ENQUIRIES & QUOTES

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BALLS

Everyday life would be very different without the use of steel balls, as they are in almost every domestic appliance, bicycle, motorbike, car, train and aircraft. Every time you wash your hands and use a soap dispenser, it is the ball that enables you to get a measured amount of soap.

We’re capable of supplying loose balls in nearly every variation of grade and material available.

We’re also able to offer bespoke ball manufacturing. This follows the same process controls and traceability but using a customer’s own material. For further details, please email us or call +44 (0)7414 822432

In order to simplify the purchase of balls, we have devised our own grading system based on ISO and ABMA standards.

Material details below represent a fraction of the available alloys. Please contact us for more details about our Available Alloys datasheet at the bottom on this page.

Precision Balls in All Materials and Grades

Grade	Application
G5, G10	High precision bearings, gauges
G25	Precision bearings
G100	Bearings, drawer
G200	Soap dispensers, body jewellery
G500	Automotive seat slides, bicycles
G1000	Castors, unground bearings
G2000	Agitators, decorative uses, weights, ballast

Ball Grades

Material Datasheets

Useful terms and definitions

Batch or Lot: A definite quantity of balls manufactured under conditions presumed to be uniform and which is considered an entity.

Nominal Ball Diameter: The diameter value that is used for the general identification of a ball size.

Single Ball Diameter: The distance between two parallel planes tangential to the actual ball surface.

Diameter Tolerance per Batch: The allowed difference between the smallest measured ball diameter and the largest ball diameter within the same batch or lot.

Sphericity: A measure of roundness expressed as the difference between the measured roundness of a ball and a perfectly round ball.

Surface Finish or Roughness: A measure of the texture of a surface. It is quantified by the vertical deviations of the actual surface from its ideal form. If these deviations are large, the surface is rough; if they are small, the surface is smooth.

Hardness: A measure of resistance to penetration as determined by specific methods, usually Rockwell or Vickers Hardness.

ROLLERS

We supply many types of rollers, for use in a wide variety of applications. The main types of roller are as follows:

Needle Rollers: Available with either round or flat ends.
Cylindrical Rollers: Available with flat ends (either ground or unground) and with either a straight or logarithmic (crowned) profile.
Cylindrical Spindles: Available with round or flat ends.

Materials

Rollers are usually manufactured in chrome steel (UNI 100Cr6) but can also be produced to special order in:

AISI S2 and M2 Tool Steel
Stainless steel AISI 302, AISI 316 and AISI 420

Hardness

Chrome steel rollers are manufactured to a hardness of HRc 58 – 65 (653 – 832Hv10).

Needle Rollers

Needle rollers have a small diameter (1mm to 6mm) with a length of more than three times the diameter. Their main use is as rolling elements in bearings, where they are particularly useful when space is limited and a high radial load is required. They are also great as locating pins and mini-shafts.
The following diagram shows end shapes and profiles.

The following diagram shows end shapes/profile

Contact us for the list standard size and weight chart

DIMENSIONAL AND GEOMETRICAL ACCURACY
Deviations and tolerances for diameter					Length tolerance limits
Grade	Maximum Diameter Tolerance (µm)	Gauge Division (µm)	Roundness (µm)	Surface Finish (µm)	See table below
G2	+0 ~ -2	2	1	0.1	h13
G5	+0 ~ -5	5	2	0.2	h13

LENGTH TOLERANCES (mm)
Over	Up to	h13
–	6	+0	-0.180
6	10	+0	-0.220
10	18	+0	-0.270
18	30	+0	-0.330
30	50	+0	-0.330

Where no grade is specified when ordering, Atlas will supply NRA G5 with a diameter tolerance of +0 ~ -5µm

Cylindrical Rollers

These are flat-ended rollers and generally have a length that is one to three times the diameter. The diameter size range available is from 2.5mm (0.0984″) to 70mm (2.7559″), with lengths ranging from 4mm (0.1575″) to 70mm (2.7559″).

The main use for cylindrical rollers is in bearings, with other uses including automotive seat slides and rockbit drills.

Rollers normally conform to the tolerances shown below.

DIMENSIONAL AND GEOMETRICAL ACCURACY
Deviations and tolerances for diameter				Length tolerance
Grade	Diameter Tolerance µm	Roundness µm	Surface Finish µm	Ground Ends µm	Unground Ends µm
G 2	(< 26mm) 2µm	1	0.1	<15mm +0 ~ -30 >16mm +0 ~ -50	+0 – 200
	(26mm ~ 60mm) 3µm	1.5
G 5	5µm	2	0.2	+0 ~ -50	h13 (See table above)

Whilst the standard cylindrical rollers have a straight profile, they are available with a crowned or logarithmic profile, details upon request.

Cylindrical Spindles

These are long rollers that are used as pins or dowels, or as shafts in micro electric motors. The diameters available are from 2mm (0.0787″) through to 8mm (0.3149″), with lengths from 10mm (0.3937″) through to 100mm (3.937″).

Available Materials

Manufaturing Materials List

SLEWING RINGS

QCB offer a wide range of Slewing Rings (from 100mm to 11 000mm outside diameter), Slewing Drives, Ring Gears and Pinions. With carefully selected industry partners QCB can offer turnkey rotation systems for the smallest industrial systems up to the largest offshore installations.

