When your machine design involves the creation of a rotating mechanism to handle complex loads and to position an object, there’s no doubt precision and small size will be among your criteria when choosing a bearing. If you’re challenged by a machine design or motion profile with limited installation space, a crossed roller bearing (CRB) is an excellent choice.
IKO Crossed Roller Bearings are designed with rollers alternately crossed at right angles to each other between inner and outer rings. This arrangement creates greater roller contact with the raceways, allowing the bearings to take radial, thrust and moment loads from any direction at the same time with less deflection under load.
A Growing List of Applications
Many mechanical designs can benefit from the rigidity, accuracy, speed and compact size that crossed roller bearings provide. Here are just some of the applications where you’ll find CRBs:
- Robots. CRBs come in a wide choice of sizes and constructions, allowing them to fit various rotating mechanisms.
- Life Sciences and Medical. Many CRBs can fit into the small mechanisms or articulating arms that position and rotate objects in labs. Our CRBT Series, for example, combines compact and slim dimensions with smooth, rotating motion.
- Semiconductor and Electronics Fabrication. Crossed roller bearings deliver micron-scale accuracy for pick-and-place systems and wafer handling equipment, and they can be configured for cleanrooms.
- Military and Aerospace. With modifications to withstand vacuums or temperature variations, CRBs can operate reliably aboard spacecraft. Their small size also makes them ideal for air- and ground-based systems.
- Food and Beverage. When used with food-grade greases, CRBs can provide rigidity, accuracy and load capacity without contaminating the food products. We offer stainless steel crossed roller bearings upon request.
Each application comes with its own requirements and challenges, and IKO Crossed Roller Bearings come in a variety of styles to meet those requirements. Our new white paper discusses the different types and benefits of CRBs to meet your application needs.
To learn more, download our white paper.
