SKF / Ball Bearings / Industrial Bearings, Balls & Bushings

Simple machine design

Mounted bearing solutions comprise rolling SKF bearing, housings, seals, and other components, and can be bolted onto any surrounding machine structure. You can design a machine structure with beams and frames, welded, riveted or bolted together without the need for high precision. Your surrounding structure does not need to be a casing, which provides precision-machined bearing seats.

Easy installation

Mounted bearing solutions are easy to install. The housings are bolted onto their support surface. The connection to the shaft can be done by set screws (fig. 1), a locking collar (fig. 2), SKF ConCentra locking technology (fig. 3), or by an adapter or withdrawal sleeve (fig. 4). Except for the adapter and withdrawal sleeves, the other three locking methods do not require the knowledge and tools that you typically need to mount a rolling bearing.

Reliable bearing function

SKF’s knowledge about rolling bearings, housing design, sealing, and lubrication in the case of ready-to-mount units, has been combined to provide products that deliver the desired performance.

Another factor that supports reliable performance is the capability of mounted bearing solutions to compensate for misalignment. When you use mounted bearing solutions, typically you are not able to align the two supports of a rotating shaft precisely. Most mounted bearing solutions compensate for alignment errors either by adjusting the bearing in the housing (fig. 5) or by using self-aligning rolling bearings (fig. 6).

When not to use

Mounted bearing solutions are not the best option when your machine requires high precision in the positioning of your shaft relative to other components, or when your machine design requires a casing that encloses the bearing seats. An electric motor is a typical example of having this type of casing. When you select rolling bearings for such applications, it is better to use the Bearing selection process for ball and roller bearings.

Housing types

SKF bearing solutions use a housing to support the bearing inside and transmit the loads from the shaft to the surrounding machine structure. There are three main housing types:

Pillow (plummer) block housings (fig. 10)

These housings can be attached to a support surface by two or four attachment bolts. A characteristic dimension of these housings is the centre height (H), which is the distance between the support surface and the shaft axis (fig. 11).

Flanged housings (fig. 12)

These housings are intended to be bolted onto a machine wall. There are many shapes of the flange, such as square, triangular, round, or oval.

Take-up housings (fig. 13)

These housings are designed to move between two rails or a guide frame. They have location slots on both sides to fit the rails or frame. A typical application for these housings is on conveyor belts, where there is one roll that is adjustable to maintain the tension in the belt.

The SKF assortment comprises four main types of mounted bearing solutions:

Ball bearing units (fig. 14)

These units use deep groove ball bearings with a sphered outside surface in housings with a sphered bearing seat (fig. 15). Deep groove ball bearings are the most widely used bearing type and are particularly versatile. The sphered outside surface enables compensation of misalignment between the two supports of a rotating shaft.

Roller bearing units (fig. 16)

These units use spherical roller bearings or tapered roller bearings in pillow block or flanged housings. Roller bearings can accommodate higher loads than ball bearings of the same outside dimensions.

Housings with bearings (fig. 17)

Bearing housings can accommodate spherical roller bearings, CARB toroidal roller bearings, or self-aligning ball bearings. With these mounted bearing solutions you have the widest flexibility in design. You can select bearings of different dimension series, use different lubrication methods, and you have a nearly unlimited choice of sealing solutions. The variety of design options allows you to customize the solution to meet your performance requirements exactly.

Split bearing units (fig. 18)

SKF Cooper split bearings are the ideal solution to reduce machine downtime when bearing replacements are scheduled. The advantages of the SKF Cooper split bearing solution are especially valuable in inaccessible or trapped locations, for example, between a head pulley and gearbox or motor, where the need to dismount associated equipment is eliminated.

Application specific units complement the SKF assortment. When you are designing equipment for the following applications, consider products dedicated to them:

Agriculture

There are SKF ball bearing units with seals especially designed to cope with the challenges of agricultural applications. SKF Agri Hubs are available for seeding and tillage equipment, disc mowers, slurry fertilizers and similar machinery.

Air handling

SKF two-bearing housings were originally developed for fan shafts with an overhung impeller, but are also suitable for other applications with similar shaft arrangements. Among the ball bearing units, special variants for air handling applications are available.

Papermaking

SKF provides housings for felt rolls, drying cylinders, and Yankee cylinders. Very high temperatures and the risk of water contamination are typical operating conditions.

Grinding mills

There is a range of large, low-weight pillow (plummer) block housings designed specifically for grinding mills. They are designed for arduous operating conditions in highly contaminated environments.

To find the most suitable solution for your requirements, use the Product selection process. Diagram 1 provides an overview of what solutions are available depending on shaft size.

website: https://skf-bearing.eu

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