Press Release

Press Release

December 11, 2009

NSK Ltd.
CSR Division Headquarters
Public Relations Department

NSK Develops General-Purpose, Shielded Deep Groove Ball Bearings with High Load Capacity

Designed to Double the Rated Fatigue Life and Facilitate Machinery Downsizing

Tokyo, Japan, October 29, 2009 – NSK Ltd. (NSK; Headquarters: Tokyo, Japan; President and CEO: Norio Otsuka) announced today that it has developed and started shipping samples of general-purpose, shielded deep groove ball bearings with high load capacity, designed for use wherever bearings with a high load capacity are needed, such as in motor speed reducers, industrial pumps, agricultural machinery, and drum washing machines.

Shielded Deep Groove Ball Bearings with High Load Capacity

There is a need to increase bearing load ratings to extend the service life of bearings used under heavy loads. However, enlarging bearings is not always an option, since there may be limited space inside machinery or a need to avoid the increased friction loss*1 caused by larger bearings in order to save energy.

NSK developed the new general-purpose, shielded deep groove ball bearings with high load capacity to meet these needs, and they have the distinctive features detailed in the section below. The new product is designed to improve maintainability through longer service life and to contribute to energy savings through lower torque. The company expects annual sales of 200 million yen for this product by fiscal 2011.

*1 Friction loss: resistance generated when bearings rotate

Product features

Up to a 26% greater dynamic load rating than conventional ISO-standard bearings of the same size
The number of balls was increased as much as possible while using ultra large diameter balls.
Thin shield
The bearings were equipped with a newly developed thin shield that is compatible with ultra large diameter balls in order to create a sealed, grease-filled product that is easy to handle. In this way, the size was kept the same as conventionalmodels while creating a product with a high load capacity.

Product benefits

Improved maintainability through longer service life
The product's service life was improved by up to double that of conventional bearings.
Energy savings through machinery downsizing and low torque
Dynamic frictional loss was reduced by 30% compared to products with an inner diameter one size larger, by keeping the dynamic frictional loss in the newly developed product equal to that in standard products.