If you need precision control during an inspection process then look to New Way^® Air Bearings. Our Precision Zone line of air bars combines our Porous Media Technology™ with a tighter array of vacuum pressure holes. This permits 25-micron fly heights with a control range of 5 microns. The increased stiffness of our Precision Zone line is stable to 1 nanometer. With consistent flatness across the entire surface, these air bars are ideal for inspecting small areas during conveyance.

Our air bars are constructed from a soft carbon substrate that is naturally porous and won’t scratch delicate materials. Air flow through the bars is regulated by the millions of submicron holes to create a stable and stiff air cushion between the air bar and your materials. Production will never be interrupted by crashes since pressure gradients are essentially eliminated. The non-contact nature of our air bars means you never have to worry about your materials being damaged by the conveyor.

Our air bars are most commonly used in the flat panel display and solar panel manufacturing processes. The Precision Zone air bars are also useful for inspecting specific areas of semiconductor wafers or other materials that require high-level analysis for inconsistencies.

The Precision Zone air bars can be easily combined with our other air bars to provide superior flatness and stability in a desired region of the material. The vacuum pressure also reduces floating when the material moves on and off the air bars.

Clean Room Compliant

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The unique use of porous media in air bars makes them ideal for clean room use. Not only is less air used in air bars when compared to orifice-based air bearings, but the air is evenly distributed by the porous media. Both of these features minimize the potential of currents or eddies in the clean room and its damaging impacts on production.

Another benefit of the use of porous media is its ability to perform as a sub-micron filter for the air emitted. Testing indicates the bearing satisfies the requirements of Class 1 (ISO class 3) cleanliness, with airborne particulate concentrate limits of less than 1,000 x 0.1μm particles / m3.

Want to learn more about how our Precision Zone air bars can be integrated into your manufacturing process? Tell us more about your application today!