Tribo-optimised plastic plain bearings capture the bag forming, filling and sealing machines market
 

Profile

• What was needed: igubal spherical bearing, drylin R shaft guides, drylin R linear plain bearing, linear bearing drylin easytube, drylin W clamping units
• Requirements: The machine parts are exposed to dust, powder deposits and moisture during the packaging process. They must be quick to change over and easy and quick to clean. The entire system is in continuous operation.
• Industry: packaging technology
• Success for the customer: The plastic bearings defy all external influences and ensure the necessary service life. Lubrication-free bearings prevent product contamination. This means that the bearing technology used is also completely maintenance-free.

Problem

Warm, cold, dusty or damp: These are just some of the challenges that bag forming, filling and sealing machines made by Hastamat Verpackungstechnik GmbH in Lahnau near Gießen, Germany, face when packaging a wide variety of products. For this purpose, they must be simple to operate and clean. The demands on the mounted machine elements are correspondingly high.
 
During the packaging process, dust, powder deposits and moisture are the rule. The machine is often only roughly cleaned after production or simply blown off with compressed air. There are only two constructive options here. Either the entire system should be elaborately sealed up, or use machine elements that can deal with this dirt accumulation without breaking down early.
 
Working in continuous operation without operating personnel, quick to retrofit, easy to clean are further essential components of the machine concept.

Solution

Plastic bearings from igus® defy all external influences and ensure the necessary service life. Matched to each other, they are easy to install and, because they are absolutely maintenance-free, product contamination by lubricants never occurs. This also means that there is no build-up of bacteria and dirt, which must be removed at great expense.  This is important because the customers of Hastamat Verpackungstechnik GmbH are mainly from the food industry.  
 
At the bearing of the transverse sealing tools on the sealing bar, maintenance-free liners are used in combination with hard anodised aluminium shafts. They are composed of a wear-resistant "iglidur®" material. The tribologically optimised high-performance polymer is predestined for applications in which the plain bearing elements should attain maximum service life. The self-lubricating machine elements are based on extremely wear-resistant plastic compounds specially developed for the linear technology. The dimensions are compatible with standard ball bearings. The special geometry guarantees reliability even in extreme environments. Even wash-down applications pose no problems.
 
Four drylin® Easy Tube linear units are used in the area of the longitudinal sealing unit for adjustment tasks. The user has two options. During format adjustment, the adjustment carriage can be adjusted manually using drylin® W clamping units or automatically using the drylin® Easy Tube positioning unit. When changing formats, the user always finds his exact position, thus avoiding setting errors.