QCB have years of experience, backed by state of the art design software to ensure the optimum solution for your needs. We have become a trusted name in slewing ring bearings with a satisfied and international customer base in industries as diverse as mining machinery, materials handling, offshore oil and gas, access platforms, process treatment plants, wind power, special effects and art installations.

The QCB range

Slewing bearings

Slewing rings are large diameter rolling bearings that can accommodate axial, radial and moment loads in combination, while rotating or making oscillatory motions. Slewing rings consist of 2 or 3 rings between which either spherical or cylindrical rolling elements are arranged with suitable spacers or cage. The rings incorporate mounting and handling holes, as well as integral spur, helical or worm gearing. Lip seals prevent the ingress of contaminants into the raceway.

As well as our own designs, we offer equivalents to other brands such as Torriani Gianni, La Leonessa, BRB Technologies, INA-FAG (now the Schaeffler Group), Roballo, Roth Erde, Rollix Defontaine, Avon, Taperex, Kaydon, Rossi-MRI, RKS, SKF, RIMA, IMO, Titanus, Silverthin, PSL, Drecon to name a few…

QCB has experience in the manufacture of

Single row ball bearings
Double row ball bearings
Crossed roller bearings
Combination ball / roller bearings
Triple row roller bearings
Wire race bearings
Precision rotary turntables
Harmonic reducer bearings
Ring gears
Segmented bearings and ring gears
Pinions
Pinion shafts

Not only do we have an extensive catalogue reference library, and have developed an extensive interchange system.

Slewing Drives

Essentially a slewing drive is a slewing ring mounted on a base plate onto which a worm shaft is fixed which engages on the helical or worm gear in the outer ring. Hydraulic or electric motors can be used to provide rotation.

During 2021 we will be introducing a new spur-gear based slewing drive range.

Geared motors and pinions

Geared rings require some form of drive. Working in conjunction with leading manufacturers QCB offers turnkey solutions with matched pinions, electric or hydraulic geared motors (helical-bevel, worm or planetary style), servo-motors or air motors.

Trailer rings

Low precision, large diameter bearings intended primarily for low speed articulation of off-road trailer steering axles, and light industrial applications with
intermittent movement. Trailer rings are usually manufactured in a low grade
carbon steel and are undrilled and unsealed. As such trailer rings are not
suited to applications with eccentric loads or continuous rotation.

Most QCB slewing rings use standardised nitrile or VITON lip seals to prevent
the ingress of contaminants, other sealing systems are available.

Spur, helical or worm gear profiles provide for the transfer of power if suitable
gearing is included in their design.

Slewing rings

Large diameter precision ball and/or roller bearings that can accomodate high
axial, radial and moment loads in combination while rotating or making oscillatory movements in any orientation.

Slewing rings consist of 2 or 3 rolled or forged rings between which either ball
or cylindrical rolling elements are arranged, usually separated by spacers or a
cage.

The rings incorporate drilled or tapped holes to facilitate fixation and handling.
Gearing on either (or both) rings facilitates the transmission of power.
This catalogue illustrates the standard range, much of which is stocked at all
times.

Many other QCB bearings are manufactured to special designs or derived
from samples or drawings submitted by our international clients.

Ring gears, gear segments and pinions

QCB can supply large diameter ring gears, gear segments and large pinions to order.

Worm gear slewing drives

Slewing drives consist of an externally geared slewing ring with associate worm shaft mounted on a common base plate in an open or enclosed style housing. Power is provided by hydraulic or electric geared motors. Load speed is usually restricted to around 2.5 rpm.

Spur gear slewing drives

Spur gear slewing drives offer higher rotation speeds over their worm gear counterparts of up to 20 rpm.

Special products

TRAILER RINGS

Series U,L&N – Light duty trailer rings

Trailer ring technical

Trailer rings do not usually have hardened raceways and cannot be considered as a replacement for a slewing rings.

Trailer rings are not precision bearings and dimensions such as the overall height can vary by as much as 3mm, and diameters by as much as 5mm.

Series U

Suitable for light offroad trailers, irrigation systems or airport luggage trolleys at speeds < 25 km/h and simple industrial turntables

Series L

Suitable for light trailers at speeds < 30 km/h

Series N

Suitable for heavier farm vehicles, factory trailers and small road going trailers at speeds > 30 km/h.

Support structure

Trailer rings should be supported by a stiff frame over at least 50% of their surface area with the loading plug positioned away from the direction of any significant radial load, usually at 90 deg to the direction of travel. Metal tags welded to the frame can be used to improve radial location and reduce bolt shear stress caused by acceleration and deceleration.

Bolt data

Series U, L and N are supplied undrilled. 6 to 8 Grade 8.8 bolts size M12 to M16 (depending on diameter) should be added to each flange. Typical bolt patterns are illustrated in Figure 1. Bolt torques should be tightened appropriately and checked during a monthly maintenance cycle. Recommended bolt torques are tabulated in Table 1

Bolt size Recommended torque (Nm)

M12 78
M14 126

M16 193

Table 1: Recommended trailer ring bolt torques

Lubrication

Unsealed trailer rings must be fully greased on installation and throughout their service life. A good quality multipurpose EP2 grease will be adequate in most applications. Grease intervals are difficult to define and will depend on operating conditions. In dirty or wet environments continuous lubrication is preferable. Always rotate the ring during lubrication to distribute the grease throughout the raceway.