An improved anti-creeping system that counteracts troublesome cage creep in precision rail guides ensures higher precision, system rigidity and reliability

SKF Linearsysteme has revised its Anti-Creeping-System (ACS), which counteracts troublesome cage creep. The new version ensures higher precision and system rigidity at the same time improving operating characteristics and reliability. The internal geometry of the constraining guide for the cage has been optimised.
The entrainment of the cage elements is provided by an involute gear and a straight tooth gear fit with high vertical coverage.

Also new is the use of corrosion resistant steel.

Since the introduction of the patented ACS, SKF Linearsysteme has been repeatedly asked for precision rails with constraining cage guides.
Larger production batches have not only opened new possibilities in the production logistics, it also led to a new examination of the basic construction of the ACS-Precision Rail Guide.

With the previous construction, there was always a groove between both tracks.

With the new version ACSM, the constraining guide for the cage is directly integrated between both tracks so that there is sufficient room for a reliable module gearing.

In using this development there is no weakening of the track prism and it considerably increases the rigidity in the rail-bearing-rail system.

The involute gear ensures the entrainment of the cage, provides a faultless, clean and low friction run over the complete life cycle of the precision rail.

The present test results in respect of the dynamic values speak for themselves.

These tests showed that over 20 million cycles, with an acceleration of 16G and a maximum speed of 3.2m/s produced no failure or recognisable traces of abrasion.

The tests were carried out with a decentralised mounted mass and a dissimilar preliminarily rail tension.

Without the use of a constraining guide the loading would undoubtedly have led to the cage creeping away from the load zone.

Also new is the use of corrosion resistant steel, which now allows the precision rails to be used in problematical industrial processes such as in vacuum technology, the food industry, the chemical industry and in medical technology.

A belt-driven, compact linear guideway only has to be fitted with a motor to move light loads with high acceleration and speed

R A Rodriguez said that its compact TMT Power-Line linear guideway T100 couldn’t be simpler to assemble. Just fit a motor and the product can then be used to move light loads with high acceleration and speed. The self-supporting structure of the rail and its factory applied M6 mounting holes enable quick, easy and economic installation, said the company.
This belt-driven, four lubricated wheel design can accommodate direct loads of up to 400N and side loads of 1080N.

Maximum stroke from the single piece construction is up to 7000mm.

It is suitable for speeds up to 4.5m/s and typical positioning accuracy is +/-0.1mm.

The concentric bearing arrangement of the design allows easy adjustment of pre-load.

Virtually silent in operation this addition to the R A Rodriguez linear motion range is also maintenance-free.

The motor/geared motor can be mounted directly to the guideway or via a coupling, said the company.

R A Rodriguez told manufacturingtalk that the Power-Line linear guideway T100 is the product of TMT, a company that specialises in the design and manufacture of robust rail profiles for automotive lift-and-carry transfer lines.

Its Speedy Rail system is widely used by the world’s leading car manufacturers.

Plain bearings are designed to meet the highest performance requirements in automotive and industrial applications and offer low wear sliding characteristics and high load carrying capacities

This year, the Schaeffler Group is celebrating the 25th Anniversary of its range of plain bearings, designed to meet the highest performance requirements in automotive and industrial applications. Permaglide plain bearings offer low wear sliding characteristics, high load carrying capacities and heat dissipation properties that are normally associated with metals.
The bearings are maintenance-free and so are ideal for special automotive and general industrial applications.

Permaglide bearings have a porous bronze-sintered structure, applied to a steel or bronze backing, impregnated with the appropriate polymer-mix.

This solid lubricant produces a film between the sliding surfaces, which provides low-noise operation at constant speeds and low coefficients of friction throughout the entire service life of the bearing.

The bearings are a low cost alternative for applications with comparatively low surface loads and where space is restricted.

The bearings are available in the form of bushes, flanged bushes, thrust washers and strips.
Custom-designed versions are also possible, including blanked parts; ball cups; bearing shells; bushes with windows and holes; and bushes with stamped oil grooves.

Bush outside diameters are possible from 3mm up to 305mm (in special cases up to 800mm); strip widths up to 250mm; and wall thicknesses from 0.5mm up to 3.06mm.

Permaglide linear plain bearings (PAB) consist of Permaglide bushes pressed into an outer ring.

