igus GmbH, a leader in motion plastics, is at the forefront of providing solutions for modern engineers designing compact products, spanning microdrives, microscopes, and precision engineering, as it now produces microgears with modules as small as 0.2. Tooth dimensions are very close to those of a human hair. Thanks to high-performance plastics, the teeth still allow precise, low-wear movement for high-quality products. When a photographer zooms his camera, a gearbox consisting of tiny gears spanning just a few millimeters moves inside the lens. Their teeth are much smaller and scarcely visible to the naked eye.

“Such precision-engineering applications require microgears that are still strong and wear-resistant enough to operate reliably for years," says Steffen Schack, Head - Business Unit, iglidur Gears, igus. “For this reason, we have optimized our production to mechanically manufacture microgears with a module as small as 0.2 from high-performance plastic.”

The company uses iglidur bar stock, including iglidur A180 and iglidur A500. These materials are tribologically optimized; not only are they robust, they also have very good friction and wear specifications. At the same time, they are much lighter than metal gears.

Teeth as fine as a human hair 

With modules as small as 0.2, igus has further pushed the limits of its mechanical production. “The capability of manufacturing gear teeth that can hardly be seen with the naked eye sets us apart from many competitors on the market,” asserts Schack. “Despite their size, the teeth have excellent mechanical specifications. They allow reliable, highly precise movements in precision engineering.”

Economical pricing, even for small quantities

igus now offers customer-specific production of microgears made of high-performance plastics. “Our mechanical production from iglidur bar stock allows economical pricing even for small quantities. We can produce large quantities with injection molding—for automobile series production, for instance,” adds Schack. The gears are suitable for a wide range of applications that require finely coordinated movements in very small installation spaces, for instance, microscopes and other optical instruments, miniature motors, and microdrives.

For more information: www.igus.in