A new black-coloured guide roller with smooth-running polymer ball bearings has been designed, manufactured and tested by igus following a customer request. The product, which uses black anodised aluminium tubes, is the latest in the xiros film guide roller range offered by the Northampton-based company and is widely used in the fields of packaging and food technology. Matthew Aldridge, Managing Director of igus UK, says: "The idea for this new design was put forward, prototypes were designed and after extensive testing, the results were positive and showed nothing detrimental in comparison to the original clear anodised aluminium roller. So a new product was born".
The original idea for the black design arose from a customer enquiry and the technical specifications of the classic igus aluminium rollers were already convincing, but for this application and for this customer, black visible parts were desired for a labelling machine. "This soon resulted in a product that met the customer's requirements - not just in terms of technology but also in price and appearance. The new black roller, since it does not reflect light, has the added benefit of working smoothly with vision systems" Matthew Aldridge observes.
Fully assembled, the xiros standard roller systems include a tube made of aluminium, carbon or PVC, which is then fitted with xiros bearings. These xiros polymer ball bearings are lubrication-free, maintenance-free, hygienic and have a low breakaway torque. The complete system acts as a guide roller for deflecting films and labels or for conveying goods. By using wear-resistant high-performance polymers and thin-walled tubes, they provide a weight saving of up to 48 per cent compared with metallic solutions, and with a mass inertia that is 42 per cent lower, the energy required for acceleration is also considerably lower which, amongst other benefits, means the rollers can reach the conveyor speed faster.
Machine builders can discover what specification is needed by going online and specifying the OD and ID required, the length of the roller and the load, speed, and ambient temperature for the application. Users will also need to enter the acting force together with the degree of wrap around and the online igus calculator will then suggest appropriate tube materials. In a second step, machine builders can stay online at the site and select the guide roller based on the deflection, weight, and price data to download the configuration CAD data and order the xiros rollers directly online.
Learn more about the xiros film guide roller range at www.igus.co.uk.