New Way® Porous Media™ Air Bearings aren’t just an option for brand new machines. Our products represent immense potential for retrofitting older machines, or servicing machines with bearings that simply can’t be procured anymore.
New Way has a long history of leveraging in-house engineering and turnkey manufacturing to provide original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and rebuilders with porous media air bearings in custom builds. We can even match the specifications on competitor’s products if desired. Our engineering team is well acquainted with developing custom products to meet unique needs, and retrofitting is no different.
The process of retrofitting air bearings dovetails neatly with our in-house engineering expertise and custom product design capability. Our bearings can be retrofitted into any applicable system with matching constraints and axes of motion.We fully understand no two systems are alike, and custom retrofit bearings can be manufactured larger or smaller than our standard sizes. All design, manufacturing, and testing is performed in house, with tolerance and quality assurance provided by CMM’s using our very own bearings.Every new retrofit and service product receives our undivided attention, and our engineering team will evaluate the system in question to ensure the upgrade process is seamless, matching your old bearing’s tolerances, and even competing brands of orifice air bearings.
There’s virtually no limit to how our porous graphite products can be retrofitted into an old machine. Applications are only limited by your imagination. Below are just a few examples of the industries which have benefited (and stand to benefit) from retrofitting their systems with Porous Media air bearings.
Learn how New Way’s® in-house engineering team can develop the right turnkey solution to meet your exacting specifications.
Keck Observatory, often considered the world’s most scientifically productive observatory, turned to New Way when they needed help replacing their rolling-bearing-based rotary encoder. A system built on radial and flat round air bearings allowed for a new 1-meter diameter rotary table, cutting acquisition time by 75% and reducing maintenance to near zero.
Magtrol Inc., a leader in torque measurement for small motors, recognized the unique capability of air bearings to provide frictionless torque measurements. They upgraded their calibration suits through radial air bearings and air bushings, providing a frictionless solution backed by engineering support they could trust.
Sytech Systems, Inc. provides hardware and software integration solutions, and when a medical client required precision beyond what an off-the-shelf manufacturing robot could provide, they called New Way. We worked to integrate flat round air bearings, developing a system with motion error below 1/1000 of an inch.
New Way partnered with Axis New England, a firm specializing in robotic and machine automation for the lithography, semiconductor, and precision optics industry. We provided them with a solution built on flat round air bearings to meet the needs of a customer who produces ultra-high format printers, allowing for high speeds and precise positioning.
The AFRL wanted to develop a sub-micron system which can simultaneously apply tension and compression to a sample for real time diffraction microscopy imaging. Thus began development on the Rotational and Axial Motion Systems (RAMS) apparatus from PulseRay, and the beginning of Basil’s long working relationship with New Way Air Bearings.
If you’re ready to get started on your retrofit project, or want to learn about how New Way can benefit your application, please reach out anytime!
