Slide Plates

Description

A slide plate is a linear bearing consisting of an upper and lower plate. The plates provide a surface with low friction which can be attached to a supporting structure. The combination of plates provides support while still allowing free movement along the supporting surface. The lower plate is fixed meaning the top is allowed to slide as expansion or contraction occurs.

Slide plates may be made of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), teflon, or steel according to the application.

The most common type of slide plate has glass-filled PTFE bonded to a steel backing plate. A two-part system is used which has an upper element with stainless steel surface face-down and bearing on a lower element with its PTFE steel backing surface face-up. In most applications the upper element is larger than the lower element by the amount of movement expected. This has a two-fold advantage of maintaining a constant bearing area and preventing the lower surface from being exposed to dirt, grit or other contaminants throughout the range of motion.

We can fabricate slide plates to any specification.