J&M Manufacturing impressed the jury with its sustainable and economical use of lubrication-free polymer bearings in a new type of agricultural equipment. The silver manus award went to the French company Aufratech for an exoskeleton. Third place went to Fiedler Maschinenbau for a telescopic high-pressure cleaner for municipal vehicles. The green manus award went to the German company Rockinger Agriculture for its lubrication-free ball coupling.

Every two years, the manus awards are presented by a joint initiative to companies that use lightweight and lubrication-free bearings to improve the technology of their applications and make them more sustainable at the same time. 480 entries from 36 countries applied for the eleventh edition of the competition. A jury consisting of experts from industry, research, business and the trade press scrutinized the entries.

Gold for US plowshare

The golden manus award 2023 and 5,000 euros in prize money went to J&M Manufacturing. The company from the USA has developed a plow with a so-called para-linkage coulter. Farmers use the system to apply liquid nitrogen fertilizer to crops such as maize, potatoes and wheat. The problem so far: the industry standard uses coulters with only one pivot point. The knife is located behind the coulter and swings out of the ground faster than the blade. This can cause some of the nitrogen to volatilize and be lost as fertilizer. To solve this problem, the engineers at J&M Manufacturing have developed a spring-loaded system. The parallel design keeps the knife and blade level with the soil when engaging, helping to retain more nitrogen in the soil. For their system, the designers use polymer plain bearings from Igus in all five pivot points of the share. The bearings are corrosion-free in contact with liquid nitrogen fertilizer and reliably withstand oscillating movements. They also enable low-friction dry running without a single drop of lubricating oil.

Silver for a French exoskeleton

The winners of the manus award 2023

© Igus

Aufratech has won the silver manus award 2023 and 2,500 euros in prize money for the 'Exo N' exoskeleton. At the heart of the skeleton is a control system that allows the user to guide the attached lances with a straight back. The engineers have succeeded in creating a streamlined design. This is because they have grouped as many functions as possible around an aluminum shaft with linear plain bushings and corrosion-free polymer plain bearings from the 'iglidur J3' series from Igus - including the translation and rotation guide.

Bronze for a telescopic high-pressure cleaner

Fiedler Maschinenbau und Technikvertrieb was delighted to receive the bronze manus award 2023 and 1,000 euros in prize money. The company has built a high-pressure cleaner that municipal vehicles use to clean dirty roads, sidewalks and squares. The heart of the machine is the FSB 1500/2600 double sponge bar, which is mounted in front of the vehicle. It cleans floors with high water pressure using side nozzles, a central section and electronically switchable high-pressure underfloor nozzles. The highlight: the working area of the high-pressure cleaner can be changed at the touch of a button. The double sponge bar can be telescoped continuously, by 500 mm on both the right and left side. Thanks to this adaptability, the driver can clean large areas more quickly. The engineers use profile guides and housing bearings from the 'drylin W' series for the telescopic function. The corrosion-free components are wear-resistant and insensitive to water and spray mist, sand, gravel and brake abrasion. They are also robust enough to withstand heavy impacts and vibrations when driving over kerbs and cobblestones.

Green manus award for lubrication-free clutch

Rockinger Agriculture has developed a lubrication-free ball coupling called 'KS80' for loader wagons, manure spreaders, tippers and field sprayers and won the green manus award and 1,000 euros in prize money with this sustainability idea. The coupling consists of a coupling ball and a drawbar socket, which are installed in the height adjustment. The special feature of this coupling becomes apparent when you look into the tension cup: it contains the wear insert made of robust high-performance plastic from the 'iglidur' series, which Igus developed especially for the company. Thanks to integrated solid lubricants, it enables low-friction and environmentally friendly dry running without lubricating oil. The company does the math: If a third of the tractors in Germany are equipped with a KS80 and wear insert, that's around 8,300 couplings that can manage without lubrication. Eight tons of grease per year could be saved.