Why Air Bearings from PI Nelson Air?
Since 1984, Nelson Air has designed and manufactured precision air bearings, air bearing stages, linear air bearing slides, rotary air bearing tables, and integrated air bearing positioning systems for industrial, scientific, semiconductor, metrology, optics, and automation applications.
Products include flat Z/tip/tilt, linear air bearings, rotary spindles, spherical, and planar air bearings and systems. We also specialize in application-specific bearings and integrated systems for demanding motion-control requirements.
Our air bearings outperform traditional mechanical bearings in high-performance motion applications where friction, wear, stiction, vibration, and geometric error must be minimized. In some precision motion problems, air bearings are the only practical solution.
PI's Air Bearing Design & Manufacturing OperationTypical Applications for Our Air Bearings
Air bearings are used in two major classes of applications: frictionless motion and ultra-precision positioning. Frictionless motion applications take advantage of the completely noncontact nature of air bearings, even under significant loads. Ultra-precision positioning applications use the tight manufacturing tolerances and inherent error averaging of air bearings to achieve exceptional straightness, flatness, pitch, roll, yaw, and runout performance.
Frictionless Motion
- Micro-tensile and micro-torque testing
- Moving heavy loads with extreme smoothness and zero stiction
- Zero-gravity simulation for attitude control or deployment testing
- Self-aligning presses for delicate optical assembly
- Custom test, metrology, and automation applications
Ultra-Precision Positioning
- Micromachining systems with multiple axes and spindles
- Semiconductor inspection and processing
- Disk-drive writing and testing
- Roundness measurement
- Optical alignment and centration
How Do Air Bearings Work and How Do They Differ from Mechaical Bearings ?
Air bearings use a thin, pressurized film of air to support and guide moving surfaces without mechanical contact. Unlike mechanical bearings with balls, rollers, or sliding elements, air bearings eliminate friction, wear, stiction, vibration, and rumble, enabling smoother motion and higher precision. Other friction free nanopositioning technologies include piezo flexure stages.
PI Nelson Air offers a wide range of precision air bearings and integrated positioning systems designed to meet the exact needs of demanding OEM, industrial, scientific, and metrology applications.
Click on a product for more information or contact PI Nelson Air to discuss your application and request detailed specifications.