High speed rotating face cams machined from Intech Power-Core™ material outlast steel, reduce inertia, absorb shock and vibration, do not require lubrication.

Exact steerage requires dimensionally stable cam tracks with narrow tolerances. Our cams are precision machined from solid blocks of cast Intech Power-Core™ material, offering a longer lasting solution than stainless steel.

In high speed machines Intech Power-Core™ cams exhibit damping behavior which leads to reduced stress peaks. Additionally the high performance plastic cam offers exceptional resistance to wear with limited or no lubrication, which is critical to avoid contamination.

The face cam converts circular motion to linear motion or vice versa, typically it is a disc with a groove cut in its face, in which a cam follower travels. The attached image shows such a cam used in a tableting machine.

In this case the customer required self-lubricating material performance and had experienced constant stress problems using cams machined from plastic materials with low levels of crystallinity, such as Delrin®. However they found that Power-Core™ material, with higher crystallinity levels, can be used to produce a more stable cam that does not suffer stress peaks.

Industries in which our cams have been used include packaging, food processing, printing, as well as stitching machines and other general engineering applications.

Face Cam precision machined from cast Intech Power-Core™ material reduce inertia, absorb shock and vibration.

Fine crystalline structure absorbs energy and reduces noise in high speed Power-Core™ roller.

A special design by Intech’s engineering staff, using a composite tire material, a tested method of manufacturing and assembly, all contribute to the exceptionally quiet performance of Intech Power-Core™ rollers.

Intech Power-Core™ rollers

The design marries a precision roller or ball bearing with an Intech Power-Core composite tire. The quiet roller ride can be attributed to the tire material with its tension-free, homogeneously crystalline structure, achieved through a unique casting process. This fine crystalline structure exhibits excellent energy absorbing properties while resisting flat development under load, while the Power-Core tire also protects the metal rail against wear.

Tires are precision-machined, and then heated in an oven to 250° to 300° F before the bearing is pressed in through a specially designed snap-in lip. After cooling, the tire is effectively shrunk onto the bearing. The precision-machined tire, with OD tolerance within 0.0001”, has excellent roundness contributing to the smooth and quiet ride.

The expected life of the roller in number of roll-overs, and flat-free time under load, are determined with a calculation and data developed by a leading university.

Composite Worm Gears Increase Efficiency and Wear Life in Tough Applications

Intech engineers are frequently asked for help to determine worm gear size, design parameters and to make wear-life projections using our proprietary gear calculations. As a result of these calculations, Intech Power-Core™ composite worm gears are chosen to replace industry-standard bronze gears in demanding operations to increase transmission efficiency with quieter, longer-wearing performance.

Intech Power-Core Worm Gears

Power-Core material does not require special grade oil or frequent oil changes and the composite material does not generate abrasive particles which become suspended in the oil as a contaminant that contributes to wear. The tough, self-lubricating properties of the composite gear material enable Intech Power-Core worm drives to consistently outlast conventional bronze worm gears.

We completed a 1,000 hour test that compared gear performance between the Intech Power-Core gear and a case-hardened ground steel worm gear, and the results confirmed the capacity of Power-Core material to absorb shock load and vibrations. Test data showed an average noise reduction of 6 dB, with up to an 8% increase in gear transmission efficiency and no wear was detected on the 6.5 PD Power-Core worm gear.

In applications such as conveyors for glass washing or light load semi-conductor manufacturing machinery, the Intech Power-Core worm gears run with only light grease lubrication, or completely dry. Even in high torque applications that result in friction, the self-lubricating Power-Core worm gear can run for extended periods without lubrication.

The mating worm shaft can be made of conventional materials utilizing standard manufacturing methods. The low-maintenance Power-Core composite worm gears use readily available machine oil to lubricate the gear box, instead of more expensive specialized synthetic oil that is usually recommended for bronze worm gears.

Happy Holidays from Intech Corporation

Thank you for your interest in our company. We wish you a peaceful holiday and a prosperous year in 2010.

