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4 PTR Mar/Apr 2011 PTR NewsBritish engineering helps tokeep Caterpillar trucks rollingOne of the USA’s largest and best-known dealers forCaterpillar off- road vehicles, Whayne Supply, has teamedup with a small UK engineering firm, Magnom, to introducemagnetic filtration units that have been shown to increaseoperational efficiency and decrease downtime.The Magnom filtration units, whichremove ferrous particles are beingused in conjunction with traditionalbarrier techniques to provideunmatched levels of filtration on thevehicles.The custom-designed units, usingpatented Magnom technology, arenow in volume production.Magnom engineers, led by thecompany’s technology director andoriginal inventor Jobey Marloweworked with Whayne Supply overa three year period to develop thecustom units for the Caterpillarvehicles. Whayne Supply focuses onthe Kentucky and southern Indianamarkets and is marketing the newfilters to other North AmericanCaterpillar dealers.Whayne Supply’s technologydivision general manager EdwinDowner said: “During testing, wewere convinced by the resultsthat adding Magnom units to themachine systems would reduceboth operating expenses andunscheduled downtime.”Magnom chairman Robert Spendersaid: “It is especially pleasing to usto be working with a partner thathas the resources to introduce thebenefits of Magnom technology toa wider audience. These benefitsquickly translate into reducedwarranty and general maintenancecosts and so we are quietlyconfident of take up across NorthAmerica. “Plastic bearings help reduceenvironmental impactThe Environmental Protection Officein Baden-Württemberg, Germanyasserts that more than 50% of alllubricants leak into the environment.According to figures published byRWTH Aachen University, the annualusage of lubricants is 37.3 Milliontons worldwide, which amounts tomore than 18 Million tons leakedinto the environment every year.What’s more, results of a recentMIT survey reveal that damagecaused by friction and wear costs upto six percent of the gross nationalproduct every year.By replacing conventional bearingswith igus polymer bearings OEMscan reduce their environmentalimpact considerably, as the iguspolymer bearings do not requirelubrication. As they require lowmaintenance, the use of dryrunningpolymer bearings canachieve significant cost savingsand machine safety can also beincreased.With continuous advancements inpolymer material development, thebearings specialist igus supplieswidest range of alternatives tolubricated metallic plain androlling bearings for more and moreapplications. igus currently offersbearings to suit almost everyapplication in 35 oil free polymerbearing materials.The lightweight, plastic bearingshelp the environment in other waystoo; they reduce fuel consumptionand carbon dioxide output asthe reduced weight leads tolower masses and subsequentlylower energy consumption. Inmanufacture, less oil is used toproduce the polymer than bothaluminium and steel meaning thereis less contamination.For reader enquires, pleasemention PTR:Igus UK Limited51A Caswell RoadBrackmillsNorthamptonNN4 7PWTel: 01604 677240Fax: 01604 677245Email: sales@igus.co.ukwww.igus.co.uk