A new line of Igus polymer carriages for curved rails are injection-molded from regranulated high-performance plastic and injection-molding production waste, including sprue and defective parts. These sustainable additions to the Igus drylin econ series make adjustment and positioning tasks simple and cost less than their milled aluminum counterparts.

“Recycling keeps the plastic from being burned,” said Igus product manager Michael Hornung. “Instead, we regranulate it and feed it into the resource-saving, environmentally friendly circular economy.

Source: igus

Equipped with movable bearings, the carriages can easily handle cornering on curved aluminum rails. Maintenance is minimized by the incorporation of microscopic solid lubricants into the high-performance plastic of the bushings over which the carriage moves on the rail. Unlike classic rolling bearings, they allow dry operation with no additional lubrication work.

The drylin econ devices allow movement around bends, and both straight and curved versions of the anodized aluminum linear rails are available to support convex and concave curved guides and movement in quarter, half and full circles. The polymer bearings for the carriage for curved rail adapt to the rail geometry with moving spherical balls.