Patent ID: 7001077

Claim:
A bearing or drive assembly, comprising: at least two elements that are adapted for movement relative to each other, wherein: the at least two elements are selected from the group consisting of bearing elements and drive elements; at least one element of the at least two elements includes a carrier material and a polyimide coating disposed on the carrier material; the polyimide coating is very thin in comparison with the carrier material, with the polyimide coating having a thickness of less than 30 μm; the polyimide coating is a permanent lubricant, even without other special lubricants being added; and the polyimide coating being disposed on the carrier material comprises (a) immersing the at least one element into a prepolymer of polyimide so that the carrier material of the at least one element is coated with a film, and (b) then polymerizing the film to form the polyimide coating, with the polymerizing of the film including tempering the at least one element.