Bespoke bearing units

As part of a new product offer NSK is able to produce customised pre-assembled cartridge units for applications requiring extremely precise rotational performance. These compact bespoke units feature a pair of NSK precision deep groove ball bearings to facilitate high-speed, high-precision operation in devices that include handheld vacuum cleaners, encoders, surgical equipment and optical inspection instruments.

Designing and manufacturing each cartridge unit according to customer specifications, NSK assembles the individual components (produced to micron-level tolerances) to highly repeatable standards. This pre-assembled product therefore represents an ideal solution for OEMs that want to concentrate on their core areas of expertise. Assembling to extremely high levels of precision typically demands special facilities, processes and equipment, representing significant financial commitment. Instead, OEMs can tap into the expertise of NSK, which has decades of experience in bearing precision and repeatability.

The achievable precision of NSK’s pre-assembled cartridge unit components includes IT4-IT5 on diameters, IT1-IT2 on rotation (runout) and IT1/2-IT2/2 on geometric tolerances. Precision of this level ensures optimal operation, avoiding any inaccuracies that might lead to bearing issues such as reduced fatigue life, cage fractures or seizure.

Notably, NSK exerts its skill in designing the fitting surfaces of the single-piece housing bore so that it is possible to finish both bearing seats together in one in-line boring operation. Other notable design considerations include the need for perfectly perpendicular contact between the shoulders of the housing and the bearing face, ensuring customers receive cartridge units capable of high-quality performance, every time.

Free of service and maintenance requirements, users of the precision mechanical cartridge units will also benefit from their high-speed capability, above 100,000rpm if required.