igus® xiros® rollers – a revolution for packaging machines

14 December 2015

Plastic bearing specialist igus® has developed a system for guide and transport rollers used in the labelling, packaging and food industries that helps OEMs build machines that adhere to some of the most strict regulations and cope with extremely harsh environments when deployed on the factory floor.

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The xiros® rollers consist of an anodised aluminium tube and two xiros® ball bearings, which are lightweight, low friction and cost-effective in comparison with their metal counterparts. They also run without the need for lubricants, which may damage, discolour or deteriorate the integrity of the material or film during the processing.

“In a thermoforming machine for coffee creamer packages, for example, the customer originally used ball bearings, which were built into the sterile area and used in the rollers, where the thermoforming and sealing films are guided,” said Dean Aylott, xiros® product manager, igus®. “During the process, these films pass through an H2O2 bath, which degraded the steel bearings resulting in failures. xiros® A500 polymer ball bearings were used as a replacement due to their high resistance to such chemicals.”

Tuned to the specific needs of the packaging industry, such as food hygiene or FDA compliance, igus® xiros® B180 ball bearings provide FDA-compliant, self-lubricating and maintenance-free machine elements that help optimise machine design. Also available for the food industry are xiros® ball bearings that are made of detectable magnetic materials, so that they can be found quickly and easily in the event of a system failure.

Using the igus® online xiros® configurator (www.igus.co.uk/xiros), users can assemble their own individual solution in just three simple steps. First, the desired inner diameter is selected - 8, 10, 12, 15, or 17mm; next, the appropriate outer diameter is added, either 30 or 38mm. Finally, the required length of the aluminium tube is specified, which can be anything between 25 and 1500mm. After defining the three parameters, the item is added to the shopping cart and can be ordered online for prompt delivery.