Creative bearing applications

East Providence, Rhode Island – A for agricultural machinery, B is for baking equipment, C is for cross trainer – more than 400 unique applications for plastic plain bearings were entered into the 2013 manus competition, and now the search continues. The application phase for the 2015 manus competition is now underway, continuing through Feb. 20, 2015, and awards of up to €5,000 will be presented at April’s Hanover Trade Show in Germany. 

Plastic bearings perform their service millions of times in the most inconspicuous places, garnering very little attention. To counteract this, the manus competition was first introduced in 2003. In the last of the biennial competitions, 437 entries from 33 countries competed for the top three spots selected by an independent jury of professionals. 

Participants are invited to enter their application online with a short description, along with photos and videos of the application in action. The only requirement of the awards application is that at least one completed prototype of the proposed application must exist.

According to Nicole Lang, product manager for iglide bearings at igus, “We want to support innovation, and award bold applications, regardless of industry.” 

Among the 2013 entries were developers of a pneumatic rotary piston engine, a cross-country skiing exercise machine, and a foldable car. 

The manus awards are a joint initiative between igus GmbH, the Institute for Composite Materials, and The Industry Indicator, and the Cologne University of Applied Sciences. To learn more about the awards, see past winners, or to enter the competition, please visit www.igus.com/manus.

Source: igus