Home » Info » Technology » New Way® Air Bushings Offer the Performance Advantages of Frictionless Motion®️

New Way® Air Bushings Offer the Performance Advantages of Frictionless Motion®

 

Known as the most basic type of linear bearing, a bushing helps reduce friction between a rotating or sliding shaft and housing for higher precision motion. While serving a similar task to traditional bearings, bushings often offer higher load capacity in critical applications such as turbomachinery, engines, and compressors, where bearing failure could jeopardize operations. To further reduce surface friction and wear, many bushings are lubricated, which can result in environmental contamination and over-greasing problems. New Way® offers air bushing technology that eliminates the need for greasing by utilizing proprietary Porous Media™ technology associated with its linear air bearings.

According to a survey conducted by Machinery Lubrication magazine, 36% of lubrication professionals noted that over-greasing is the most common problem at their plant as the next generation professionals need to gain skills on this task. By operating on a thin film of pressurized air, New Way Air Bushings never makes surface contact with the shaft, eliminating problems associated with friction, wear, lubrication and, therefore, over-greasing. Interchangeable with most rolling-element bushings, New Way Air Bushing technology runs on standard precision steel shafting as well as tubing, arrow shafts, carbon fiber, plastic, or glass. Once swapped out, the air bushing design delivers the same advantages associated with air bearings such as maintenance-free and frictionless operation, smooth, silent motion without vibration, and high-precision positioning.

Simple in design and low cost, porous media air bushings are an inexpensive way to achieve frictionless linear motion and compare favorably with conventional rolling element bearings across virtually every performance characteristic. Ideal for applications with slow, intermittent and high-speed motion, air bushings can be found working in the solar, semiconductor, machine tool, and food processing industries as part of:

  • Crystal Pulling
  • Fast Tool Servos
  • Positioning Stages
  • Rotary Tables
  • Spindles
  • Tone Arms
  • Voice® Coil Actuators

New Way Air Bushings are available in metric sizes from 13mm – 75mm diameter and English (Imperial) sizes from 0.25″ – 3.00″. New Way also manufactures custom bushings such as larger bushings up to 1 meter in diameter. Learn more about air bushings and their applications by watching the New Way video. Or visit their website to review New Way’s extensive air bushing product line and accessories that include mounting blocks, end mounts, shafting, O-rings, tubing, and air fittings. Standard units are available for immediate shipment.

Contact us today for a complimentary consultation