Mechanical Components Reference Materials
Technical Articles
Reference Articles 1601 - 1700 of 1787
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Vulcanization in theory and practice
From: Seals Eastern, Inc.Description: This paper concern the theory and practice of vulcanization - the process of adding crosslinks to long-chain molecules. ...
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What Oil Spills Teach Us about Industrial Hoses
From: Elasto Proxy Inc.Description: According to the National Association for Hose and Accessories Distribution (NAHAD), chemical compatibility describes the degree to which one material can contact another without an adverse change in ...
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Attach and detach heavy panels in a snap...again and again!
Description: A low key "snap" solved the problem of a metal-on-metal roar, secured a safety perimeter around thrashing robots, and defeated steel screws in a mushroom vs. thread competition. ...
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How to Select Seals for Refrigerators and Freezers
From: Elasto Proxy Inc.Description: Faulty or leaky door seals make it harder for refrigerators and freezers to keep contents cold. Motors work overtime, running continuously and increasing energy usage and wear. Increased costs aren't ...
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Choosing a Material
From: Lauren Manufacturing Co.Description: Selecting the best elastomer for an application involves being able to answer many questions. That may seem overwhelming at first but the best place to begin is with existing information. Look for a ...
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Maintaining a Tight Grip
From: Nord-Lock GroupDescription: Throughout its entire lifespan, a bolt is in constant battle against settlement, relaxation and creep, with the slightest loosening or slackening having potentially devastating results. ...
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Case study - JCB Construcion Machines
Description: When JCB, the global manufacturer of construction machines, identified a need for a steep improvement in the performance of their hydraulic cylinder sealing systems, ...
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Technical reference: Fluid compatibility
Description: Use these tables below to work out which materials best suit your specific system and operating environment. ...
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How the Medical Industry Chooses Safe, Sanitary Seals
From: Elasto Proxy Inc.Description: When the medical industry chooses a sealing supplier, buyers want to work with solutions providers instead of salespeople. By selecting a partner instead of a provider, medical device manufacturers ...
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Types and applications of industrial chain
Description: Agricultural gripping conveyor chains: suitable for walking wheat, rice harvester and set-motorized rice and wheat thresher, semi-feeding combine harvester. Hollow pin chain: transportation, ...
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Types and applications of industrial chain, industrial chain
Description: Agricultural chain: suitable for field machinery such as hand tractor, thresher, combine harvester. This chain is low cost but can withstand impact and abrasion resistance, in addition, the chain ...
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High Voltage, Life Critical, Glove Inflator Redesign
Description: A prospective customer approached the Field team with a request for a quote on a fastener. Prior to quoting the fastener, Field requested to walk the customer's production floor to review the ...
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Key Considerations When Selecting a New Fastening Partner [White Paper]
Description: The decision on where to buy from may seem trivial considering the commoditized nature of fasteners, but the capabilities and approach your fastening partner uses impacts all facets of your ...
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5 Key Tips for Linear Bearing Maintenance That Save Money by Avoiding Unplanned Downtime.
From: Thomson Industries Inc.Description: How a $25 invenstment now can prevent tens of thousands of dollars in unplanned downtime. While the cost of linear bearings is low, their performance is essential to the accuracy, repeatability and ...
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Equivalent Operating Load
From: Thomson Industries Inc.Description: The formula for determining the equivalent operating load (Feq) is important. Many engineers will just use the nominal operating load (F) when calculating the life of a ball screw but in extreme cases ...
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Simriz O-Rings in Steam
From: KC Seals, Inc.Description: Simriz® is a family of Perfluoroelastor compounds developed solely by Simrit and designed to provide superior chemical resistance and thermal stability. Simriz possesses the resilience of an ...
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Aerodynamic Bearings
Description: All air bearings ride on a thin film of gas which provides lubrication. In the case of aerodynamic or self-acting bearings, the air film is created by the relative motion of two mating surfaces ...
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Emergency Safety Siren Fastener Redesign
Description: Replacement of an Expensive and Unnecessary Patch Leads to a 63% Reduction in Fastener Costs ...
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Oscillating Tool Bearing Flange Product Redesign
Description: Field Initiated Engineering Review and Product Redesign Yields $170,000 in Cost Savings ...
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Cable Shielding
From: PIC Wire & CableDescription: Regardless of its construction, a shield will be only as immune to induced noise as its effectiveness provides. This means that the shield will "intercept" and/or deflect magnetic or electrical fields ...
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International Chain Standards
Description: The range of pitch sizes can vary between 4mm, (0.158 inch) to 114.3mm, (4.500 inch). They are characterised by a large pin diameter, especially for the larger pitch sizes. This results in better wear ...
