In the plants of the food and packaging industry, metal detectors are now an industry standard. They detect any metallic conductive particles derived from the production environment. Subsequently, the products can be sorted out as soon as possible. But how can plastic particles be traced? That was the question that developers at Cologne-based motion plastics specialist igus asked themselves. The solution was finally the development of a special high-performance plastic, which can easily be traced with standard metal detection methods. The material is used today in selected products in the igubal series, which includes rod end bearings and clevis joints, flange bearings, spherical bearings and pillow block bearings. Both the housing and the spherical balls are made of the detectable plastic. This characteristic is sought after in other areas of bearing technology. For example, xiros M180 is a lightweight polymer ball bearing, whose material is also detectable.
Material finds use in:
- rod end bearings and clevis joints
- flange bearings
- spherical bearings
- pillow block bearings