Happy Holidays

Effects of Moisture on the Tensile Strength of Nylon

Continuing the theme of our last blog entry, moisture absorption is also a factor in determining the tensile strength of nylon, as shown by this chart:

Moisture Absorption vs Tensile Strength

You can learn more by reading a complete article on this topic that appeared in Machine Design at: http://www.intechpower.com/Machine%20Design%20Nylon%20Article.pdf

Moisture Absorption Causes Swelling in Nylon (Polyamides)

Moisture absorption is a key factor to consider during nylon material selection. Design engineers need to take account of the application and tolerances because, machined component dimensions for a particular nylon grade will change if they were originally designed for a dry environment but are then used in a humid location. Moisture is absorbed by the part, and at some point when it reaches equilibrium, swelling can occur, and the fact that the dimensions of the part are subsequently altered increases the likelihood of premature part failure.

Injection molding, extrusion, and casting can all be used to form nylon, and the process used will influence material properties. In the case of injection molding, nylon is subjected to high compression and decompression within a short period of time. Correct mold design, timing, and precise pressure control are vital, and accurate thermal history for the part when both inside and outside of the mold should be maintained.

If water is present where extrusion is used in forming a part, severe problems can result. Therefore, moisture content and cooling rates should be monitored rigorously as they will both influence the physical properties of the extrusion.

Extruded rods or slabs can also be susceptible to shrinkage voids that are caused while the inside is in a molten state but the exterior surface begins to solidify. While the interior cools and shrinks under thermal contraction and crystallization, a void forms as the exterior no longer contracts. One solution is for extruders to use controlled water or vacuum quenching to cool formed parts. Note that even where forming processes can be precisely controlled, physical properties and dimensions may change over time when exposed to changing transport and storage conditions.

Dimensional change polyamides versus moisture

The diagram shows moisture absorption causes swelling which results in up to 3.3% dimensional change in the nylon 6 family. When designing with nylon 6 or 6/6, this has to be taken into consideration, for example, when calculating backlash in gears, or when storing precision parts for prolonged periods of time in changing environments. For cast nylon 12 such change is negligible, even when permanently immersed in fuels, oils, and chemicals.

Self-Lubricating cam followers replace steel and stainless steel wheels in aerospace, refrigeration, and outdoor applications such as ski lifts.

Our customers have been asking us to help them with components for machines that will operate in ever harsher conditions. Intech iCam Followers® and Power-Core™ guide rollers feature a unique crystalline structure that is resistant to flow under static load, and provides long-wearing, non-lubricated performance. The devices do not wear out the rail, do not absorb moisture and, when fitted with stainless steel bearings, are suitable for wash downs and harsh and corrosive environments.

Unlike other plastic material, Power-Core™ does not become brittle in low temperatures. iCam Followers® and Power-Core guide rollers reduce maintenance and down time by retaining good bearing fit from -40° to 160° F, retaining elasticity, and absorbing shock and vibration in sub-zero temperatures. The devices are not only quiet and easy rolling, they do not generate metal particles, which can further increase down time potential.

Intech Rollers for High Security Door

Intech Power-Core rollers, cam followers, and trolleys are assembled from precision machined high performance, self lubricating engineered plastic tires and quality roller bearings. The plastic part of the roller fully envelopes and embraces the bearing outer racer which in turn provides high capacity to carry side loads.

The Power-Core rollers and iCam Followers® are available in stock sizes with load capacity from 60 to 500 lbs. Trolley assemblies feature aluminum track and trolley systems with attachments. Custom sizes and dimensions and tire shapes can be developed to meet specific applications.

Medical Latex Dipping Device Assured of Longer Life and Easy Cleaning with Proprietary Gear Design

Power-Core™ gears have been used to upgrade the design of a latex dipping gear cassette assembly in a unique arrangement that replaces standard gears in order to meet critical performance and cleaning challenges.

The original gear box design resembled a tightly fitting cassette made with standard off-the-shelf gears. Unfortunately, as the latex material was being processed, the gears reacted with the latex material and expanded in size until the ceased turning. Cleaning required a complete disassembly of the cassette, followed by awkward and time-consuming hand scrubbing of individual components to yield less-than-satisfactory results.

In addition to requiring an easier cleaning process, the medical device manufacturer wanted longer wear-life and improved performance from the gears. Frequent cleaning and premature gear failure caused by gear swelling resulted in wear stress that resulted in system downtime and replacement on average every few months.