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Making the Case for Tension Indicating Fasteners
From: Industrial IndicatorsDescription: When design engineers specify fasteners for product assemblies, systems or structures, they typically calculate the preload required for each bolted joint, then choose fasteners to meet those ...
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The Torque-Tension Relationship Gets Stretched
From: Industrial IndicatorsDescription: Most fasteners are tightened using traditional methods, such as manual torque wrenching, pneumatic impact wrenching, or automatic torque cutoff tools. As a result of this trend, a common question ...
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Eight ways to increase conveyor chain life
Description: Producers of glass bottles and jars can often achieve significant gains in production by improving the operation of conveying chains on IS machines and cross conveyors. William Hall discusses eight ...
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What is Stainless Steel?
Description: WHAT IS "STAINLESS" STEEL? By "stainless" is generally meant a large group of types of steel which contain at least 12% chromium (Cr) and often additions of other alloy substances, for example, nickel ...
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Why Does Rust Occur?
Description: I...L *' Rust damage on products costs large sums every year, and can also cause breakdowns through various kinds of corrosion weakening sup porting structures. There are therefore strong reasons to ...
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Storage of Seals
Description: Most polymeric items including vulcanized rubber and other elastomers tend to change their properties during storage and may become unserviceable. This may be due to hardening, softening, cracking, ...
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Surface Roughness
Description: Many parameters can be used to describe surface finishes and these are explained in ISO 4287 and ISO 4288. Those in most common use in the fluid power industry include: Ra, which is defined as the ...
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5 Ways to Choose the Best DryLin® W Linear Guide for Your Application
From: igus® inc.Description: 5 ways to choose the best linear guide for your application from the DryLin® W toolkit ...
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6 Little-known Facts about Plastic Bearing Linkages
From: igus® inc.Description: Plastic bearing linkages have some unique features and benefits that other solutions do not offer. ...
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Classification and Characteristics of Rolling Bearings
From: Emerson Bearing Co.Description: Classification and Characteristics of Rolling Bearings ...
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4 Reasons To Replace PTFE-lined Bushings
From: igus® inc.Description: Here are the top four reasons for replacing PTFE-lined bushings with plastic bushings, which offer more design flexibility. ...
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Butting Rails Together in 5 Easy Steps
From: igus® inc.Description: Linear rails typically come in lengths between six and 12 feet, but customers often ask: is it possible to make rails longer by butting them together? The answer is yes. ...
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Eliminating Problems with Container Defects
Description: A leading producer of glass jars for food products was challenged by its customer to produce higher quality, blemish free containers. Specifically, the customer wanted to reduce the size and number of ...
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3 Ways to Drive a Slewing Ring Bearing
From: igus® inc.Description: In rotating and turntable applications using a slewing ring bearing, the component used to drive the system is important. ...
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Applied Force and Component Selection
From: J. W. Winco, Inc.Description: Sometimes the best way to selecting the right component for an application is to base your choice on what it needs to do. In other words, start with the motion or action required of the operator, ...
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Characteristics of Common Plastics Used in Machine Components
From: J. W. Winco, Inc.Description: In the nearly 150 years since plastic materials were conceived, these man-made materials have evolved into countless types for every possible use. Below is information on a few categories of plastic ...
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Engineering Tips: Choosing the Right Leveling Device
From: J. W. Winco, Inc.Description: Leveling devices are also known as leveling feet, leveling mounts, leveler bolts, antivibration pads, antivibration mounts, Level-It mounts, Level-It pads, machinery mounts, levelers, leveling ...
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Guide to Vibration-Proof Fasteners
From: J. W. Winco, Inc.Description: How do you insure the fasteners won't loosen in an application that is prone to vibration? Engineers frequently debate that question. Along with proper torque, common possible solutions boil down to ...
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Pros and Cons of Aluminum
From: J. W. Winco, Inc.Description: Aluminum is an excellent material for machine components, offering many beneficial characteristics. Let's review the advantages and disadvantages of this metal that affect it's appropriateness in ...
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Selecting the Correct Knob
From: J. W. Winco, Inc.Description: No machine component seems more elementary than a knob. But in fact, there are many possible configurations for this simple part, and choosing the right type is key to the optimal function of the ...
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Selecting the Right Hinge
From: J. W. Winco, Inc.Description: When you're building any sort of enclosure with access to its interior, hinges will be a concern. ...
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Stainless Steel Characteristics
From: J. W. Winco, Inc.Description: Engineers understand that there are many different types of stainless steels and they all have slightly different characteristics. Of course, a food industry application suggests using stainless ...