The ‘PABO’ design has a segment cut out of the bearing for use with supported shafts.

Alternatively, Permaglide linear plain bearing units PAGH and PAGBA consist of a Permaglide linear plain bearing (PAB or PABO) pressed into a housing.

For the automotive industry, Schaeffler now offers lead-free Permaglide bearings.

Article 4 of the ‘End of Life Vehicle Directive’ stipulates that from July 2008, manufacturers of new vehicles will no longer be permitted to use certain materials (including lead) in car components.

For this reason, Schaeffler offers a lead-free Permaglide P14 and P141 (with zinc-sulphide) bearings.

P14 is designed for dry-running applications, but can also be used in mixed-friction and hydrodynamic applications.

These plain bearings have a running-in layer made from PTFE and zinc sulphide, plus a sliding layer comprising a porous bronze layer filled with PTFE, on a steel backing with a very thin protective layer of tin.

P141 is similar in structure to P14 but is intended for oil-lubricated applications, although the bearings can also be used dry.

The running-in layer this time consists of PTFE and zinc sulphide with special wear-inhibiting additives.

Said to be ideal for utility and crane applications, sealed plastic ignition switches are constructed of durable, engineering grade plastics and sealed to IP-67

Leading manufacturer of heavy-duty electrical and electronic products for the vehicle industry, Cole Hersee Company, has introduced sealed plastics ignition switches. Cole Hersee said that the switches are constructed of durable, engineering grade plastics and are ideal for utility and crane applications.
Cole Hersee’s fully-sealed plastics ignition switches are available in a variety of configurations to meet all customers’ needs, including anti-restart.

The switches have an integral Deutsch connector, and the contacts are sealed to IP-67.

Available with or without a key boot, Cole Hersee’s plastics ignition switches are rated at 10A at 12V DC, 5A at 24V DC and are tested to SAE J259 for ignition switches.

* About Cole Hersee - since its founding in 1924, Cole Hersee has been a pioneer and leader in the development of heavy-duty electrical products for the vehicle industry and has earned a reputation for quality and value.

Cole Hersee collaborated on many basic industry standards and today is a preferred supplier of over 2,000 dependable vehicle products and accessories.

Cole Hersee products are available as standard or custom designed products to meet customer needs.

Carbon/graphite Babbit impregnated bearing materials are designed to operate in difficult environments up to 350 deg F, where conventional lubricating methods cannot be used

A manufacturer of oil-free, self-lubricating materials, Metallized Carbon Corporation, offers Metcar grades M-161 and M-162 mechanical materials for running at elevated temperatures. These novel carbon/graphite Babbit impregnated materials are designed to operate in difficult environments where conventional lubricating methods cannot be used.
This proprietary Babbit impregnation provides excellent wear resistance and enhanced lubrication for bearings and thrust washers for submerged and dry environments.

Operating at temperatures up to 350 deg F these materials are unrivaled for lubricating in submerged low viscosity fluids such as water and fuels.

For dry environments they provide excellent oil-free lubrication at high temperatures.

These Metcar grades are typically used for moderate loads at medium and high speeds.

Designed to provide maximum lubrication, bearings manufactured from these materials are low in friction and will not score the mating shaft.

* High compressive strength - bearings manufactured from Metcar materials are self-lubricating, non-galling, dimensionally stable and have high compressive strength.

Boasting excellent lubricating qualities and long life, these materials are completely homogenous and provide continuous lubrication for their service life, making them an excellent candidate for bearings, bearing assemblies and mechanical components for operating at elevated temperatures.

* About Metallized Carbon Corporation - since its inception in 1945, Metallized Carbon Corporation has been manufacturing high-quality, dependable bearing solutions for severe service environments.

With over 60 years of application engineering experience, Metallized Carbon offers the field expertise and data necessary to provide the solid choice for lubrication in a wide variety of industries, supplying completely machined components as well as materials for customer machining.

Metallized Carbon is ISO certified and produces the Metcar brand of solid, oil-free, self-lubricating materials.

By minimizing labor-intensive processes, MEGAHAMMER(TM) facilitates removal of seized bearing assemblies and associated components from vehicle chassis for maintenance and repair jobs. Product eliminates potential for vehicle damage and can be used for rotor replacement, hub and bearing work, as well as axle and ball joint service on 3/4 and one-ton US-made pickup trucks with 4, 6, or 8 bolt patterns. Optional 5- and 8-bolt heads are available.