As part of a failure analysis, Intech provided an engineering design review that included a custom gear life calculation. Our engineering team recommended a system design modification to address performance uptime, improve wear life, and to create a user-friendly non-hazardous cleaning process.

The gear box modification design features custom Intech Power-Core™ gears with a larger pitch diameter, wider face width, and an integral stainless steel shaft that extends on each side of the gear and rotates directly within the load bearing cover plates. The open sandwich design, which can be seen in this image, allows for easy cleaning.

Compared to the previously used injection molded gears which vary in size due to internal stresses and moisture absorption, the precision machined Intech Power-Core™ gears provide consistent, smooth-running operation at reduced torque. Uniform Power-Core material will not distort or change size, so individual gears can be interchanged easily without matching pre-existing gears for a uniform fit, whereas injection molded gears had to be matched to other gears in order to function.

Intech Power-Core™ gears are machined from an inert, stress-free non-hygroscopic material with integral stainless steel shaft that offers outstanding performance where corrosion, abrasion, noise, lubrication, vibration, shock, and moisture create hostile operating environments.

Advanced Linear Motion Technology Applied To Effortless Opening of Doors And Partitions

Manufacturers and designers of precision sliding doors and indoor/outdoor architectural partitions are always searching for rollers that offer quiet performance and ease of operation to meet the customer’s demand for effortless, noise-free operation.

Intech Power-Core™ rollers were originally designed for demanding, high speed, linear motion devices, but have proven to be an ideal solution for use in opening doors and partitions. Intech Power-Core™ rollers and trolley systems have been designed to resist flat development, they will not absorb moisture, and do not wear out the rail. The durable, dimensionally stable tire material carries high load and retains strength over a wide temperature range (-40ºF to +140ºF).

The roller is assembled using a proprietary thermotechnology, rather than injection molding, to ensure precision and stable configuration. When combined with a precision roller bearing, this process creates properties that account for a very quiet and smooth ride.

INTECH Power-CoreTM Track and Trolley System

Manufacturers and designers of sliding weight-bearing products have found that Intech Power-Core™ rollers offer a unique excellence in ergonomic presentation, stability and performance under virtually any temperature, moisture or load condition. The Load capacity per trolley is 200 lb, while on our Aluminum Track and Trolley set the capacity is 400 lb.

Applications for Intech Power-Core™ roller and trolley systems include fine furniture, cabinets, sliding doors, office partitions, luxury boats, airplane cargo doors, oversize doors for commercial and industrial refrigeration units, and automatic doors for trains and commercial buildings.

Our team of in-house engineers review each application for suitability and provide expected wheel life calculations. Engineering support and assistance extends to the complete shaft and trolley system design.

Gear Train Design For Zipper Pouch Packaging Machine

During the developmental stage of a new zipper pouch packaging machine, Hayssen, a division of Barry-Wehmiller, the largest packaging automation group in the Western Hemisphere asked us to devise a Power-Core™ non-lubricated gear solution to replace a structure of timing belts and pulleys that required frequent, lengthy machine shut-downs for maintenance and replacement service.

Hayssen’s Lead Developer for the integrated transverse zipper applicator noticed that the original timing belt and pulley design had significant problems with precision feed length, cut, placement and seal of thicker, higher profile zipper tapes. In addition, the difficult-to-reach timing belt and pulley assemblies stretched around tight radii and became prone to breakage and frequent maintenance.

Intech’s engineering team were able to determine a non-lubricated solution to the power train design using our gear system that capitalized on a truly unique power train design and resultant production uptime.

A pouch/pillow bag with integrated zipper is formed on the Hayssen vertical form/fill/seal machine using an exact amount of zipper material by applying it to the film before it is formed into the finished bag. Intech engineers responded to mechanical design issues that included overall clearance and tight-quarters required by the zipper tape pathway and a minimal backlash by designing small pitch diameter Power-Core gears for the gear train. In addition, concerns for USDA-3A compatibility mandated the use of stainless steel and non-corrosive gear materials.

Using proprietary gear life calculations and a special gear tooth modification to accommodate the set center distances and speed ratios of the rubber rollers, Intech was able to overcome the tight center distances and frequent stop and go requirements with a design solution that Intech calculated to last a minimum of 4 years in continuous operation without lubrication.

Geared Roller Assembly