Dynamically optimized air bearings manufactured with the laser beam

The use of air bearings as friction free devices is state of the art in measurement machines. However in many applications air bearings cannot be used because of their insufficient dynamic characteristics. This disadvantage occurs in common air bearings because of pockets and chambers that are worked into the surface in order to improve their static behavior. Air bearings with optimized static and dynamic characteristics have been developed at the Lehrstuhl fuer Feingeraetebau der TU Muenchen in 1986. However the reliable production of these air bearings was very difficult because of high sophisticated working steps. In 1995 a new technique was developed and patented to manufacture dynamically optimized air bearings. This new technique allows a mainly automated production of the bearings without loosing any performance. The key is to bring a large number of nozzles with aid of a laser beam. The combination of this new manufacturing tool and the knowledge of more than 40 years of research has lead to air bearings with best dynamic behavior at a lower production price.© (1997) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.