Prostheses
igus solutions forprostheses and orthoses®

... Orthoses
plastics for longer life ...
®

... www.igus.eu/prostheses ...

Reduce cost...

... Improve technology ...

Wear-resistant and lubrication-free plastic bearing
solutions for prostheses and orthoses 95% less wear
than PA66 + PTFE.
Modern prostheses and orthoses, which perform movements and aremodelled on nature as closely as possible, are subjected to large forces
and continuous wear at the bearing points. iglidur® bearing technology fromigus® helps you increase the service life of your products and simultaneously
reduce costs.

Some advantages of iglidur® for prostheses and orthoses
Able to withstand very high levels of stress and impacts, dirt-resistant,very comfortable for users, discreet size for inconspicuous appearance,
suitability for daily use.
Dipl.-Ing. (FH)

Ulf Hottung
Industry Manager
Medical Technology
Tel.:+49 2203 9649-7706
e-mail: uhottung@igus.eu●●Lubrication and maintenance-free●●Lowest wear●●Robust, even in the case of thin walls●●Resistant to impacts and edge loads●●Silent●●Resistant to dirt●●Clean●●Low coefficients of friction●●No stick-slipiglidur® J

95% less wear with iglidur® bearings
than PA66 + PTFE.
The forces occurring in the prosthesis during oscillating
movement have to be reliably transmitted without
any noticeable increase in play. On the two main
axes, bearings made of iglidur® Z were used. The
maintenance-free bearings made of iglidur ® Z
can absorb extreme levels of stress, while having a highmechanical dampening effect at the same time. Thisis a definite advantage when it comes to edge loads
and impacts. One of the prerequisites for the use ofiglidur® bearings was the very high wear-resistance ofiglidur® Z

the bearings.

www.igus.eu/prostheses
I look forward to speaking to you.

Wear rate [µm / km]

Result of wear comparison test
30 online tools also enable you to reduce process costs. Function andservice life can be calculated and our product finder quickly guides you tothe igus® product you need. Also visit our industry website!

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40
30
20
100

iglidur® Jiglidur® Z

PA66 + PTFE... with motion plastics
from igus ...

®

®

23

Plain bearing technology ...

... from igus ... reliably in use

Lubrication-free ... hygienic ... maintenance-free ...

space-saving ... FDA/EU-compliant ... easy to clean

Hand prosthesis

Knee joint prosthesis®

iglidur® J●●Low coefficients of friction running dry●●Vibration-dampening, resistant to chemicals●●Best performance with soft shaft materials●●Low humidity absorption
www.igus.eu/J

Hip prosthesis

Artificial joint

iglidur® Ziglidur® J and igubal® spherical bearings●●Excellent wear resistance especially with high loads●●High thermal resistance●●Also for high surface speeds●●Resistant to edge loads
www.igus.eu/Z●●Low coefficients of friction running dry●●Vibration dampening and chemical resistance●●Different types of designs, e.g. spherical, double,
joint, flanged and pillow block bearings
www.igus.eu/J
www.igus.eu/igubal

Knee prosthesis

Foot prosthesis

iglidur® J piston rings●●Easy installation●●Vibration-dampening, higher load capacity●●More wear-resistant than PTFE-strip●●Different materials, e.g. iglidur® J, J350 …
www.igus.eu/pistonring4iglidur® W300●●For a long service life during continuous operation●●Low coefficient of friction, extremely highabrasion resistance●●Suitable for stainless steel shafts●●Dirt-resistant
www.igus.eu/W300

iglidur® J and iglidur® Q●●Low friction when running dry●●Vibration dampening and chemical resistance●●High abrasion resistance●●Suitable for extreme pv values
www.igus.eu/J
www.igus.eu/Q
5

High-performance plastic ...

... iglidur

Lubrication- and maintenance-free polymer plain bearings ...

... no lubrication, no maintenanceNo lubrication or maintenance required, while cutting
costs and increasing service life, everything from stockand delivered promptly – that is the central idea of alligus® products. iglidur® plastics have been extensively
tested with respect to wear and friction values including
other relevant material properties. iglidur® polymer
plain bearings from igus® signifies the step from theplastic bearing to the tested and predictable machinecomponent.

Integrated lubrication.

