Plastic plain bearing applications
Igus: apply now for the manus award
Every two years, motion plastics specialist igus presents the manus award for applications with plastic plain bearings. The starting signal for the manus 2019 application phase has now been given.
What do an exoskeleton, an electric manipulator arm and a research project on space debris have in common? Plastic plain bearings are used in all of these applications and they were chosen as the three winning applications at the last manus award.
Selecting three winners from 541 entries from 35 countries was the big challenge for the jury at the last edition of the manus award two years ago. In addition to the three winners - an exoskeleton to facilitate assembly work, a manipulator arm that can be used up to a depth of 500 meters under water and an ejection mechanism for a research object in space - there were many other exciting applications with plastic plain bearings in use. From 3D printers to sports equipment and art sculptures.
"This selection of the most diverse applications alone illustrates the wide range of possible uses for plastic plain bearings," says Tobias Vogel, authorized signatory and Head of the iglidur Bearings & drylin Linear Technology division at igus. As a new member of the jury, he succeeds Gerhard Baus, who as co-founder of the competition has been involved in the past eight editions since it was first organized in 2003.
The manus award is endowed with prize money of up to 5,000 euros. Any user can apply online until February 22, 2019 and present their design to the jury with short texts, photos and videos. It does not matter whether it is a series application for industry or a one-off - the only condition is that at least one prototype of the application presented must exist. The winners will be selected by a jury of experts from science, research and the trade media and will receive their awards at the Hannover Messe 2019.
Further information can be found at www.manus-wettbewerb.de. In addition to the conditions of participation, there is also an overview of the previous winners and the participating applications from previous years, which illustrate the variety of interesting and inventive applications.
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