Vibration Isolator, Mechanical, 2 lb (0.9 kg) to 11 lb (5.0 kg)

Superior isolation effect in the VIB320X isolators is achieved by combined action of vertical spring and horizontal rollers. The balls are displaced between the parabolic shaped raceways due to micro-vibration and restored to the neutral position by gravity, acting akin to a pendulum. Horizontal deformation of the spring provides additional flexibility, thus leading to low natural frequency (as low as 3.25 Hz) and therefore excellent isolation of horizontal vibration. Isolation of vertical vibration is achieved by specially designed variable-pitch spring. When the load supported by isolators increases, the coils with smaller pitch settle on each other first, thereby reducing the effective number of active coils and increasing the stiffness of the spring. This way the stiffness of the spring increases by the same proportion as the supported mass, which leads to a constant natural frequency over the load range. This CNF (constant natural frequency) property leads to better overall isolation in multi-support spatial systems.

VIB320X isolators are mechanical isolators using VIBe™ technology that are maintenance-free and user configurable. Featuring great robustness for tough environment, quicker settling time than pneumatic isolators and solid performance for vibration isolation, the VIB320X isolators are very popular among microscopy, precision measurement and inspection, and other sensitive applications.

Each of the VIBe™ isolators in the platform needs to be properly loaded in order to achieve maximized vibration isolation performance. A special gap tool is shipped with the platform to verify the proper loading of the isolators. This gap tool measures 0.56 inch wide by 0.1 inch thick and it is used to determine that the gap in the isolator is more than 0.1 inch but less than 0.56 inch. If the gap is larger than 0.56 inch, the bearing does not have enough weight on it. Conversely, if the gap is smaller than 0.1 inch, it is overloaded.