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Understanding Bearings
From: J. W. Winco, Inc.Description: Bearings can trace their origins back to the royal halls of ancient Egypt. The logs that were used to roll immense stone blocks for the pyramids were some of the earliest bearings. Bearings work ...
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5 Linear Bearing Mistakes You Don't Know You're Making
From: igus® inc.Description: I often hear about how a customer tried using plain bearings for a linear application, but experienced binding or irregular motion. With a little education, this is easy to avoid. ...
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Why Tension, NOT Torque?
From: Industrial IndicatorsDescription: Most fasteners are tightened using traditional methods such as manual torque wrenching, pneumatic impact wrenching, or automatic torque cutoff tools. These traditional methods have a well-known ...
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Advancements in Ball Bearings Used for Critical High Tech Applications
From: Thomson Industries Inc.Description: Balls are one of the oldest mechanical devices, being found in bearings used on Roman ships constructed around 40 A.D. Yet new designs, manufacturing techniques and applications are continually being ...
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4 Reasons To Use Environmentally Friendly Plastic Bushings
From: igus® inc.Description: Using dry-running plastic bushings can significantly decrease any negative effects on the environment. ...
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Proper Bearing Handling Can Help Prevent Bearing Failures
From: AST Bearings LLCDescription: This article explains how to properly handle bearings. Otherwise, it may lead to premature failure. ...
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The Proof is in the Plastic
From: igus® inc.Description: I'm sure you've heard the saying, "The proof is in the pudding." But when it comes to self-lubricating plastic bearings, the proof is definitely in the plastic. ...
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Aerostatic Bearings
Description: Aerostatic Bearings shares many of the advantages of the aerodynamic bearing. In addition, it supports all of its designed load at zero speed. This effect results from its principal disadvantage: it ...
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Introduction to Air Bearings
Description: Of the more important advantages which are offered by gas lubrication, the low viscosity of gases as compared with liquids can be exploited to special benefit. The extremely low static friction which ...
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Automotive Subassembly Engineers Face a Multitude of Challenges
From: Real Seal CompanyDescription: It used to be that automotive companies took ownership for all aspects of the finished vehicle... scores of engineers worked on the improvements and innovation that put American automotive companies ...
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Seals for High End Electronics - Not Your Run of the Mill Seal Application
From: Real Seal CompanyDescription: High end electronics pose a number of challenges that conventional seal applications do not. While most conventional seal applications focus on media compatibility, physical properties, and longevity, ...
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Factors to Consider When Choosing a Crossed Roller Bearing (.pdf)
Description: For the lack of the right bearing, the kingdom of ever-faster microprocessors might have been lost. But this story has a happy ending. Technical achievements in microprocessor manufacturing, ...
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How to Choose Fasteners that Maximize Assembly Life
From: SPIROLDescription: Fasteners are usually the smallest, least expensive components within an assembly. Even though fasteners usually hold the entire assembly together, they are often overlooked until the end of the ...
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How to Control Shim Tooling Costs
From: SPIROLDescription: Shim tooling costs are one of the quickest ways to drive a prototype or short-run production project over budget. SPIROL has several manufacturing methods that eliminate or greatly reduce tooling ...
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How to Maintain Joint Integrity When Converting from Metal to Plastic
From: SPIROLDescription: The weakest sections of many plastic part designs are the joints and assembly points. During screw assembly of mating components, the screw has to be tightened with sufficient torque to produce the ...
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How To Properly Mate Compression Limiters and Threaded Inserts in Plastic Assemblies
From: SPIROLDescription: In applications where the mating component is also plastic, a Compression Limiter is necessary to avoid the creep or stress relaxation in the mating component from reducing the frictional load in the ...
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3 Misconceptions About Thin-walled Bushings
From: igus® inc.Description: In most instances, when something is thicker, it's usually better - a thick, juicy piece of steak, especially thick socks to keep your feet warm on a cold day, or a shiny, thick coat of paint on a ...
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Oil-Free Bearings Withstand 43,200 Cycles 24/7
From: igus® inc.Description: It goes without saying that it's extremely important for a bearing to meet the high standards of cleanliness and hygiene demanded by the packaging industry. ...
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Modular bearing system for planetary Wind turbine gearboxes
From: NKE Austria GmbHDescription: Model shown at the NKE stand on the 2009 MDA trade fair in Hannover: Planetary bearing supports for a 1.5 MW wind turbine gearbox with one planetary gear stage. NKE AUSTRIA has developed a modular ...
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3 Ways to Avoid Failure When Mounting a Slewing Ring
From: igus® inc.Description: Slewing ring bearings are ideal for rotating and turntable-type applications. While understanding the design and performance capabilities of a slewing ring bearing is important, it is equally ...
