Polymer bearings exhibit a range of unique properties, making them ideal for a number of end-applications.
Polymer Bearings come in various shapes and sizes and can be either machined from a drawing or reverse engineered from an existing part.
Flange bearings - Flange bearings are designed to handle both axial and radial loads. In some designs the flange is also used as a locating mechanism to hold the sleeve in place.
Flange bearings can be machined either from stock rods or moulded. Polymer grades used would include PTFE (usually with a glass or bronze filling), PEEK (virgin or carbon filled), PPS (usually with a glass filling), and POM.
Flange bearings require a little more machining to the housing but can solve the unique load conditions of a shaft and some type of thrust surface.
Mounted bearings - Mounted bearings are machined with a double flange in order to sit within a pillow block. These bearings can be fabricated using several different plastic bearing materials to improve wear and reduce or eliminate lubrication.
Thrust bearings - Put simply, thrust bearings are washers made from any number of materials such as PTFE, PEEK, PPS, POM, Nylons, or Polyimides. They are generally thin, easy to install and prevent metal on metal contact in any thrust load conditions. They are easy to use and do not require lubrication of any kind in most conditions.
Although the design is simple, there is a need to machine the part so that the surfaces are perfectly parallel. This is where Poly Fluoro Ltd. excels.
Sleeve bearings - These are the most common bearings, with a simple ID, OD, and length. However, as with the washers, care needs to be taken to ensure the tolerances are tight. Where most manufacturers would only offer a 100 Micron tolerance on linear dimensions, Poly Fluoro Ltd. is able to go down to as low as 10 Microns in some cases.
The bearings are designed to carry linear, oscillating, or rotating shafts. The key to successfully designing a plastic sleeve bearing is paying attention to temperature, P, V and PV ratings for the material and match it with your application.
Spherical bearings - Spherical bearings are designed to allow for shaft misalignment, as they can rotate in two directions. Spherical bearings typically support a rotating shaft in the bore that calls for both rotational and angular movement.
Using self-lubricating polymers with very low static coefficients of friction, Poly Fluoro Ltd. is able to ensure that even minor variations in alignment are immediately accommodated by the bearing to allow for non-stop performance.