Thin section bearings as a better alternative to standard ball bearings

Details: Released: 06.05.2021; Last updated: 16.03.2024; Hits: 18175

The compactness and light weight of the Kaydon Thin section bearings not only meet the requirements of the robot age often better than conventional ones Bearing. With the slim all-rounders, which from Rodriguez are offered, space and weight of more than 80% can be saved in many applications - with high performance and precision. Here you will find new developments, information and applications for thin section bearings.

Contents

Mega slim bearings save 80 percent installation space
Thin section bearings and their advantages
Users report on the use of thin section bearings
Archive for thin section bearings
FAQ

Mega slim bearings save 80 percent installation space

March 01.03.2024, XNUMX | Extremely robust and yet small, light and very slim: these are them Kaydon thin section bearings from Rodriguez as a special feature in warehouse technology. If you rely on compact design, low weight and miniaturization in your applications in mechanical and plant engineering, these rolling bearings are the right solutions. Rodriguez presents them at the Hannover Messe 2024.

Reali-Slim thin section bearings

The unique ones stand out from the large range of thin section bearings Reali-Slim bearing particularly prominent. Their small cross-section remains constant as the inside diameter increases. The compact rolling bearings are compact and lightweight and can be air lines, hydraulic lines, electrical wiring, shafts or slip rings are guided through their bore.

Thanks to this design, solid shafts can be replaced by hollow shafts. A thin section bearing from the Reali-Slim series in the design of a four-point bearing can often even be used replace two ball bearings.

Rodriguez has been successfully selling more than for decades 250 different Products from the Reali-Slim series in inch and metric dimensions. Compared to standard bearings, the slim all-rounders often save more than 80% in space and weight with comparable precision and performance. This makes them suitable for the most demanding applications such as aerospace, Medical Technology, Robotic, semiconductor manufacturing, oil and gas industry, in satellite and radar systems or packaging and machine tools.

Ultra-slim thin section bearings

The ultra-slim bearings are even slimmer with diameters of 35 to 200 mm and a particularly small cross section of just 2,5 to 3 mm. They are lightweight corrosion-resistant and vacuum suitable. They consist of stainless steel rings and ceramic balls. They are available as deep groove ball bearings (Type C), angular contact ball bearings (Type A) and four-point bearings (Type X).

If users are unsure about installing or selecting thin section bearings, they can contact the experts. Rodriguez bids on base decades of experience a very special know-how in this area of storage technology.

Thin section bearings and their advantages

In a conventional warehouse, the loads are distributed to a few Rolling elements distributed with large diameter. In the very compact thin section bearing from the Eschweiler drive experts, more and smaller rolling elements are used over a larger area.

This results in an astonishing result compared to the standard bearing Stiffness and Tragfähigkeit, which is equivalent to the performance of standard ball bearings and is more than sufficient for many applications.

A regular 6,35mm wide thin section bearing with a 50,8mm bore has 27 balls that are 3,175mm in diameter. It offers a static axial load capacity of 770 kg. Good storage distributes the load across many balls. In addition, it keeps the static limit customary in the industry for the Hertzian pressure .

Thin section bearings to ultra thin section bearings

The users of thin section bearings do not have to make any compromises when it comes to precision. The thin section bearings are available in the well-known ABEC precision classes 1 to 7. In addition, industry standards for thin section bearings have been established. These enable the extremely large diameter and flexibility of the inner and outer rings before final assembly at the customer's.

The precision can still be improved by adjusting the starting and running torque honed careers or through bearings with Ceramicsballs is kept lower.

Thin section bearings are very flexible construction elements. They make it possible to reduce the size and costs of the entire storage system. For example, if you use a thin section bearing instead of a 6010 standard ball bearing, you benefit from a space saving of 85% and a weight reduction of 83%. Even more savings can be made with the even thinner Ultra thin section bearings realize: The volume can be reduced by up to 97% and the weight by up to 99,9%.

