Turn, tilt, fold, slide - maintenance-free and convenient

iglidur plain bearings float above a glass facade.

WSS Wilh. Schlechtendahl & Söhne GmbH & Co. KG is known among architects and planners of public and commercial buildings for developing and manufacturing high-quality fittings for windows, doors and façade elements. Maintenance-free sliding and bearing elements from the igus®® construction kit are used, which are subject to high stresses - due to high surface pressures, different environmental influences and the requirement to achieve up to one million operations.

The "key region" of Heiligenhaus is home to a unique concentration of lock and hardware technology companies - and even has its own university campus specialising in mechatronics. Some of the manufacturers in the region supply the global automotive industry with vehicle locks, while others are active in building technology. These include WSS Wilh. Schlechtendahl & Söhne GmbH & Co. KG.

In the premium segment of quality and innovation
The company, which was founded in 1906 and employs around 350 people in Heiligenhaus, initially specialised in building hardware for windows, doors and gates and has been active as a supplier of façade technology for around 20 years - and, with all the products in its wide range, is clearly in the premium segment in terms of quality and innovation.

Dipl.-Betriebswirt Robin Fasel, CEO of WSS: "We develop and supply components that can be used to open elements of the building envelope." Many well-known and architecturally sophisticated buildings are equipped with hardware systems from WSS - for example the headquarters of Daimler and Sony in Berlin, the GAP 15 office building in Düsseldorf as well as the striking "Colorium" in the media harbour there and the Telekom office tower in Bonn.

For these and many other buildings, WSS has developed customised fittings for lowering, folding, rotating, displaying and moving façade elements. The company's catalogue range is no less sophisticated and includes a wide variety of window fittings as well as panic locks with electronic handle control and roller hinges for heavy fire protection and escape doors.

Trends: More visibility, more weight, more comfort
One key trend is visible in the truest sense of the word. Robin Fasel: "Window and door surfaces are becoming larger and larger so that rooms are flooded with light. This means that they are also getting heavier, especially as multiple glazing is standard for energy efficiency reasons. At the same time, however, users expect a high level of operating convenience: the weight must not be noticeable when opening and closing."

Under these conditions, the design and development team led by Giovanni Zaccaria has developed hardware systems whose special features only become apparent if you look very closely or understand the complex movement sequences - and if you visualise the forces that act on the individual components.

High demands on plain bearings
This can be illustrated using the example of a bearing attached to the rotating joint of a door or window fitting. Giovanni Zaccaria: "The entire weight of up to 250 kilograms rests on the flange of the lower bearing - on just a few square millimetres. Tilt loads also occur when the window is open." Nevertheless, the bearing must move easily and smoothly. Above all, it must not wear out: customers and users expect hardware to operate maintenance-free for decades - even though they are moving components.

Bearings from the igus®® modular design system prove themselves under these conditions. Depending on the application, the designers at WSS use bearings made from iglidur® J or iglidur® G. Both materials are high-performance polymers with a lubricant component that is firmly incorporated into the material and therefore guarantees permanently good sliding properties - without additional lubrication.

Adverse environmental conditions
The most frequently used iglidur® components at WSS are guide bushings and flanged bushings. The bushings usually have an inner diameter of six to twelve millimetres. They must work flawlessly in years of sunlight, i.e. they must not become brittle. Moisture, frost down to -30 oC and heat up to 80 oC as well as aggressive sea air must not affect the WSS designs and therefore also the igus® plain bearings.

These requirements apply to the special constructions of façade technology as well as to the WSS catalogue products, for example for clamping hinges, roller hinges for heavy escape and fire doors as well as for high-quality and heavy-duty glass fittings, which are manufactured in large quantities and are also equipped with igus® plain bearings.

One million cycles without measurable wear
At "Bau 2015", WSS presented a new hardware system for parallel opening windows, in which the iglidur®® -bearing supports a linear rather than a rotary movement*. (*Note: The article will not appear until after the trade show, hence the past tense). It is not only for this new development that the fittings - including the bearing, of course - are subjected to a comprehensive series of tests. The design department, which employs 35 technicians and engineers, includes a test laboratory in which the new products are moved and exposed to different environmental influences for up to six months. The igus®® -bearing always achieves the expected goal. Giovanni Zaccaria: "When we finish the tests after a million cycles, we still don't measure any wear on the bushings - despite the high pressure load and edge load."

The iglidur®® construction elements therefore fulfil the high requirements of WSS in terms of quality, durability and freedom from maintenance. Architects and building owners also expect these specifications from the WSS fittings, and their expectations are often not only met, but clearly exceeded. The igus®® -bearing contributes to this.

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