linear slides | linear motion | linear guides | linear guide rails

linear slides, linear motion, linear motion technology, linear guides, linear guide rails, slide systems, slide technology, ballscrews, ball screws, linear motion bearing, bearings, linear rail guides, v guide, v guides, v-guide, v-guides, HepcoMotion® are world leaders in linear motion technology – we originated the V guide principle and have spent the last 35 years developing it to meet the demanding needs of todays automation and general industrial markets. linear motion homelinear slides aboutlinear motion and linear slides newslinear motion and linear slides sitemap Hepco Slide Systems Limited, of the Hepco Group of companies, is a manufacturer of Linear Motion Technology. linear slides - linear motion - linear guides - linear guide rails - linear motion technology - slide systems - ballscrews In addition to designing and manufacturing Linear Motion Systems, Hepco is in partnership with a number of high quality worldwide manufacturing companies. We act as exclusive UK distributor, for a number of companies involved in Linear Motion and mechanical components complementary to the Hepco range. This means that we can satisfy a diverse range of customer requests. Our aim is to offer integrated packages of components, which automation designers can specify with complete confidence in their quality, reliability and longevity. Contact us Lower Moor Business Park Tiverton Way Tiverton Devon EX16 6TG Tel: +44 (0) 1884 243400

	HepcoMotion owes its origins to the late Leslie Forster a very talented inventor and designer of Packaging machines and owner of the now defunct Forsters Machine Company. Founded in the late 1940s, Forsters Machine Company produced a whole range of wrapping machines catering for the most difficult products to wrap such as fragile glass bottles, table jellies and soft sticky cakes.



	The major problem to overcome when handling these products was to prevent debris from entering the sliding mechanisms. Various designs of linear slide system were experimented with including the proprietary systems available at that time but nothing would withstand contamination from glass fragments, sugar, cake crumbs, tobacco dust etc. In 1950 Leslie Forster hit on the idea of a uniquely simple slide solution based on a V principle. Consisting of a hardened and ground steel plate with Vee'd edges captivated between pairs of correspondingly Vee'd ball bearings, the variation in peripheral speed across the contact surfaces, caused debris to be expelled from the system. Not only was the slide system able to withstand the arduous operating environments but it was also virtually frictionless and extremely easy to install. The slide system was subsequently used in all Forster machines and by popular demand, made available for sale to machinery manufacturers generally. Under HepcoMotion which is still run and principally owned by the Forster family today, the V slide principle has been continuously developed over a period of more than 30 years. Millions of systems operate in machines throughout the world in applications ranging from computer chip production to car plants. Over the years the range has been extended to encompass miniature systems, heavy duty systems, precision and commercial systems as well as various drive possibilities and motor driven options. The full extent of HepcoMotion products can be viewed on this site. HepcoMotion is proud of its heritage and in 2004 one of the last remaining Forster wrapping machines was rescued from the scrap yard and has been subject to a ground up restoration. This machine which can be seen in the picture above, is now permanently exhibited in the reception area at HepcoMotion's Group headquarters building in Tiverton England. Designed by Forsters Machine Company in 1955 this HSU2/SW machine was built circa 1964 to wrap Battenburg cakes in cellophane film with the option of an inner paper surround. The design of the feed and of the folding mechanism enabled even the most fragile products to be automatically wrapped without damage. Cakes could be wrapped direct, therefore no trays or base cards were required. In its day the H.S.U.2/SW was the only machine capable of doing this.