About Plastic Bearings
Many engineers, designers and purchasers typically think of steel when choosing bearings. However, steel bearings have significant disadvantages in terms of weight, friction, noise and corrosion. Thermoplastics on the other hand, can withstand corrosive environments, are lightweight, non-magnetic, chemically and thermally resistant to name but a few qualities. They can also be moulded to any shape to generate design, production and even budget benefits.
Our unique injection-moulding process significantly increases the wear resistance and achievable life of our plastic bearings against the competiton. The process forms a layer around the bearing which has proved to be extremely resistant to fatigue induced wear. Machined bearings remove this layer when they are manufactured, making them more prone to wear.
This is why BNL’s plastic bearings are used by so many OEMs in so many applications.
BNL’s plastic bearings...
Reduce Component Costs through Integration
BNL provide added-value bearing solutions by integrating components and functions into one moulded, plastic bearing solution. With the bearing function as the central feature, we combine a variety of other components into the design, reducing the whole system cost.
Provide Design Flexibility
Injection-moulding techniques make it possible for the bearing function to be combined with other features such as shafts, tyres, cips and brackets, broadening design possibilities.
Reduce Weight
Even our plastic bearings which use the heavier types of thermoplastics (at 1420 kg/m³) are approximately twenty percent of the density of steel (7750 kg/m³). By integrating components we can further reduce weight and heavier metal parts providing a lightweight, compact bearing solution.
Reduce Assembly Steps & Maintenance
By reducing components in the bearing design, we can simplify assemby via fewer parts and integrated clips and fixings instead of heavy and time consuming bolts and screws, which also provide quick and easy access in for maintenance processes.
Provide Energy Efficiencies
BNL's low friction, lightweight bearings and bearing assemblies need less energy at start-up and in operation, lowering energy costs and motor specifications.
Are Low in Torque
Plastic bearings have an inertial torque that is less than 10% of metal bearings and do not require lubrication which can contribute to inertia and tight tolerances in metal designs. Plastic bearings can be designed to achieve torque levels of as low as 0.041Nmm (compared with a similar metal alternative of 0.235Nmm).
Operate Without Lubrication
Our bearings do not need lubrication and thermoplastics are inherently lubricated, eliminating the possibility of mess and contamination by leaching lubricants.
Withstand Corrosion and Harsh Chemical Environments
The performance of our bearnigs is not diminished by frequent wash-downs or exposure to chemicals, giving them excellent wear resistance, even in harsh environments.
Are Non-Magnetic
Our plastic bearings can be designed with glass or ceramic balls and are ideally suited to applications where magnetic resonance is used, such as ATMs and X-ray machines.
More information is available in our White Paper, The Case for Plastic Bearings.
For more information on our plastic bearing capabilities please see our expertise section.
Our plastic bearings have proved to be a successful solution for many different applications, more details of these diverse applications are available in our plastic bearing applications section.