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A Guide to Ball Bearing Materials
From: igus® inc.Description: Ball bearings can be used in a variety of applications, from medical and aerospace technology, to packaging equipment, electronics, office technology, and even high-end yo-yoâ s. Since these ...
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Hinge Optimization
From: EMKA IncorporatedDescription: Primary Function: To hold one edge of the door in place as the opposite edge swings open. Secondary Functions: To allow the door to open enough for easy access and so that an aisle is not blocked. To ...
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How to Install and Quality Test a Plain Bearing
From: igus® inc.Description: While it may seem simple in the scheme of a large project, the manner in which a bearing is installed and quality tested is essential to the success of any mechanical system. If the installation of ...
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Plastic Versus Steel Rod End Bearings
From: igus® inc.Description: Spherical rod end bearings are ideal for facilitating rotary and linear motion in a wide variety of applications from packaging and agricultural equipment, to medical and exercise machinery. However, ...
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Strength of Hinges
From: EMKA IncorporatedDescription: Not only door dimensions, orientation and position of the center of gravity, but also the position of the hinges and the tolerances of installing them can have a profound effect on the load carrying ...
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Wear Capabilities and Limits of Plain Bearings
From: igus® inc.Description: Previous installments of TechTalk have discussed how using plastic bearings can help reduce wear and how different types of shaft materials affect wear and bearing life. In this installment, Iâ ll be ...
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The True Cost of Bearing Lubrication
From: igus® inc.Description: Today, machine and equipment manufacturers are feeling more pressure than ever to reduce costs without sacrificing machine performance and this balancing act can be difficult to achieve. Original ...
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Working with Linear Bushings Pt 3: Length, Load, and Surface Treatment
From: MISUMI USADescription: Relationship of Bushing Length and Load Capacity: Longer bushing has more ball bearings, and the load on each ball bearing in contact will be smaller. This effect can be confirmed from the fact that ...
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Technology in Motion - Three Ways to Reduce Bottle Handling Costs (.pdf)
Description: Glass bottle manufacturers around the globe continue to explore every opportunity to improve production and reduce costly downtime. A key step in the quest for maximum production is the optimization ...
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Automotive Application story: Long Travel Lengths Make the Difference for Tractor Trailer Manufacturer (.pdf)
Description: Challenge: A tractor trailer manufacturer needed an actuator to pick and place large wall panels. Panels are large and relatively heavy, and the unit required a 24 foot travel. A contaminant concern ...
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Ball Bearing Cages, Retainers, Ball Separators
From: AST Bearings LLCDescription: The ball bearing cage (also known as a ball bearing retainer or ball separator -- these are used interchangeably), is the component in a ball bearing, that separates the balls, maintains the balls ...
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Ball Bearing Radial Play (Internal Clearance)
From: AST Bearings LLCDescription: At first glance, ball bearings are relatively simple mechanisms. However, an analysis of their internal geometries reveals that they are quite complex. For example, the ball to raceway conformity, the ...
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Bearing Closures - Bearing Seals and Bearing Shields
From: AST Bearings LLCDescription: Ball and roller bearings are available with different types of shields and seals. These are commonly referred to as closures. Closures can extend bearing life by preventing contaminants from reaching ...
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Bearing Lubrication - Types, Methods, and Shelf Life
From: AST Bearings LLCDescription: Lubrication plays a vital role in the performance and life of rolling element bearings. The most important task of the lubricant is to separate parts moving relative to one another (balls or rollers ...
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Bearing Materials - Ceramics, Chrome Steels, Stainless Steels, and Plastics
From: AST Bearings LLCDescription: The bearing industry uses different materials for the production of the various bearing components. The materials are processed to achieve desirable properties to maximize bearing performance and ...
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Bearing Tolerances and Precision Levels
From: AST Bearings LLCDescription: In the United States, the American Bearing Manufacturers Association (ABMA) maintains the standards deemed necessary by its bearing industry member companies. This includes revising existing, or ...
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Not All Thin-Section Bearings are Created Equal (.pdf)
From: KAYDON BearingsDescription: Kaydon has developed a new method for calculating the Dynamic Radial Load Rating for "Thin-Section" ball bearings. The new method uses the contact stress and the number of stress cycles per revolution ...
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Quieting Impact and Vibration (.pdf)
Description: Spring technology for dampening is relatively old. Stagecoaches had leaf springs, early trains had large, crude, coil-spring buffers (to absorb shocks when cars bumped together) and early automobiles ...
