The design and construction of three of the country’s largest scissor lifts ever produced, with a capacity of up to 40 tons per lift, has recently been completed by up-and-coming dock-levelling manufacturer, REV Designs.
The Springs-based manufacturer has incorporated a host of clever features one of which is using the latest polymer bearings to enable heavy lifting yet minimal wear and damage resulting in considerably longer service life and maintenance intervals.
According to REV Designs chief designer and founder, Ricardo Viljoen, the use of igus high performance polymer bearings ensures that the pivot points work smoothly with vastly-reduced wear compared with traditional bearings underpinned by the added advantage of requiring neither lubrication nor daily maintenance.
Tough environment
“The bearings need to be very strong to withstand the kind of forces that are placed on them in this tough saw milling processing environment. Given the potential for the ingress of sawdust, woodchips and other debris in this application, these bearings are a natural choice with less tendency to snag than other bearings.
“With this in mind, we chose to work closely with igus’ polymer bearing specialist, Juan-Eric Davidtz, who was able to match the right bearings for our requirements. Our design uses 33 bushes per lift and each one has specific operational requirements,” Ricardo concludes by saying that polymer bearings supplied by igus have become integral to nearly all their new designs due to the bearings rugged and long-lasting abilities.
Ian Hewat, managing director
igus South Africa,
www.igus.co.za
