IKO UK knows that its cam followers have a true roundness of the outer diameter that is significantly better than any other manufacturer. While that particular feature may not translate into a performance benefit for every customer, what is clear is that quality tells. There’s a reason why IKO UK cam followers are used in premium aircraft seating; because they are trusted to perform to as near zero failure as possible. So, while a cam follower is not an expensive part, if it fails – and for example prevents a table from deploying on a seat that costs £7,000 per flight – it could create a very expensive and embarrassing problem for the airline.
Still, cam followers are essentially disposable. The lowest-priced units are standard bearings, which are open. Seals and greases are used for basic protection.
Those simple measures posed problems in a mining application, where the trouble was the ingress of dirt and contamination that polluted the raceways and caused a thick paste to build up, which acted like a grinding paste, wearing away the rolling elements. To make the machinery last longer, and to make it more durable, the manufacturer needed to stop the contamination getting into the rolling elements.
Which is why IKO presented the use of its maintenance-free product with external seals and C-Lube (solid oil) lubrication system built in. The C-lube system consists of an FDA-compliant resin impregnated with an NSF H1 certified lubrication oil. This resin deposits a small amount of lubricant on to any dry contact surfaces via capillary action. This ensures that the bearing is never over-lubricated and removes the requirement for a regreasing regime. It also protects the internal mechanics because all rolling elements are encased in solid lubricant. As the first line of defence, the seals prevented fine particles such as the drilling dust from entering the raceways; then in addition the C-Lube then provided maintenance-free operation.
As a Japanese manufacturer, IKO UK mainly supplies metric sizes, but to cater for an international supply chain it also covers ½-inch- 2 1/4inch Imperial sizes, and they come in C-lube variants as well.
In addition to this, the other major issue seen was uneven wear to the outer ring. This wear was being caused by a misalignment of the cam followers during the installation process, as well as severe vibrations experienced during operation. Wear was occurring due to the unbalanced loads being applied, with the rollers generating a twisting force on the cage structure. This caused the bearing cage to deform and eventually break. To solve this issue, IKO advised that the customer use its thrust disc-type cam followers. These units incorporate a thrust disc made of special synthetic resin with excellent wear and heat resistance characteristics. These discs prevent friction and wear on the rotating surfaces, and in doing so protect the cage assembly from the twisting forces previously seen.
This type of problem-solving, solution-led support is one of the core principles that the IKO UK Technical team work to.
