Schaeffler Group Industrial, with its brands INA and FAG, is presenting innovative bearing solutions for industrial gearboxes and construction machinery at this year’s “Motion Engineering” exhibition in Chiba, Japan (April 14-16, 2008). Special focus has been placed on planetary gearboxes which provide maximum performance in a minimum of space, bearing supports offering highest speeds and acceleration for vibratory equipment as well as maintenance-free ELGES plain bearings and spherical plain bearings. As one of the leading international rolling bearing manufacturers and automotive suppliers, the Schaeffler Group offers the widest range of products available in the rolling bearing industry. Products carrying the X-life mark of quality stand for excellent product characteristics and performance capacity that clearly exceed normal standards.

Bearing solutions for planetary gearboxes: Compact design and high load carrying capacity

The high power density in industrial gearboxes requires rolling bearings of supreme quality and performance. These bearings must have a compact design and offer high reliability, long service life and high load ratings. In addition, modern applications demand low coefficients of friction and low-noise operation as well as safe and easy installation. One example is the planetary gearbox: For the axles and travel drives of mobile equipment, Schaeffler Group Industrial offers compact cylindrical roller bearings. Depending on their application in the planet gears, these are supplied in single or double row design, with or without outer rings and are also available with various coatings. Tapered roller bearings, which are adjusted against each other, have proven themselves as rugged main bearing supports.

X-life tapered roller bearings are capable of supporting very high radial loads as well as axial loads in one direction. Two bearings in back-to-back or face-to-face arrangement can support radial forces and moments as well as axial forces from both directions. The decisive X-life advantage for this series is the considerably higher dynamic load rating compared with previous designs, which results in an increase in the basic rating life of around 70 percent. As a consequence, the user can benefit from downsizing to a more economical bearing support.


X-life tapered roller bearings mounted in pairs, they have proven themselves as rugged main bearing supports in planetary gearboxes for axles, travel and slewing drives.

X-life cylindrical roller bearings: For highest acceleration and speeds

Bearings in modern vibratory machines, such as deep vibrators, vibratory pile drivers or vibratory rollers, must offer reliable support for high shock loads as well as maximum acceleration and speeds in the smallest possible design space. Misaligned bearings, shaft deflections and adverse operating conditions put an additional strain on the bearings. Schaeffler Group Industrial has developed special cylindrical roller bearings in X-life premium quality to meet these high demands: Single-row FAG cylindrical roller bearings NJ with solid brass cage, for example, whose load carrying capacity was increased by up to 18 percent. This has increased the basic rating life by more than 70 percent. The low-friction cylindrical roller bearings of series LSL (with disk cage) and ZSL (with plastic spacers) set new standards in terms of dynamics and load carrying capacity. In vibratory compaction equipment, for example, where bearing speeds reach 2,400 rpm and accelerations up to 500 m/s², innovative INA bearings have been used successfully for years.
Our spherical roller bearings with thin-chromium plated bore have proven their suitability in vibrating screen applications.


High load carrying capacity and dynamics: INA cylindrical roller bearing LSL with solid brass cage

Plain bearings: Maintenance-free for life

Oscillating motion such as swiveling motion frequently occurs in construction equipment. Here Schaeffler Group Industrial has developed special plain bearings under its ELGES brand. Coated with Elgoglide® sliding surface based on Teflon® fabric, these bearings are totally maintenance-free. Moreover, they represent a well-balanced combination of high load carrying capacity, excellent wear and frictional behavior as well as outstanding dry running characteristics. Since lubricant is not required, these bearings are also cost-efficient, eco-friendly and save resources.

A rugged and compact system for torsional and steering motion in construction equipment such as vibratory rollers or wheel loaders is the articulation/swivel joint fitted with Schaeffler products. It is a combination of a high load capacity four point contact ball bearing and ELGES spherical plain bearings. The four point ball bearing offers high load ratings and particularly high rigidity and is easy to mount. With its clearance-free, preloaded raceway system, this bearing is more than a match for the high requirements in these types of applications. The maintenance-free ELGES bearings are designed for high loads. Contact pressure of up to 300 N/mm² dynamic or 500 N/mm² static as well as high shock loads and alternating loads are possible.

Newly developed axial bearings

With new developments Schaeffler Group Industrial underlines its claim as a technology and innovation leader. Customized and application-oriented solutions bring about valuable customer benefits: higher performance, longer service life, higher economic efficiency and new freedom of design. Two of the latest examples are the SGL angular contact roller bearing, which offers highest precision and load carrying capacity, and the AXS axial angular contact needle roller bearing which is convincing through its extremely small bearing cross-section and supreme performance capacity. Moreover, both series have an extremely high rigidity. This enables extremely compact, lightweight and efficient bearing supports that can be flexibly integrated in the adjacent construction – for example in robot or high-precision gearboxes.

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