From tiny drives to microscopes to precision engineering, engineers around the world are developing increasingly compact products. For these precision applications, igus now offers micro-gears with a modulus as low as 0.2, with teeth almost as thin as a human hair. Thanks to high-performance engineering plastics, micro gears are of high quality: high operating accuracy and low wear.

When the photographer scales the camera frame, the multiple tiny gears in the lens gearbox move only a few millimeters. The teeth of these gears are so small that they are almost invisible to the naked eye. “Micro gears for such precision engineering applications typically have to be very strong, wear resistant and have a long life.” Steffen Schack, head of the Gear business unit at igus, said, “To meet the needs of such applications, we have optimized the production process, using high-performance engineering plastics to produce micro-gears with moduli as low as 0.2 by machining.” Gear is machined with iglidur bar material, iglidur bar material is iglidur A180 and iglidur A500 two options. These materials are optimized for friction and are not only robust, but also have excellent low coefficient of friction and wear resistance. They also weigh much less than metal gears.

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A gear tooth as thin as a hair

In order to produce 0.2 modulus gears, igus pushed the limits of its own machining production further. “The ability to create gear teeth that are almost invisible to the naked eye sets igus apart from many of its competitors in the market.” Schack said, “These gear teeth are small in size, but they have excellent mechanical properties. They operate reliably and with high precision for precision engineering applications.”

Small batch production is still cost-effective

igus is now able to customise the production of micro-gears in high-performance engineering plastics. “We can use iglidur bar machining to produce gears, even for small batch production at lower prices. Of course, we can also use injection molding for mass production, such as mass production of automotive gears.” “Schack said. These micro gears are suitable for a wide range of applications where movements are finely coordinated in small mounting Spaces, such as microscopes and other optical instruments, micro-motors and micro-drives.