Air Bearing Assembly Lines: Not Just for Extremely Heavy Loads

A new white paper that describes the top 14 applications of air bearing (or “air caster”) technology has been published to airfloat.com. The white paper is based on Airfloat’s nearly 50 years of experience in the field. Below is an excerpt:

Assembly Lines for:

Heavy Loads – Rather than assemble large, heavy items in one position, these difficult items can be placed on air bearing platforms and moved from assembly station to assembly station. Examples are aircraft, heavy electrical equipment, heavy construction equipment, large boilers and heat exchangers, and machine tools.

Assembly line movement of these loads requires careful consideration of floor surface, floor maintenance, method of movement (drag line or tractor drive wheel on platform) and guidance for safe movement. A major advantage of using Airfloat platforms is that any unit may be pulled from the line without holding up the rest of the line.

Light Loads – Smaller air bearing platforms are being used on assembly lines where weights range from 300 lbs. to 2,000 lbs. Justifications for use of air bearings for these light loads are: They will not damage even tile floors, and the ease of movement and positioning for assembly operations.

To download the white paper, click here and fill out the form on the right-hand column.