THIN SECTION BEARINGS: SLIM YET STRONG
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THIN SECTION BEARINGS: SLIM YET STRONG
The elegant thin section bearing might look dainty, but don’t let its slender proportions fool you. The thin section bearing punches above its weight while fitting into tight spaces.
This bearing’s defining quality is its fixed cross-section. Thin section bearings in the same line all have the same thickness, regardless of bore diameter. At large diameters, these bearings are proportionally thin, hence their name.
Engineers often choose thin section bearings for aerospace, robotics, and medical systems. Their light weight and small footprint at all diameters make them ideal for jobs with space and weight limits. Thin section bearings also keep parts turning smoothly for food processing, machining, textile manufacturing, and more.
It takes great precision to make thin section bearings, so they often cost more than standard bearings – but the flexibility their thinness brings is worth the expense. Plus, they’re more resistant to moment load than similarly sized standard bearings.
There are three contact styles for thin section bearings.
- Angular contact thin section bearings have the greatest thrust capacity of the thin section bearings. They have a 30-degree contact angle and two-thirds complement of balls, and need to be mounted opposing another bearing to establish the right contact angle.
- Four-point contact thin section bearings’ special gothic-arch-shaped raceway touches balls in four places. Four-point contact bearings can carry radial, axial, and moment loads simultaneously. A single four-point contact bearing can often replace two bearings, simplifying designs.
- Radial contact thin section bearings are single-row and have Conrad-type assemblies. Their inner race is eccentrically displaced within the outer race, letting it hold about half a full complement of balls. It handles radial load best but can accept some axial load. This is the most popular type of thin section bearing.
For more detailed descriptions of these types, read Alpine Bearing’s thin section bearing page.
For help choosing a bearing type, advice about your specific application of thin section bearings, or to order thin section bearings, contact one of our sales engineers.
Have you seen our other Bearings 101 articles? Here are our pieces on roller bearings, Thinex and torque tube bearings, machine tool spindle bearings, deep groove bearings, a comparison of bushings to bearings, and our bearing glossary.
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Premium Quality Bearings Produced by the Industry’s Leading Manufacturers.
Since 1957, Alpine Bearing has sought the industry’s leading manufacturers to ensure the delivery of high quality bearings to OEMs, distributors, rebuilders, and individuals. We specialize in miniature and instrument, Thin section, spindle, Thinex and torque tube, stainless, chrome, radial, angular contact, and ball screw support bearings of all precisions. With thousands of bearings in stock, same day shipping is available on most products.
Alpine Bearing has a Class 10,000 clean room and as a certified re-lubrication facility for New Hampshire Ball Bearing (NHBB) & Nippon Miniature Bearing (NMB), we can customize our bearings to suit your needs. Bearings can also be re-packaged for optimum protection.
Offering bearing re-lubrication services
Alpine Bearing’s re-lubrication center is a class 10,000 clean room with Class 100 laminar bench work stations certified to Federal Standard 209E. We are a certified re-lubrication facility for New Hampshire Ball Bearing (NHBB) & Nippon Miniature Bearing (NMB). We can customize bearings to suit your needs. We also re-package bearings for optimum protection.
