Lubrication-free and maintenance-free linear technology in a highly sterile filling system

Profile

• What was needed: drylin R shaft guides and liners
• Requirements: The high flexibility of the system for filling a wide variety of bottles also required flexible machine components that work completely sterile and without lubrication.
• Industry: Filling plants, pharmaceutical industry
• Success for the customer: The bearing housings are small, require no protection or sealing and are completely lubrication-free and maintenance-free. This not only saves the user time and money, but thanks to the online service life calculator, the life expectancy of the bearing technology can be precisely determined, taking into account speeds and loads.

Problem

This automatic production line is used to fill medicines and screw on closures. The system is designed for filling medicines of any density at a speed of 1.5 to 12 seconds per product unit, products with volumes of 5 to 1000ml and bottles of any shape. This filling system is also used for pipettes and atomisers as well as all types of closures available on the market.
The task here was to find a solution for the various linear travels in the filling process that would allow the system to be highly flexible and at the same time fulfil the high sterility requirements in the pharmaceutical industry. Because the absolute top priority for every drug manufacturer is the quality and safety of the drug.

Solution

The customer's requirements presented the KOMODUS engineers with major challenges. With the very strict sterility requirements and the demands on the versatility of the line, the use of drylin R linear bearing technology using drylin R liners made of the material iglidur X (XUM-01-40, XUMO-01-20, XUM-01-25) represented an optimal solution for most of the problems and restrictions. The bearing housings are small, require no protection or sealing and are completely lubrication-free and maintenance-free. This saves the user time and money in the long term.
Thanks to the online service life calculator, the customer was able to precisely determine the life expectancy of the bearings, taking into account speeds and loads during operation. By using iglidur X, the purchaser can be granted a guarantee of 24 months with 3-shift operation.