Spanish design engineer wins gold in fifth igus Manus competition
19 April 2011
igus has announced the results of its fifth manus competition for most innovative use of plastic plain bearings. The competition drew 301 entries from 28 countries. The gold manus award and prize money of 5,000 euros went to Carmelo Lagunas, a design engineer from Tuleda in Spain, for a machine that produces more than 1,800 'tortillas de patatas' (potato omlettes) per hour.
The pans for the individual omelettes (see illustration) are moved in rows of four through the machine, and in the hot and greasy environment lubrication and maintenance-free iglidur Z plastic plain bearings from igus provide optimum performance. Plain bearings made from FDA-compliant iglidur A200 are used in places where direct food contact is involved. The bearings' resistance to cleaning chemicals was another key factor in their choice.
The silver award went to Marco Portocarrero from Portuguese company Produlex for a disc mower with self-sharpening blades, while the bronze award went to Stefan Schulz, managing director of Vincent Systems in Germany for a hand prosthesis with power-driven fingers.
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