AMERICAN’S

BLENDED BEVEL
®

LEAD-INS

American Roller Bearing provides a new type

of lead-in bevel for all its Cylindrical Roller
Bearings that is a huge improvement over the
previously used constant angle chamfer used by
all bearing manufacturers. First manufactured
in 1998 and patented in 1999, the Blended
Bevel® is a complicated shape with flat and
multiple intersecting radii surfaces that
allows Rollers to slide onto to rollerpaths without
scratching or gouging these precision surfaces.
Manufacture is made possible by the use of CNC
machinery, which eliminates all sharp edges or
“breaks” as one surface transitions to the next.
Because of these smooth transitions, we call this
feature our Blended Bevel®.

Originally designed for small, medium and

large 4-row Cylindrical Roller Bearings used in
SHALLOW
bar, shape and strip mills, the Blended Bevel®
ROLLER ENTRANCE
allows ease of assembly when heavy housings or ANGLE
“chocks” containing Outer Race Assemblies are
lifted by crane and then slid onto to Inner Races
INCREASED
mounted onto Rolls. In many bar mills, a robot
RADIAL
assembles all four chocks onto to two work rolls DROP
simultaneously. Centering of the chock, height-
wise, sidewise and angle-wise is never perfectly SMOOTH INNER RACE
obtained, and if either of these parameters is SURFACE
FINISH
out of alignment too much, internal bearing
damage can occur. The Blended Bevel® increases
these alignment tolerances.

American Roller Bearing Company

PO Box 68 (28603) • 400 2nd Avenue NW (28601) • Hickory, NC
Phone: (828) 624-1460 • FAX: (828) 624-1461
 AMERICAN’S

BLENDED BEVEL
®

LEAD-INS

Additional Bearing Improvements

To facilitate ease of assembly and prevention of internal damage of the
Rollers and Races, American has improved the design and manufacturing
aspects of two other major bearing components. First are the Rollers,
particularly the corner radii on both ends. The size of these has been
increased, but not so much as to reduce load-carrying Capacity.

Second, are the Cages, which have been redesigned with tighter tolerances to limit the amount of vertical drop of the
rollers in their milled pockets. By limiting “drop”, a larger opening is provided in the Outer Race Assembly for
|the bevel of the Inner Race to enter. This also starts the Rollers higher up the bevel allowing more ease of insertion of
the Inner Race. Cage materials have also been changed to reduce possible distortions in use.

ROLLER

1st Step of installing a chock onto a mounted Inner Race (IR) is to insure that the
full IR enters the Diameter Under the Rollers (DUR) without the Roller ends catching
on the IR face. ARB’s Blended Bevel® provides increased radial drop for a smaller ROLLER
IR entrance diameter to allow for misalignment and Roller drop.

2nd Step is the “camming up” of the Rollers at the top of the bearing as the Inner
Race advances inwards. The smooth surface of the Blended Bevel® reduces drag
and possible binding.

3rd Step is guiding the Rollers onto the O.D. of the IR. Our Blended Bevel®
ROLLER
design provides a much shallower approach angle than traditional chamfered bevels
and is blended to the IR O.D. This eliminates the usual sharp “break” in surface,
eliminating hang-ups and axial scoring that often occurred in the past.

4th Step is the complete insertion of the IR into the Roller complement and chock
assembly. This step easily occurs when the previous three steps have gone smoothly.

American Roller Bearing Company

PO Box 68 (28603) • 400 2nd Avenue NW (28601) • Hickory, NC
Phone: (828) 624-1460 • FAX: (828) 624-1461