Posted to News on 1st Jul 2020, 10:40
New bearings for conveyor belt rollers in adverse conditions
Conveyor designers and manufacturers producing equipment for harsher applications such as transporting sand or rock for mining might be interested in new products now available from NKE Austria GmbH. The company has developed new single-row deep groove ball bearings that are designed to last in such applications.
The primary purposes of the support and tensioning rollers in a conveyor belt are to shape the belt, to serve as a support element for the material that is to be transported, and to reduce resistance to movement. When the material is transported with minimal friction, the overall energy required for transportation is reduced, thus lowering operating costs. In an open-cast mining environment, the conveyor belt rollers are clearly exposed to harsh operating conditions including heavy loads, vibration and shaft deflection stresses. Added to this are high rotating speeds, increasing load from external contamination, and demanding weather conditions such as high humidity, rain or snow. The dust in the mining environment creates conditions for impurities to infiltrate the bearing point and can lead to premature equipment failure. This not only shortens the service life of the bearing, but it also has negative consequences for the performance and reliability of the other components of the conveyor system.
Responding to this, and following extensive analyses, NKE has developed single-row deep groove ball bearings especially for conveyor belt rollers that operate in these harsh conditions. With what it says is "A completely re-engineered design" the company believes it has succeeded in making targeted improvements that optimise performance capability and service life compared with standard bearings. The new bearings have a special cage construction of low-friction synthetic material, offer improved raceway geometry, have adjusted radial internal clearance, and include special low-friction seals together with a selected lubricant for use in a broad operating temperature range. The new design from NKE is said to be able to sustain operating demands where conventional bearings might fail. Despite the presence of relatively high contamination levels, NKE states that its new roller bearings for conveyor belt rollers maintain their function even under heavy loads and without increased frictional torque.
For further information about these single-row deep groove ball bearings please visit www.nke.at.
