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Financial Information:
Annual Report 2005
Research and development at NSK
focuses on strengthening the Company’s core technologies while developing
market-oriented products that precisely target emerging customer needs. As
part of efforts to fulfill its corporate social responsibility, NSK also develops
environmentally friendly products that minimize environmental impact during
the entire product lifecycle—from R&D and design, to production
and disposal.
Strengthening
Our Four Core Technologies
Our mainstay products—bearings, automotive components,
and precision machinery and parts—are integral to
the rotating and linear motion elements of machinery
in a wide range of industrial fields. Our customers’ technological
requirements are ever-changing, with greater demand
for products that are lightweight, energy-efficient,
laborsaving, and competitively priced, and offer greater
precision and a longer operating life. At the same time,
these products must also ensure safe and easy operation.
We are strengthening our position in the four core
technologies that underpin the development of NSK
products: tribology, material engineering, analysis,
and mechatronics. Research in tribology, the study of
technology related to friction and lubrication, allows
us to create new methods for lubrication and new lubricants.
In material engineering, we apply heat treatment and
non-destructive testing know-how to develop new
materials, which are vital to the development of highly
reliable products with longer operating lives. In the
area of analysis technology, computer programs are used
to simulate and analyze motion and performance relative
to friction, helping us to realize optimal product designs.
Lastly, mechatronics technology supports our development
of fundamental motor and sensor technologies
essential for the development of high-performance,
multi-functional drive and positioning systems. This
technology is also used to create control and hybrid
technologies that underpin our high-performance
mechatronics products.
Environmentally
Friendly Products and
Technology
Bearings, our core product, are used to reduce friction in
the revolving parts of machinery, thus reducing energy
consumption and playing an important role in protecting
the earth’s environment. Since bearings are made
largely from steel, they are almost entirely free of substances
that negatively impact the environment. Moreover,
since bearings are often recycled after use, they
also contribute to preserving natural resources.
As stated in our Environmental Policy, we are committed
to developing technologies and products that
reduce environmental load. In fiscal 2001, we drew up a
unified policy for all the technology divisions in the NSK
Group, setting out the principles for environmentally
friendly design and development covering the entire
product lifecycle. The objective is to create products that:
contribute to energy conservation and reduce negative
impact on natural resources when used by customers;
minimize energy and resource consumption during the
manufacturing process; contain no hazardous substances
and are manufactured using processes that are
free of hazardous substances; and are user-friendly by
reducing vibration, noise, and particle emissions.
Fujisawa
Research and Development Center
The Fujisawa Research and Development Center is the
heart of NSK’s R&D system. The center not only develops
competitive new products in each of NSK’s main product
fields—bearings, automotive components, and precision
machinery and parts—but also creates fundamental
technologies that underpin all product categories. We
plan to increase our global R&D staff by 140 personnel in
fiscal 2005, bringing the total to approximately 1,600. We
also plan to add a further 180 researchers in fiscal 2006.
In the year under review, our R&D expenses totaled ¥9.8
billion, approximately 1.7% of net sales.
| Number of Researchers |
Published Patent Applications
(Japan) |
 |
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Major R&D
Achievements in Fiscal 2004
| Industrial Machinery Bearings |
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• Commercialization of high-performance
bearings (HPS spherical roller bearing series)
• Commercialization of “ground-free” office equipment
component bearings
• Commercialization of sensor bearings for railway vehicles
• Development of sensor bearings for general industrial machinery
• Development of the world’s smallest deep groove ball bearings
• Commercialization of an automatic grease replenishing system for
machine tool main spindles
• Development of technology for high-precision, non-destructive testing
of bearing materials |
• Commercialization of WINDS, a bearing
developed for wind turbine gearboxes
• Commercialization of N series thin-section bearings for vacuum and
clean environments
• Development of ultra-precision bearings for precision machine tools—the
Robust P2X series
• Development of oil-air lubrication units and optical sensors
• Commercialization of NN-Z series double-row cylindrical roller bearings
for machine tools
• Commercialization of the world’s smallest microactuator pivot
ball bearing assembly (pivot unit) |
| Automotive Products |
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• Commercialization of bearings for long-life
belt-drive CVT units
• Commercialization of anti-creep bearings
• Commercialization of low frictional torque double-row bearings for
ATs
• Commercialization of long-life bearings for automotive electronics
• Commercialization of lip-guided thrust needle roller bearings for
high-speed applications
• Development of ultra high-speed needle roller bearings for planetary
pinion gears
• Development of electric linear actuators for automotive applications |
• Commercialization of high-strength resin
pulley units
• Volume production of single-lever adjusting tilt/telescopic column-type
EPS
• Volume production of high-output 80A brushless motors for EPS
• Volume production of zero-play steering joints
• Commercialization of heat-resistant, long-life, magnetic clutch
bearings
• Volume production of weld-free columns using the hydroforming process
• Development of noise-isolating and vibration-absorbing tilt/telescopic
steering columns |
| Precision Machinery and Parts |
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• Commercialization and expansion
of the BSS series of high-speed, low-noise ball screws
• Development of HTF-SRC high-speed ball screws for injection molding
machines
• Development of interchangeable NSK miniature linear guides–the
PU/PE series
• Expansion of RA series of roller guides
• Commercialization of the V1 series of high debris-resistant linear
guides
• Commercialization of vacuum tables |
• Development of the HS series of highly
accurate linear guides
• Commercialization of S3 ball screws
• Volume production of the V1 series of high debris-resistant linear
guides
• Development of nanopositioners
• Development of DD motors for handling wafers in a vacuum environment |
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