Ball bearings are used to provide smooth, low friction motion in rotary applications. Ball bearings types include radial ball bearings (deep groove and angular contact) and thrust ball bearings.
Miniature bearings and instrument bearings carry moderate radial and thrust loads at low operating torque while providing high performance in a small envelope design. These types of bearings are single row ball bearings available in up to 1 1/8" outer diameter (OD) sizes
Radial or deep groove bearings can handle radial and axial loads to varying degrees, but are typically used when the primary load is in the radial direction.
Roller bearings are used in rotary applications to replace sliding movement with low friction, rolling motion. The principal types of roller bearings are cylindrical, spherical, and tapered.
Spherical roller bearings are self-aligning, double row, combination radial and thrust bearings. They use a spherical or crowned roller as the rolling element.
Tapered roller bearings consist of an inner ring (cone), an outer ring (cup), a cage and rollers, which are profiled to distribute the load evenly across the roller.
Thrust bearings are designed for pure thrust loads, and can handle little or no radial load. The rolling element in a thrust bearing can be a ball, needle or roller.