●●Lubrication-free and resistant to dirt●●Lightweight and maintenance-free●●quiet, vibration-free operation●●High static loads●●No corrosion, high abrasion resistance●●Vibration dampening●●Metric and imperial dimensions●●Special dimension and designs

The structure of igus® plastic bearings:
The base polymer iscrucial for the wearresistance®

The solid lubricants are, as microscopic particles,
embedded in millions of tiny chambers of the material.
From these chambers, the plain bearings release tiny
amounts of solid lubricants during movement. Thisis adequate to sufficiently lubricate the immediatesurrounding area.
The lubricants help to reduce the iglidur ®
bearing's coefficient of friction. They are notindispensable for the bearing's function, but havea supporting effect. Since they are embeddedin the tiny chambers, they cannot be forced out. They
are always there as soon as the bearing or the shaft is
set in motion.

Base polymer with fibres and solid lubricants,
magnified 200 times, dyed

One choice out of over 50 iglidur ® materials:

Fibres and fillingmaterials reinforce thebearing to absorb highforces or edge loads

Finally, the solid lubricants
automatically lubricate thebearings and reduce the frictionin the system

iglidur® ABiglidur® Q290

First antibacterial iglidur plain bearing●●Reduces the bacterial load at bearings points
that are difficult to gain access to●●Lubrication and maintenance-free●●Continuous use up to +70°C●●Good media-resistance●●Universal installationwww.igus.eu/iglidurAB®

Find out more about iglidur® at6Durable even on soft shafts and with high loads●●Resistant to edge loads●●Continuous use up to +140°C●●Good cost/performance ratio●●Lubrication and maintenance-free●●Standard range from stock
www.igus.eu/iglidurQ290

www.igus.eu/iglidur
7

More igus products ...

... and solutions ...

... from the igus® motion plastics® product range ...

... as you need it

igubal® spherical bearings

drylin® N low-profile linear guides

Dirt-insensitive spherical bearings for different designs
igubal® pillow block bearings are self-aligning bearing●●Different types of designs, e.g. spherical, double,elements completely made from plastics. The split
joint, flanged and pillow block bearingsand self-aligning pillow block bearings are easy to●●Different spherical ball materials
assemble, adjust to all angular variances, and in many●●Extremely cost-effective
cases were already able to replace special housings.
●●Service life can be calculated online
www.igus.eu/igubal

Linear guide for solutions with tight spaces
Low profiles in various widths. Like all drylin® products
the carriages run without grease or oil in an anodised
aluminium profile. The unique design make drylin® Na cost-effective and flexible guide system.

Special parts made of tribo-plastics

iglidur® bar stock

Tribo-tapeTailored to your applicationspeedimold is simple! Special solutions just as you need it, virtually everything is possible. iglidur® offers you
self-lubricating and maintenance-free plain bearing solutions, all according to your wishes, "off the shelf" or"custom made", especially for your applications. Choose from 8 iglidur® tribo-plastic materials iglidur® G, iglidur® J,iglidur® W300, iglidur® X, iglidur® M250, iglidur® P, iglidur® A180, iglidur® H2 and igumid G. Depending on thecomplexity of parts, you will get injection-moulded parts in 1 to 10 days with no minimum order value.
www.igus.eu/speedimold

Enables efficient manufacture●●iglidur® materials as round bars, tubes and plates●●Currently 25 iglidur® materials to choose from●●Cut to required size without offcut removal●●Machined parts, no minimum order quantity

Easy to cut and glue●●Suitable for lining surfaces and shapes wherewear is an issue●●Easy to cut and glue●●Less space required●●Optional with or without self-adhesive backwww.igus.eu/tribotape®

www.igus.eu/barstock
Explore more products at8●●Small installation height between 6 and 12 mm●●Lightweight●●Numerous carriage options – also with pretension●●Maintenance-free dry running
www.igus.eu/drylinN

www.igus.eu
9iglidur Tribo-3D printing ...

as good as injection-moulded

3D printing for wear-resistant parts ...

... made of high performance plastics®

Wear-resistant plastic parts from the 3D printeriglidur® I150

iglidur® C210

Makes printing even easier●●Very good resistance to wear with a pv valueof up to 0.2 Nm/s●●Can be processed even without a heatedprinting plate●●Recommended printing surface:igus® adhesive film or "BuildTak"

Highly abrasion-resistant for printing●●Wear resistant●●Chemical-resistant●●Diameters: 1.75 mm and 3 mm●●Can be processed by commercially available
3D printersiglidur® I180-BL

iglidur® I3

Excellent abrasion resistance, lubrication-free●●Wear resistant●●Can be processed by commercially available
3D printers●●Diameters: 1.75 mm and 3 mm●●Now also in blackSpecifically developed for laser sintering●●At least 3 times more wear-resistant●●Detail accuracy with exact surfaces●●Processing similar to commercially available
SLS materials

iglidur® tribo-filaments are the only 3D printing materials specially developed for moving applications. The printed
parts can be used directly in the moving application and convince their users due to the typical Tribo characteristics– they are lubrication-free and extremely wear-resistant. The wear is up to 50 times lower than that of other 3D
printing materials.

