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Application of Thin-Walled Bearings in Industrial Robots

 

In recent years, with the development of manufacturing technology, the demand for various robots in modern manufacturing technology has been increasing. This includes automation production lines for large construction machinery, automobiles, home appliances, as well as deep-sea manned submersibles, humanoid and bionic robots, and industrial robots for spraying, arc welding, spot welding, assembly, and handling, which enhance the nation's high-tech strategic position. As key supporting components for robots, specialized bearings significantly impact essential performance indicators such as smooth operation, repeat positioning accuracy, motion precision, and operational reliability.

 

Currently, there are many types of bearings for industrial robots, such as thin-walled deep groove ball bearings, thin-walled angular contact ball bearings, thin-walled four-point contact ball bearings, and thin-walled crossed roller bearings. Due to their strong load-carrying capacity for combined loads, high precision, low friction torque, light weight, and smooth operation, thin-walled four-point contact ball bearings and crossed roller bearings are mostly used in joints such as the waist, elbow, and wrist of industrial robots.

 

1. Structural Forms of Thin-Walled Four-Point Contact Ball Bearings

 

Thin-walled four-point contact ball bearings for industrial robots generally have sealed and non-sealed structures. They mainly consist of an inner ring, outer ring, cage, balls, or non-contact seals. Both the inner and outer rings are integral structures, with the balls in four-point contact with the grooves of the inner and outer rings, and the cage is a crown-type insert structure. They are suitable for installation in joints such as the wrist and elbow of industrial robots.

 

2. Features of Thin-Walled Sealed Four-Point Contact Ball Bearings

 

1. Smaller ratio of outer diameter to inner diameter, small rolling element diameter, large quantity of rolling elements, lightweight compared to standard bearings of the same inner diameter (about 5% of the weight of standard bearings), with cross-sectional area about 20% of that of standard bearings.

 

2. Fixed cross-section bearings: The series of thin-walled four-point contact ball bearings have the same cross-sectional dimensions and do not change with variations in inner or outer diameter.

 

3. Capable of supporting radial loads, bidirectional thrust loads, and tilting moments, equivalent to two sets of back-to-back angular contact ball bearings, but with a width equivalent to only one set of angular contact ball bearings.