Linear Air Bearings

Flat pad air bearings are shaped like hockey pucks while others are of varying height, diameter and shape. Linear bearings are made from hardcoat aluminum, stainless steel, steel, granite, ceramic, bronze or carbon and are typically found in a rectangular housing of similar materials, mounted on a track for fast, smooth and precise motion. Read More...

Linear Air Bearings Linear air bearings have a very high accuracy and can run at full speed without fatigue or wear. They move the load in one dimension and can be combined for multi-axis positioning.

Leading Manufacturers

Bethel, CT  |  203-778-2727

Ball & crossed roller slides, multi-axis positioning stages, motor-ready lead screw stages, air actuators, recirculating slide guides, crossed roller rail sets. Subminiature & heavy duty, straight line design & recirculating. Custom design available. Website life/load calculators CAD drawings. Our greatest strength is to offer components which provide a reliable mechanical interface for equipment.

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Del-Tron Precision, Inc. $$$

Bethel, CT  |  800-447-2042

Linear motion components, assemblies for automated equipment. Ball & crossed roller slides, linear bearings, economic linear bearings, Teflon linear bearings, multi-axis positioners, subminiature to heavy-duty, long travel available. Same-day ship, life-load calculators, CAD drawings. Call before noon & you will be working with your products the next day. We want TUSK to be the name you think of!

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Tusk Direct, Inc. $$$
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Linear Air Bearings List

Useful in a variety of applications, linear air bearings are found in the manufacturing, medical, research, chemical and engineering industries for precise assembly, force measurement, calibration, semiconductor pick-and-place machinery, zero-gravity simulators, scanning and more. Because they are free of oils or lubricants and rely on pressurized air, they are suitable for use in clean rooms.

In order for fluid film bearings to work, they must have a source of pressurized air, though nitrogen can also be used. Hydrostatic bearings use an external pressurized supply while hydrodynamic bearings use the motion of the machine’s components to self-generate internal pressure. Typical bearings are hydrostatic and use simple compressed air to operate. The two main kinds of air bearings—porous and orifice—refer to how pressurized air enters the bearing.

Air penetrates through millions of tiny holes in the media of a porous bearing while an orifice bearing has a small hole fractions of an inch in diameter that air flows through. As air is steadily fed to the bearing, a layer only microns thick forms around the bearing, separating it from the surface and allowing the housing to glide smoothly and precisely.

Computers or machine operators control the movements of the machine; air bearings do not lose accuracy or shape and therefore only need to be calibrated once. Because they are frictionless, air bearings cannot overheat and will not warp or wear; they also do not need to warm up before the desired range of motion is achieved. Manufacturers do recommend, however, that the bearings are used in an environment that is at room temperature so the housing does not distort and disturb the layer of air around the bearing.

Linear Air Bearings Informational Video

 

Linear Bearings Power Pages

Linear Bearings

Linear Bearings

Linear bearings are a type of bearing that "bear" or support the load of the carriage during its single-axis linear movement and provide a low friction sliding surface for the guide rails. In a linear guide, the carriage is the component that travels in a straight line, back and forth, along the length of the guide rail...

Linear Actuators

Linear Actuators

A linear actuator is a means for converting rotational motion into push or pull linear motion, which can be used for lifting, dropping, sliding, or tilting of machines or materials. They provide safe and clean...

Linear Slides

Linear Slides

Linear slides, also referred to as linear guides or linear-motion bearings, are types of bearings that allow smooth and near-frictionless motion in a single axis. Machine tools, robots, actuators, sensors, and other mechanical equipment often require moving components in a straight line in any of the three-dimensional axes...

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