New3D printed injection moulding tools, quick and inexpensive
Due to 3D printing, igus is able to make customised
injection moulds in a short time with up to 80% lowercosts. Maintenance-free plastic bearings to yourrequired shape can now be made quickly and costeffectively.
●●A wide array of material types:
iglidur® J – extremely wear-resistant,®

Find more information at10●●iglidur W300 – withstands high stress,●●iglidur® A180 – FDA-compliant,●●iglidur® UW – for underwater applications
and much more●●Cost-efficient and delivered quickly, frombatch size 1●●For simple geometries

www.igus.eu/tribo-printing®

Just shop for
individual 3D parts.
Wearing parts from the 3D printing service:extremely fast and online.
We print your individual component made of lubrication-free and abrasion-resistant iglidur® plastics; easy
to order and quickly installed: everything from the prototype to the complex special part.
Explore the printing service atwww.igus.eu/3dprintservice
11

igus robolink

Tested service life!

Joints building blocks – light, compact, free

Tested in the 2,750 m2 chain and cable laboratory in Cologne. 4,100 tests,
7,512 results in the electronic database, 10 billion e-chain® cycles per year.

®

®

Directlydriven
joints

Better products for less – a key element is the industry's largest test lab. 2,750 m2 lab, more than 15,000
tests and 2 billion test strokes per year
Wired driven
jointsTribological testing in the plain bearing lab

Low-cost easy assembly thanks tomodular robotics system.
The robolink® range includes various joints, motors
and connecting components. All components canbe ordered separately. It is therefore possible tocombine the robolink® joints and motors with your own
connecting elements, for example. igus® provides CAD
data for all components.
●●Joints made of​​ plastic, can be configured
and extended to suit almost any application●●Articulated arms in various lengths, sizes anddesigns Route for additional control cables●●igus® drive unit – connection to drive andcontrol units●●Tools (functional units) such as gripper,
hooks, vacuum cups, paddles, camera,
and so on can be adapted as required
Pivoted wear test to determine the wear
behaviour of iglidur®

Find more information at
12

After press fitting, measurement of the innerdiameter

www.igus.eu/robolink
13igus services ...

... quick and reliable®

The igus® delivery service
Over 97% availability of all catalogue parts –no need for you to stock●●Over 100,000 products from stock●●No minimum order●●No surcharges for small quantities●●No costs for cutting cables●●No packaging costs

www.igus.eu/24
Modern injection moulding technology
The igus® GmbH quality policy is based on the objective of identifying and meeting customer needs, andof always being a professional partner and reliable supplier. igus® has always been committed to producing
products of the best possible quality and consistently
developing innovative solutions.

Visit our industry web pages for more information,
products, application examples and useful onlinetools.

www.igus.eu/prostheses

RoHSThe igus® lab
The industry's largest test lab (2,750m2) conducts
more than two billion test cycles per year on a totalof 107 test rigs.
●●Extensive test databases●●Customised tests upon request

Quickly find and configure products and calculate
service life – all online.
Using our online product finders, you can find theright igus® product and get a service life prediction.

www.igus.eu/online

For any task – in any batch size
Different industries need different solutions. Whether in mechanical engineering, automotivemanufacturing or in the robot industry – igus® offers customised support for specialised applications.
igus® already has many years of experience and specialised resources in many industries.

www.igus.eu/industry
14

www.igus.eu/testigus® motion plastics®
One vision has been driving us for 50 years – motion plastics®:
moving parts made of plastic that cost less and last longer.
Our core technology consists of tribo-polymers – high-performanceplastics, which we have optimised for friction and wear. The technology
has made us into a world-wide leader for developing and manufacturing
energy supply systems and plain bearings.
15

/9001:2008/16949:2009
igus® is certified in accordance with ISO 9001:2008
and ISO/TS 16949:2009 in the field of energy supply
systems, cables and harnessing, as well as plastic
plain bearings.

/newsletter
Free of charge! Discover more about the latest
trends and innovations from the world of igus®
motion plastics®. Many exciting applications andvideos for your industry.
Register here: www.igus.eu/newsletter/contact

Your contact person for your industry and yourcountry: www.igus.eu/contactigus® GmbHSpicher Str. 1a51147 Cologne
Phone+49 2203 9649-0
Fax		+49 2203 9649-222
info@igus.dewww.igus.eu© 2016 igus® GmbH
Published by igus® GmbH, Germany
MAT0072929.20 Issue 11/2016
Subject to technical alterations