Support rail unit-Design News Staff igus' New Hybrid Linear Bearing Combines Rolling and Sliding

        The word ‘hybrid’ is used in engineering to describe a system where two Support rail unit technologies are combined together. igus® has now achieved this with a completely new type of cost-effective Linear rail hybrid linear bearing that both rolls and slides.The new hybrid bearing, DryLin® WJRM, was developed with the goal of reducing driving force, Linear ball bearing especially in applications involving the manual adjustment of machine-guard doors, partitions and adjustable locks, or for light handling tasks. For this purpose, igus took the advantages unique to sliding and rolling movements and combined them.

        A self-lubricating plastic, sliding sleeve bearing ensures the hybrid linear system is robust, dirt and moisture resistant, lightweight and low cost. Meanwhile, a maintenance-free polymer roller brings ease of use to applications where heavy machine doors up to 110 lb have to be adjusted manually. The required driving force is reduced by a factor of four to five due to this roller bearing, which carries the main load. This makes manual operation much easier.

        The new hybrid bearing is the latest extension to the tried-and-trusted DryLin W linear guide range from igus. The extremely compact system was modeled by igus’ design engineers in such a way that the rollers fit inside the linear profile without increasing height, which remains at a low profile 0.71 inches (18 mm). Standard linear guide profiles can be used, which are available in three styles for shaft diameters of 0.39 (10 mm): as individual rails for more flexibility and as double rails for fast installation without time-consuming alignment. The latter comes with a distance between rails of 1.57 inches (40 mm) or 3.15 inches (80 mm). The hybrid bearing housing is made from blue-chromed die-cast zinc.