glass processing to machine tools. Linear guides must withstand extreme loads. To detect early wear of the sliding lubricant-free bearings made of high-performance plastics and plan maintenance in advance, igus has now developed an intelligent system for its drylin linear systems. The new "smart plastics" technology measures the wear of the dirt- and dust-resistant bearings and alerts the user when the wear limit is reached.

Patented technology for wear monitoring

A new intelligent and patented technology ensures the measurement of bearing wear in all directions. To do this, igus integrates a sensor into the bearing, which sends the measurement data to the icom. The communication module collects the data from all smart plastics sensors, processes them and transmits them. The user can take over monitoring with the terminal device of his choice and thus can always perform repairs, maintenance and replacement.

Quick replacement directly on the rail

If a bearing needs to be replaced, this is very easy because igus relies here on its intelligent bearing replacement technology. The linear axis or the multi-axis gantry with toothed belt drive no longer needs to be dismantled, because the replacement takes place directly on the rail. Just like a pit stop in Formula 1, the linear plain bearing can be replaced in no time and thanks to a free tool, this reduces downtime to a minimum. The system can be back in operation within minutes.