OAV Air Bearings

`We Brought Aerospace Technology to Air Bearing System`

OAV Air bearing is committed to providing their customers with the most precise bearing systems available.

Advancing technologies have led to major breakthroughs in existing industries and given way to new, emerging markets. These developments have increased the need for precision tools and equipment, fuelling the demand for precision bearing systems.

The error motion of bearings with mechanical contact are dominated by the geometric and surface finish errors of their components. OAV Air Bearings however, do not have mechanical contact between elements and benefit from an air-film averaging effect. Furthermore, due to an absence of mechanical contact, the OAV Air Bearing has virtually no friction to generate heat and cause wear.

OAV Air Bearings was founded as a division of Aviation Company. Today, the company is still in owner’s hand and under owner’s management and is located in Princeton, NJ.

What are Air Bearings?

Air bearings use a thin film of pressurized air to support a load, and provides new option to design by pushing precision, acceleration and speed to the limit. Air bearings are clean, with no friction, no lubricant, and no wear.

OAV Air Bearing Material And Technology

We brought Aerospace Technologies to air Bearing systems, Aerospace Quality material and porous material, Titanium and Military Specs, pushing precision and speed to the limit. The OAV product complies with ISO 9001:2008 AND MIL-I-45208A

OAV Air Bearing Advantage Vs Traditional Bearing

• Zero Friction-indefinite operating life
• Air is clean, contaminant free,clean environments
• Zero friction -No heat generation at high speeds
• High accuracy components
• High accuracy motion
• High speed
• Position accuracy better than 0.1 micron.
• Ultra-precise linear and rotary motion Linear Accuracy: 10 µin/in, 100 µin/36 in Rotary Accuracy: ±1 µin TIR Roll/Pitch/Yaw: 0.25 arcsec/in Linear Repeatability: ±10 µin Rotary Repeatability: 1 µin Positioning Resolution: to ±1 encoder count
• OAV thrust Air Bearing is a breakthrough innovation in Air bearing technology. For the first time, an Air bearing is available that fully integrates and works on 3 way Frictionless surface
• Our Aircraft Quality Titanium Material will maximize operation temperature and eliminate distortion due to thermal expansion and also offers much higher stiffness

OAV ® Roller Air Bearing

Another breakthrough innovation from OAV Air bearings in Air bearing technology. This time an Ultra Precision, Hard install, Fixed location Bearing to replace your conventional bearings. The result: no friction, no contact, requires no maintenance, indefinite operating life, and no heat generation at high speeds.

Their Patent Pending OAV ® Roller Air Bearing will replace your conventional bearing

Metric
Part No.	Inside Diameter	Outside Diameter	Width
OAVRL75MM	75mm	140mm	50.8mm
OAVRL50MM	50mm	110mm	44.5mm
OAVRL40MM	40mm	100mm	41.3mm
OAVRL25MM	25mm	90mm	34.9mm
OAVRL20MM	20mm	70mm	31.8mm
OAVRL13MM	13mm	44.5mm	22mm
Imperial
OAVRL3000	3"	5.5"	2"
OAVRL2000	2"	4.25"	1.750"
OAVRL1500	1.5"	4"	1.625"
OAVRL1000	1"	3.5"	1.375"
OAVRL0750	0.75"	2.75"	1.25"
OAVRL1500	0.5"	1.75"	.865"

OAV ® Air Bushings

Used in spindle or linear applications, the OAV air bushing is designed to make air bearings available for use with pre-existing designs based on round shaft guides. These components run on standard precision steel shafting and are available in Metric or Imperial sizes. We also provide an option to use Titanium and other special material to maximize stiffness and load capacity.

Metric
Part No.	Inside Diameter	Outside Diameter	Width
OAV006MB	6mm	16mm	32mm
OAV010MB	10mm	16mm	32mm
OAV13MB	13mm	24mm	50.8mm
OAV020MB	20mm	32mm	51mm
OAV025MB	25mm	39mm	57mm
OAV040MB	40mm	60mm	76mm
OAV050MB	50mm	74mm	89mm
OAV075MB	75mm	100mm	89mm
Imperial
OAV0250IB	0.25"	0.6"	1.25"
OAV0375IB	0.375"	0.634"	1.25"
OAV0500IB	0.5"	0.9"	2"
OAV0750IB	0.75"	1.3"	2"
OAV1000IB	1"	1.5"	2.25"
OAV1500IB	1.5"	2.3"	3"
OAV2000IB	2"	2.9"	3.5"
OAV3000IB	3"	3.9"	3.50"

OAV ® Thrust Air Bearing and Bushing

The Patent Pending OAV thrust Air Bearing is a breakthrough innovation in Air bearing technology. For the first time, an Air bearing is available that fully integrates and works on 3 way Frictionless surface. OAV Thrust air bearings configurations runs on standards size shafting for fixed or linear motion while maximizing rotational motion with ultra precision and zero friction using Aerospace quality Aluminum or Optional Titanium.

