Press

Within the scope of the 30 year iglidur anniversary, the tribo polymer specialist from Cologne sends a mini car on tour

Cologne/Düsseldorf, 16th of October – On the plastics fair K, the first polymer plain bearing from igus, under the name of “iglidur”, was presented to the public 30 years ago. Today, dry running iglidur plain bearings are worldwide moving millions of applications. With “iglidur on tour”, igus celebrates the anniversary at this year’s K: A small car with plastic chassis will be equipped with iglidur components and sent on a journey through the world. With this action, igus not only demonstrates worldwide and manifold application of its polymer bearings, but also the efficiency of iglidur.

The history of iglidur plain bearings describes 30 years of plastic technology – from the simple plastic bushing to the high-tech machine element. The efficiency of iglidur polymer bearings, is best demonstrated in action as for example in the numerous applications within the frame of the manus award. Every second iglidur plain bearing from igus is thereby used in cars.

iglidur – a material that moves
On the occasion of the 30-year anniversary of iglidur, igus fills a small car with igus components and sends the car on a world tour. The start will be on this years K in Düsseldorf. In the coming weeks, the plain bearings in the car will be replaced with iglidur plastic plain bearings. The car then goes on a great trip, drives from country to country, it will be shipped over the oceans and flown over continents, before it reaches its goal in autumn 2014. It stops along the way – at subsidiaries, partners, manus award winners and customers. The iglidur car connects igus worldwide.

High performance polymers for automotive applications
Due to the specific features, the use of lubrication-free plain bearings is optimal for automotive applications like no other material: iglidur plain bearings are particularly wear-resistant due to the tribologically optimized plastic compound and withstand high stresses. Such features support long service life of the vehicle components. The automotive branch has realised the igus motto “plastics for longer life” at an early stage. Last year alone 200 million plain bearings from igus were installed in cars. Specific features such as media resistance, pressure resistance and attenuation make iglidur plain bearings especially suitable for the use in chassis, engine compartment and gearbox. For door hinges and in kinematics, iglidur is also most suitable because of being corrosion-free, self-lubricating and silent. Due to its low weight, plastic bearings contribute to lightweight construction. This reduces fuel consumption and protects the environment. Apart from that, they are cost-effective and offer economic solutions for mass production series.

Press photos
(2 MB) Text body
(74 KB) PDF preview
(92 KB)