Deep groove ball bearings are versatile, self-retaining bearings. These bearings, which are of simple design, robust in operation and easy to maintain, are available in single row and double row designs and in open and sealed variants. The solid outer and inner rings have deep raceway grooves, with shoulders which are not generally interrupted by filling slots. Solid cages made from polyamide PA66 or brass, and sheet metal cages made from steel or brass, are used as standard cages. The bearings are open or sealed.

Ball bearings may be shallow groove or deep groove. The 'groove' is the depth of the raceway into which the balls fit. Deep groove single row ball bearings are also known as Conrad bearings. Deep groove ball bearings can carry higher radial and axial loads than their shallow groove ball bearing counterparts.

Image

There are two main categories of bearing, plain and anti-friction (rolling). Both bearing designs have found widespread application throughout the engineering world, but no single bearing design can cater for all applications. As can be seen on the below images, the two types of bearing are not even slightly similar. This article focuses on the anti-friction ball bearing only.

Bearings allow humans to move an object on, or within, another object. Their main purpose is to extract desired motion from a whole motion. For example, a pump shaft that passes through a pump housing should rotate, but the housing should not. Almost all machines operate with some form of rotating, sliding or oscillating motion, where this occurs, bearings are used.

Image

Single row ball bearings are incredibly versatile, they can be used for medium-high radial loads and light thrust loads, in either direction. It is possible to have a maximum capacity bearing that contains more rolling elements, this increases the radial load the bearing can carry but reduces its axial load carrying capacity.

The subject of anti-friction bearings is made more difficult due to the varying terminology that is used to describe identical parts. The below table lists bearing components along with additional common colloquial names.

Non-contact seals (For high speeds and lower requirements for sealing):- Non-contact seals are particularly suitable for applications with high speeds and high requirements for low heat generation. They are free from friction, except for a small amount of lubricant friction in the sealing gap. As a rule, non-contact seals do not undergo wear and therefore have an unlimited operating life. Deep groove ball bearings with non-contact seals on one or both sides have the suffixes RZ and 2RZ; the suffixes Z and 2Z indicate seals on one or both sides with sealing shields.

Greased bearings are maintenance-free:- Deep groove ball bearings sealed on both sides are lubricated with a high quality lithium soap grease with a mineral oil base, which has good anti‑corrosion characteristics. The grease filling is measured so that it is sufficient for the entire life of the bearing. As a result, these bearings are generally maintenance-free.

Ball bearings are probably the most widely known bearing and easiest to identify. This type of bearing operates upon point contact with one stationary ring (usually the outer ring) and one rotating ring.

Capable of supporting axial loads in both directions:- Due to the deep raceway grooves in the bearing rings and the narrow osculation between the raceway grooves and balls, single row deep groove ball bearings can support axial loads in both directions. The axial load carrying capacity is dependent, for example, on the bearing size, the internal construction and the operating clearance. If the axial load is too high, however, this can increase the running noise and considerably reduce the operating life of the bearings.

In order to provide you a personalized shopping experience, our site uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you are agreeing to our cookie policy.

Image

Contact seals (For lower speeds and higher requirements for sealing action):- As these seals are in contact with a defined contact pressure against their sliding surface, they provide very good sealing action against the egress of lubricant and ingress of moisture and dust. Attention must, however, be paid to the loss of energy resulting from friction at the sealing contact. Furthermore, in bearings with contact seals, the bearing speed is restricted by the permissible sliding velocity at the seal lip, i.e. the speed suitability of these bearings is lower than for open bearings or bearings with non-contact seals. Deep groove ball bearings with contact seals on one or both sides have the suffixes RS and 2RS

Suitable for predominantly radial loads:- The balls are in contact with the raceways at one point only. Under purely radial load, the contact points between the rolling elements and raceways lie at the centre of the raceway. As a result, the connection between the contact points passes through the radial plane, i.e. the optimum load direction is a pure radial load.

Double row ball bearings can carry more radial load than their single row counterparts but are wider. This type of bearing can support heavy radial loads and low-medium axial loads, in either direction.

Common ball bearing designs include single row, double row, thrust and angular contact. Each design of ball bearing caters for the different loads it is likely to encounter.