Bushings
Part No.	Inside Diameter	Outside Diameter	Width
OAVTB32i13	13mm	32mm	32mm
OAVTB60i20	20mm	60mm	77.2mm
OAVTB60i25	25mm	60mm	77.2mm
OAVTB100i50	50mm	100mm	89.5mm
OAVTB150i75	75mm	150mm	89.5mm
Bearings
OAVTR32i13	13mm	32mm	12.6mm
OAVTR60i20	20mm	60mm	16.5mm
OAVTR60i25	25mm	60mm	16.5mm
OAVTR100i50	50mm	100mm	19.7mm
OAVTR150i75	75mm	150mm	19.7mm

 

Air Bearing Guides

OAV Profile Rail Guides consists of the next generation OAV Air Bearing® and manufactured from Aircraft Quality lightweight linear guides, Box Series, T-Series , U-series and Dovetail Series.  It is a complete offering of Air Bearing slides in a wide range of styles, sizes and unique features produced for easy retrofitting into existing applications or designing into new applications

Air Linear Slide Assemblies

OAV Air Bearing Linear Slides, a high precision and accurate air slide assembly. Our Bearings provide you with the confidence of integrated bearing systems motion and dynamic response way better than conventional rolling bearings.

OAV air bearing linear slide assemblies, which combine an accurate guide surface with an air slide ready-fit for installation. This provides the user with the convenience of integrated guide and bearing systems.

 

Flat Round & Rectangular Air Bearings

Round and Rectangular Design Frictionless Linear Motion

Flat Round & Rectangular air bearings work on flat, nonporous surfaces such as granite, aluminum, glass, and ceramics We offer a variety of sizes which can easily be used to customize air bearing systems.

Round
Part No.	Diameter	Height	Ideal Load
OAV25R	24mm	13mm	101N
OAV40R	40mm	13mm	240N
OAV50R	50mm	13mm	374N
OAV65R	60mm	20mm	645N
OAV80R	80mm	20mm	989N
OAV100R	100mm	25mm	1576N
OAV150R	150mm	50mm	3583N
OAV200R	200mm	70mm	6241N

Rectangular
Part No.	Width x Length	Height	Ideal Load
OAVFL40	20x40mm	13mm	165.4N
OAVF25Lo	25x50mm	17mm	243N
OAVF25L100	25x100mm	25mm	459N
OAVF40L50	40x50mm	13mm	386N
OAVF40L80	40x80mm	20mm	619N
OAVF50L100	50x100mm	25mm	973N
OAVF100L200	100x200mm	39mm	2957N
OAVF100L1000	100x1000mm	44mm	16,183N

 

Vacuum Pre loaded Air Bearings

OAV Vacuum Pre loaded Air Bearings are a combination of air pressure and vacuum, where the air bearings hold it down and simultaneously lift from the surface.

Part No.	Diameter	Height	Ideal Load
OAVR50RV	50mm	22mm	355N
OAVR80RV	80mm	22mm	1100N
OAVR100RV	100mm	22mm	1775N

 

Components & Accessories

OAV produce a range of components and accessories to match their range of Air Bearing products.

Mounting Screws

This high carbon stainless meets aerospace quality.

With ball end configuration .0006mm tolerance always parallel and easy to install.

 

Housing blocks

Aluminum Housing Blocks for inch and mm Frictionless Air bushings made from air craft Quality Aluminum and anodized with Mil spec. for ultimate Quality.

 

Shaft End Support

Aluminum or Stainless steel Shaft ends high precision made from air craft Quality Aluminum or Stainless and anodized with Mil spec. for ultimate Quality.

 

Clamp On Shaft Precision Face Collars

Flat Precision Face Collars are used in conjunction with Thrust air Bushings. Face collars are an option for one or each face and prevents the shaft or bushing from moving side to side.

 

Balls

Made from high carbon stainless, one of the hardest stainless steels and meets ASTM A276, ASTM A756 AND AMS 5630 as well as MIL-SPEC MS19063B. Sphericity within .0006mm

Shafts

Compatible with their range of inch and metric bushings, their standard shafts have a surface finish better than 16 RMS and .0007 tolerance

O-Rings

Compatible with their range of inch and metric bushings. The O-Rings Meet MIL-R-83248C and ASTM D2000/SAE J200. They offer excellent resistance. Temperature range is -15° to +400° F. hardness is A75. Color is black

FAQ

Presented here are some of the more popular FAQ`s. To see more or even raise your own use this link to take you the OAV FAQ Page

How do Air Bearings Work?

Air bearings are designed to lift loads away from the surface and float them on a thin film of air. Air bearings use a thin film of pressurized air to support a load. There is  no Solid contact between the two surfaces.