Wixom, MI (March 20, 2007) — K-Tool International (KTI) is proud to launch the MEGAHAMMER(TM), a unique tool designed specifically to remove seized bearing assemblies and associated components from a vehicle chassis for their maintenance and repair.

Traditionally a time-consuming, unpleasant and grueling task, the MEGAHAMMER’s patented design can feasibly cut repair time in half by employing a less labor-intensive process. The MEGAHAMMER is easy to use and eliminates the potential for vehicle damage, a common occurrence when using traditional methods to remove seized bearing assemblies.

The MEGAHAMMER can be used for rotor replacement, hub and bearing work, and axle and ball joint service on three-quarter- and one-ton U.S.-made pickup trucks with four, six or eight bolt patterns. Optional five- and eight-bolt heads are available

A lack of lube causes the excavator’s upperstructure to rotate at a snail’s pace or erratically.

Two grease fittings that lubricate the structure’s swing bearing are located directly under the access cover for the boom’s hydraulic hoses. Needless to say, they get overlooked!

Grab your grease gun and put some “swing” back into the swing bearing by following these steps on Page 15-1 of TM 5-3805-280-10.

* Park the excavator on level ground.

* Lower the bucket to the ground.

* Turn the idle switch off.

* Run the engine so the rpms are one third the way up the rpm gauge, without a load, for two  Lower the rpms to the slow idle position.

* Turn the key switch to OFF, then remove the key.

* Attach a Do Not Operate tag on the right control lever inside the cab.

* Pull the pilot control shut-off lever to the locked position.

* During scheduled services, give the fittings ten shots of grease each.

* Start the engine. Raise the excavator’s bucket several inches off the ground. Turn the upper-structure 45 degrees.

One hundred eighty million years ago, a small, hairy animal resembling a shrew or a vole evolved a new way to care for her developing offspring. Instead of laying eggs and incubating them in an uncertain outside world, she retained her embryos and allowed them to develop inside her body. Her evolutionary invention earns her the name ancestral therian, the common ancestor of all placental and marsupial mammals Her innovation ranks with such evolutionary breakthroughs as the development of feathers in dinosaurs and the emergence of aquatic animals onto the land.

The ancestral therian is generally thought to have descended from a creature that had evolved the ability to delay laying her eggs. This still earlier animal could retain her developing eggs in her oviducts, while she chose the best time and place to lay them. The initial advantages of the added internal incubation would have been substantial. The mother would have had more time to find a suitable nest site. Her offspring would have gained a major protective advantage against drastic weather changes and other instabilities. And internal embryonic development would have freed the mother from most of the restrictions of sitting on the nest.

The Timken Co. has published a new, 1,300-page catalog to help OEMs, end users, and distributors select the right bearing for the right application.

Available in print and electronic formats (on CD and online), it includes more than 250 product types. The electronic catalog is completely indexed and searchable, and the CD version allows users to print a specified range of pages or an entire section. (330) 438-3000; Website: www.timken.com/catalogs.

WE like to think that the stem-cell controversy will, some time before mankind’s end, give us definitions we can act thoughtfully upon. We need not only verbal definitions but moral perspectives. These are thought to be static, but are not. Probably Harry Truman would not today drop a nuclear bomb on Pyongyang, though doing so might have got him a runaway reelection the next day. Matthew Scully, in his book, Dominion, has reopened the moral question of animal (mis)treatment. Ever the descendants of the Vikings, Scandinavian explorers are pressing new definitions of acceptable voluntary death.

In the matter of stem cells, we are asked to focus on two completely different things. There are the so-called adult stem cells, which derive from cells that would never develop into a human being. To take such stem cells and do nuclear transfer research is okay. Nobody is arguing that what you are doing is snuffing out a human life.

By contrast, embryonic stem cells harbor life unborn, so that to take these and experiment with them is seen as experimentation with human beings. The ideal is to authorize the first kind of stem-cell research but to forbid the second–or, at least, to restrain it.

Now here is where confusion begins.

President Bush had said that we must not encourage the termination of life even for the sake of saving life. The premise of his line of reasoning is that to destroy an embryo in order to extract its stem cells is the equivalent of abortion