Gears made of iglidur® high-performance polymers in actuators

Ethen Liang | March 24, 2022

The proportion of electronic and electromechanical components in vehicles has been growing continuously for years. The increased comfort and the growing safety requirements promote this development. The cable harness, which is responsible for supplying all these components, is the second heaviest component in many motor vehicles, right after the engine. Actuators make up a large share of the elements to be supplied with power and signals. The small units convert electrical signals and pulses into mechanical movements and are responsible, for actuating the throttle valve(s) when accelerating, for automatically closing boot lids and doors or shifting and positioning a seat. The areas of application are manifold, actuators can be found in all areas of the vehicle.   

Amongst other things, gears with mostly complex geometries ensure the transmission of movement and power. To increase the efficiency of actuators and minimise noise, igus has also been offering gears and gearing elements made of well-known and proven tribologically optimised iglidur materials since the start of 2020.

For more information click here: https://www.igus.eu/iglidur-gears

Thanks to the innovative formulations of the iglidur high-performance polymers, we achieve smoother operation, lower torque and lower power consumption in the drive unit with improved material properties.   

The aim is to eliminate the greases used in the assembly process.  This is to prevent failures due to missing, incorrectly dosed or fluid grease. The manufacturing process of an actuator is simplified and less expensive.

According to the parameters prevailing in your application, we provide advice about the right material and tool technology in order to give shape to your individual gear (toothed component) in injection moulding in a process-safe way.  We pay particular attention to achieving the required toothing quality, because this geometric feature, in addition to the material properties, determines the quality of the actuator, especially in terms of acoustics.   

I look forward to your questions and requests and will be happy to provide you with detailed advice.

Steffen Schack 
Phone: +49(0)2203-9649-9827 
Mobile: +49(0)172-3030956 
E-mail: sschack@igus.net