What is Oav Air Bearing Material And Technology?

Oav Air Bearings brought Aerospace Technologies to air bearing systems. Crafted with Aerospace Quality Aluminum and Titanium that meet Miltitary specs along with a Porous Carbon material, Oav air bearings use exotic Aerospace Material to push the limit of engineering for ultimate accuracy, speed and performance.

What maintenance do air bearings need?

OAV Air Bearings Porous Media Air Bearings require no maintenance.  If you do need to clean the air bearing surface simply wipe with alcohol and let it dry.

What happens to Air bearing systems when the air supply suddenly shuts off ?

Oav Air bearings are made from Aircraft Quality Aluminum and Graphite.

Graphite is a carbon that forms only two bonds with other carbon atoms. This means it has free electrons and the graphite material exists in layers. This enables one layer to slip over another layer, making graphite an excellent lubricant. If the air supply shuts off, Oav Air bearings act as low friction bushings and it won't damage the platform or the bearing.

What is the accuracy of these OAV air bushings?

8-Ultra-precise linear and rotory motion Linear Accuracy: 10 µin/in, 100 µin/36 in Rotary Accuracy: ±1 µin TIR Roll/Pitch/Yaw: 0.25 arcsec/in Linear Repeatability: ±10 µin Rotary Repeatability: 1 µin Positioning Resolution: to ±1 encoder count.

Can only air be used for air bearings?

Compressed air is very common in industrial environments, however other gases such as compressed nitrogen can be used if required. Different gases will provide different results. The specifications listed by OAVCO are based on compressed air.

What air quality is required for OAV ® Air bearings?

Between ISO 8573.1 Quality Classes 3 & 4. Minimum recommendation: dirt particle size at 15 microns, dew point at 37 deg F, oil/vapour content at 5mg per cubic meter Works best: dirt particle size at 5 microns, dew point at -4deg F, oil/vapour content at 1 mg per cubic meter.

How is a thrust bearing guided? How is a thrust bearing held in position?

There are clamps or face collars on each side of the thrust bearing to hold the bearing in one position. Once in position, the bearing stays there and the shaft can rotate freely

 

Can I use an OAV air bushing for Fixed location, rotational motion as well as linear motion?

Yes, OAV Air Bushings and Unique OAV Roller Air Bearings are designed to support rotating shafts with linear motion or fixed location. See http://oavco.com/rollerairbearing.html

What is the accuracy of these OAV air bushings?

8-Ultra-precise linear and rotory motion Linear Accuracy: 10 µin/in, 100 µin/36 in Rotary Accuracy: ±1 µin TIR Roll/Pitch/Yaw: 0.25 arcsec/in Linear Repeatability: ±10 µin Rotary Repeatability: 1 µin Positioning Resolution: to ±1 encoder count

What is OAV ® Roller Air Bearing?

The OAV Roller Air bearing is designed to replace conventional bearings. The roller bearing is hard installed at a fixed location. The result: no friction, no contact, requires no maintenance, indefinite operating life, and no heat generation at high speeds.

How does OAV ® Air Bearing maintain stability and damping effect?

We design our Air bearings to have a special epoxy to block the pores on the surface where air flow is not desired. Our design forces the flow in the direction of the frictionless surface. This results in higher stiffness, more stability, and better damping properties.

Applications

 

Applications & Design Guide

Linear Motion Applications

Smooth, precise & frictionless linear motion can be acheived with the complete range of products from OAV.

Flat Round & Rectangular Air Bearings-Typical Configurations

The Flat Air Bearings are typically configured with a preload. Flat Bearings can be preloaded in differemt ways.

Opposite Bearing: Requires more space and adds more weight-but provides more stifness and increases load capacity.

Weights: Flat Bearings can be proloaded if there is a constant force pushing down on them. This type of preload is typically used when moving large objects. It is recommended ot use a minimum of 3 bearings for this configuration.

Magnets: Magnets are a good option if low mass is desired. Typically there will be one magnet on the bearing and one along the length of the guide.

Vacuum: Vacuum Preloaded Bearings use a Vacuum to preload. The Vacuum gives control over the air film thickness and in turn maintains optimal stiffness and performance while reducing the overall weight and size of the syatem.

 

Air Bushings and Thrust Air Bushings

Air Bushings: Typical configurations consist of one shaft and one bushing or two parallel shafts with two to four bushings usaually inserted inside a mounting block or inside the bore of a customer designed housing. The OAV bushings have been designed for both o-rings and epoxy installation.

Thrust Air Bushings: Thrust Air Bushings slide over the shaft just like air bushings. The only difference is the thrust air bushings have face collards clamped to the shaft on both sides to keep the thrust air bushing from moving linearly. OAV Mounting Blocks can be used to hold the thrust air bushings or alternatively a customer designed housing.