VIBe™ technology works in horizontal direction by utilizing ball bearings sandwiched between precision raceways, forming the plane of isolation. The balls that displace between the raceways due to micro-vibrations are restored to the neutral position by gravity, which acts as a non-linear spring. Since the spring force (i.e., the restoring force) is non-linear, it is constant and independent of the frequency and amplitude of the input vibrations, meaning the balls’ oscillating motion has no “natural” frequency. Instead, the motion has an infinite number of frequencies, one for each increment of displacement, which makes the resonance between the two halves of the plane of isolation physically impossible. As a result, the isolator filters out a broad band of input vibration frequencies and ensures a constant level of vibration transmission reduction.
Vertical vibration isolation is addressed by the Newport's proprietary, nonlinear spring mechanism with near zero tangential stiffness for vibrations. The natural frequency of the spring remains relatively low and constant across a large range of spring compression, effectively isolating the vertical vibrations.