Deep groove ball bearings, angular contact ball bearings, four point bearings

Thin section bearings are available in types A as Angular contact ball bearings, C as radial bearings and X as Four point bearings. Types A and C are suitable for low torque and high precision applications. Type X is rarely found in bearings with conventional dimensions, although it is considered a problem solver in many applications.

While angular contact ball bearings are often mounted as a pair of bearings which absorb axial forces, radial forces and moment loads, a type X bearing generally allows these functions to be combined in a row of balls. A special geometry of the outer and inner raceway makes it possible.

This is the case with type X four-point bearings Profile of the career in each ring of two intersecting arcs with the same radius. These meet and form a point in the plane of the centers of the spheres. With this geometry, which is similar to a Gothic arch, four contact points are achieved on all spheres.

Because all four sides of the raceway are in contact, a single-row X bearing can absorb axial and radial forces as well as moment loads with just one compact row of balls. So it can often replace two bearingsregardless of whether angular contact ball bearings, tapered roller bearings or a combination of axial and radial bearings are used.

How are thin section bearings combined?

Thin section ball bearings have a much thinner cross section than standard bearings with the same diameter. Therefore, they are more sensitive to shaft and housing fits. So the correct assembly important for the optimal performance of thin section bearings.

A number of factors must be taken into account such as the type and orientation of the thin section bearing, the magnitude and direction of the acting loads, allowable free bearing clearance, maximum allowable torque, shaft and housing tolerances, operating temperature and whether the outer ring or inner ring is rotating.

So that the thin section bearing is at its full capacity can develop, the correct bearing type, the alignments, recommended fits and the appropriate shaft and housing geometry must be taken into account.

This becomes clear in the example of Fits: The bearings should not be too tight in the radial direction after assembly, as this can impair the performance and service life of the thin roller bearings. The fits recommended by the manufacturer only apply to bearings with standard clearance and use at room temperature.

Will be different Metals used, the fits will change with temperature. This can lead to the thin section bearing being too tightly clamped radially. It can also be too high Frictional moment have as a consequence.

Users report on the use of thin section bearings

DLR: Slim precision ball bearings for space missions

March 16.03.2024, XNUMX | In the field of precision bearings, Rodriguez GmbH represents a key technology for this with its Kaydon “Realislim” thin-section bearings Aerospace available. These specialized rolling bearings have contributed to the success of the Mars mission contributed in 2021. The Precision ball bearings but are also suitable for other applications in the demanding industry.

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LH Design: Thin ring bearings stabilize fly reels for fly fishing

Sep 22.09.2016, XNUMX | Thin section bearings are characterized by their particularly slim design with large diameters. Because of these properties, they are used in... Highland fly reels from LH Design. Here, “Ultra-Slim” bearings from Rodriguez ensure that the reel spool does not rotate out of the frame. The company manufactures high quality fly reels and fly fishing accessories.

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BMW Group: Belt drive bearing in electric scooters

06.05.2015/XNUMX/XNUMX | the BMW Group takes the energy transition into account with its electric vehicles and celebrated the premiere of its commercial vehicle in April this year electric scooters C evolution. A metric thin section bearing from Rodriguez is installed in it. It takes over the storage of the belt wheel in the scooter's gearbox.

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Owis: thin section bearings for rotary tables

February 24.01.2011, XNUMX | In Rotary tables Rolling bearings are comparatively simple components, but are crucial for the performance of the entire system. Thin section bearings from Rodriguez have proven themselves with such high demands on precision and compact designs. They are impressive due to their design and the high performance of the rotary tables Owis.

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FAQ

What is a thin section bearing?

Thin section bearings belong to the group of ball bearings. They are characterized by the fact that they are very precise, very stiff and very load-bearing as well as low-noise, space-saving and very compact. While the loads are distributed over a few balls in a conventional ball bearing, thin-section bearings use more smaller balls over a larger area. This gives them the performance of standard ball bearings.