Practical experience
Enquiries for special Bearings
From time to time we receive enquiries for special Bearings. Below we list a number of successful solutions which we were able to come up with over the years.
Special Housings and Bearings
Manufacturers of special paper packaging (a.o. egg cartons) wanted to urgently extend their production capacity. For the required special Housings and Bearings INA indicated a delivery time of 8 to 9 months at that time. One of the European factories with whom we have been working together for many years, was able to manufacture these special Housings and Bearings in only 6 weeks. This much shorter time span meant that the extension of the production line was able to take place as planned.
Construction adjustment to a new heavy lift Ship’s crane
A large Offshore company specialised in building heavylift cranes had in their design for a ship’s crane incorporated special TIMKEN Bearings (double cup with 2 cones). The delivery time for those special Bearings was 6 months. This was considered far too long as this would severely delay the delivery time of the crane. After having studied the drawing and discussed this with their engineering department we suggested to replace the TIMKEN Bearings with special sets of Tapered Roller Bearings. Since our proposed solution did not impair the integrity of their design it was immediately accepted. We had these special sets manufactured by one of our partners, an ISO certified factory specialised in the modification and production of Bearings. The sets were made in only 3 weeks. Because of this quick delivery time the production schedule of the ship’s heavy lift crane was maintained.
A special slewing ring
Manufacturers of packaged foodstuff wanted their production machines to be able to swing with the use of a small slewing ring. Because of space restriction a standard slewing ring was unsuitable. After having discussed this problem with our supplier, a manufacturer of an extensive programme of slewing rings, we were able to offer a suitable model. This happened to be a slewing ring which is normally used for excavators. Sometimes solutions come from unexpected quarters! After the first implementation several other production machines were altered in the same way. This led to substantial savings both in production time as well as in costs.
Timken bearing for a pump
Thrust Bearing in the hook of a 5000 tons Offshore Heavy Lift Crane
One of the prominent designers and builders of Offshore Heavy Lift Cranes in the Netherlands asked us whether it was possible to increase the static load of a certain standard Cylinder Bearing. The reason for this was that the maximum load of that particular bearing was insufficient for their application. In addition the available space in the hook itself was rather restricted. In co-operation with the technical people of Phoenix/RBC a special bearing was developed whereby the static load rating was increased from 59,000 kN to 68,635 kN. Meanwhile our customer has adopted this bearing as their standard design for such heavy lift cranes.
Large forged rings
A few years ago one of our customers, whom we regularly supply Bearings to, told us that they were looking for a reputable supplier of forged rings. At that time forging capacity in Europe was in short supply. After an intensive search we were able to trace a first class manufacturer in the U.S. In spite of the fact that this is not our core business we obtained an order for 12 forgings with a diameter of 4.533mm and a weight of 12.000 kg each. This prestigeous contract was carried out to the entire satisfaction of our Principals.
