A plastic bearing is a bearing made of plastic. They were in use shortly after plastic was invented. At first they were just solid with a hole through the middle and were more of a bushing than a bearing. Then as technology progressed so did the need for smoother rotating plastic bearings. The plastic bearing as we know it was created.Plastic bearings are now everywhere from photocopy machines to the tills in the supermarket. Other applications include farm equipment, textile machinery, medical devices, food and packaging machines, car seating, marine equipment and many more.
Solid polymer plain bearings are now increasingly popular due to dry-running lubrication-free behaviour. Polymer plain bearings now provide the step from a simple plastic bushing to the proven and tested, and thereby predictable and quickly available, machine component. Solid polymer plain bearings give low weight and corrosion resistance, as well as the freedom from maintenance and lubrication enable a solution for almost all applications. Managing without lubrication is the dream of every design engineer. With modern materials, polymer plain bearings make this a reality. After research spanning decades, an accurate calculation of the service life of polymer plain bearings is possible today. It is important not to confuse a solid polymer plain bearing with a polymer coated plain bearing, which is a much older technology. Many companies produce bushings which consist of a metal shell which then has a very thin polymer coating (usually PTFE or similar) applied to the inside.