By Lily Bearings
©2004-2008
SKF, the leading knowledge engineering company, has extended its range of sealed spherical roller bearings, increasing significantly the number of applications for which they can be used. Due to their sealed construction, the bearings can reduce the cost of installation and maintenance considerably, while offering consistently high performance under demanding conditions.
The sealed spherical roller bearings are protected against both particle and moisture contamination, enabling them to offer effective performance over long, virtually maintenance free service lives. As the bearings do not require external seals in all but the most aggressive environments, installation is simplified considerably, reducing downtime and costs.
The bearings are pre-lubricated prior to sealing; therefore, there are no lubrication requirements in most cases for the life of the bearings, lowering maintenance costs still further. Additionally, in being fully sealed, the innovative components eliminate the risk of lubricant leakage associated with conventional open bearings, minimising their environmental impact.
The sealed bearings are available as standard versions, which feature a nitrile double lip seal and standard grease, or high temperature models, with a fluoro rubber seal and high temperature grease, for extreme conditions where lower speeds are required.
As with all of the bearings in SKF's spherical roller bearing range, these sealed variants offer a number of features that make them ideal for use in demanding applications. The internal architecture of the bearings provides maximum axial and radial load carrying capacity, enabling designers to reduce the size of the bearings required to carry a given load, compared to previously available equivalents.
Their self-aligning properties allow the bearings to accommodate misalignment between shaft and housing of up to 0.5º without increased friction or reduction of bearing life. Furthermore, the sealed bearings can be used as direct replacements for existing open bearing equivalents, enabling applications to be upgraded simply and cost effectively.
The latest extension to the sealed spherical roller bearing range includes a total of 11 new variants, with both cylindrical and tapered bore versions available, depending on specific application requirements. A further 30 sealed spherical roller bearing models are to follow.