Why use a BNL plastic gear?

Moulded, plastic gears are a viable alternative to metal gears for many applications. Due to continued advances in materials, manufacturing methods and design development, plastic gears are proving to be a more effective solution than metal for many products. Our plastic gear forms and gears are used in products from domestic appliances and cash machines, to conveyor systems, pool cleaners and conference cameras.

Customers often ask us to integrate gears and gear teeth into our moulded plastic bearing designs. Firstly, integration reduces component count, cost and assembly time. Secondly, we can design the gears to minimise friction and heat so there is less wear. Additionally, we can combine added value features such as shields and seals, location mounts, quick release clips and other mating parts.

Why use a plastic gear rather than a metal version?

  • More cost-effective and better value – metal gears can be over-specified and overly expensive. Plastic gears, especially BNL integrated geared bearings, can be better value by reducing component count of the final assembly
  • Quieter running gears due to plastic’s noise-dampening characteristics
  • Lubricity is a natural characteristic of plastic so no grease is necessary
  • Plastic is a lightweight material used for weight saving and power reduction objectives
  • Plastic has excellent chemical and corrosion resistance

We offer our customers a range of injection moulded gear solutions, with or without integrated bearings. Read our gear capabilities page to discover more about the types of gears we offer.

We can tailor material selection to the needs of your application. We use additives such as PTFE & aramid fibres, or use two carefully matched materials that can run together, dependent on requirements.

Do you want to find out whether your product or application could benefit from a plastic gear? Ask us about our machine tear down service.

Or you can talk to one of our engineers about your gearing requirements and see if we can offer a better value solution: asktheengineer@bnl-bearings.com

Find out more on our BNL plastic gears page.