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Bearing All: Retaining Methods
From: MISUMI USADescription: Ball bearings need to be retained in three directions, radial, axial, and circumferential in relation to its housing and a shaft. The radial and circumferential direction retention is mainly based on ...
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Joining: Through Thick & Thin
Description: Self-pierce riveting (SPR) has been around for decades, so most are probably familiar with its basic premise. SPR is a cold joining process used to fasten two or more sheets of material by driving an ...
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No Holes, No Problem
Description: A truck manufacturer switched most of its cab designs from the traditional stick frame to a more "automotive" monocoque construction. This significantly increased the number of material combinations ...
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3 Tips for Choosing a Linear Slide Table
From: igus® inc.Description: Whether you want to design your own linear slide table system or buy one as a ready-made, off-the-shelf assembly, there are a wide variety of linear products available on the market today. Materials ...
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6 Reasons To Use Plastic Spherical Bearings
From: igus® inc.Description: When starting work on a new project that requires motion control, one of the most important considerations is what bearings to use. It's easy to fall back on what you've been using for years instead ...
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Choosing the Right Bearing Shaft Material
From: igus® inc.Description: Reducing costs is an important factor for many companies. The ability to use low-cost shafting heavily depends on the bearings chosen to run on it. For example, ball bearings require very hard (60HRC ...
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Delegate to igus®
From: igus® inc.Description: Yes, 2010 has arrived and with it the cold weather. For some of us, this also means snow. The snow isn't for everyone but, personally, I'm always thrilled, since I love to ski. When I ski, I like to ...
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How to Increase Speeds and Accelerations Using Plastic Bearings
From: igus® inc.Description: A few years ago, we replaced ball bearings on the welding jaw of a vertical-form-fill-seal machine, which enabled it to pack more bags of product per hour, translating into an impressive 20% increase ...
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How to Lower Driving Force and Friction with Hybrid Bearings
From: igus® inc.Description: During my ten years at igus®, I've encountered a number of customers who wanted to use our DryLin® linear bearings for manual applications, but sometimes due to heavy loads or the ...
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The 2:1 Rule and How to Define Fixed and Floating Bearings
From: igus® inc.Description: When using DryLin®, it is important to ensure that all acting forces follow the 2:1 rule. In a nutshell, if either the drive force (Fa) or applied load force (Fs) are a greater distance than ...
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The 5 Major Benefits of Plastic Bearings
From: igus® inc.Description: Some engineers hesitate to use plastic bearings in their designs. Maybe they have trusted metal and bronze bearings for years or they simply don't think plastics can handle the tough applications or ...
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The Science Behind Triboplastic Bearings
From: igus® inc.Description: During my recent travels, I revisited a customer who, just a few years before, was set against using plastic bearings. He knew he could save a lot of money by making the switch, but couldn't be ...
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Principles of Ballscrew Repair
From: KURODA JENATEC, Inc.Description: What exactly does happen to a ballscrew when it fails and what are the principles and procedures to repair a ballscrew from a company such as Jena Tec? The most frequent cause of failure of a ...
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Intro to Plastic Valves: Seals
Description: An O-ring is a round elastomeric ring. O-rings are ideally suited to be a compressed, static seal between non moving parts. O-rings can be used as a face seal on a valve, and used on rotating shafts. ...
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Ball Screws and Lead Screws - The Real World Difference (.pdf)
From: Thomson Industries Inc.Description: Machine Builder Question> -- "Ballscrews and leadscrews often are not interchangable, and there's always a trade-off between precision, rigidity and load capacity. I'm also told that specs don't ...
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Design Engineer's Guide - Selecting a Lubricant for Ball Screws (.pdf)
From: Thomson Industries Inc.Description: Many parameters must be considered when designing or selecting a ball screw assembly. Operating load, speed, accuracy, environment, and power requirements all play major roles in the design criteria. ...
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Bolt 'N' Go: Flight Installation and Chain Assembly Made Easy! (.pdf)
From: 4B Components, Ltd.Description: Traditional chain systems use pins and circlips. The disadvantage of this type of system, is that during any maintenance repairs on the chain, the whole chain would have to be lifted out of the ...
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How to Detect Slack or Broken Chain (.pdf)
From: 4B Components, Ltd.Description: The 4B high power WDA reluctance sensor will detect a moving ferrous object up to 4" away. It is not affected by dust or material build up. It can be used as a slack/broken chain detector when ...
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Sealed Right, Sealed Tight (.pdf)
From: Daemar Inc.Description: Improper seal installation is one of the leading causes of subsequent seal failure. However by following a few key steps this leading cause of seal failure can be dramatically reduced. ...