Development of World’s Lowest Friction Ball Bearings by NSK
NSK made an announcement on development of ultra low friction sealed clean ball bearings featuring half the friction of the conventional sealed ball bearings. The new ball bearings will be targeted for application in manual transmission (MT) vehicles. The NSK’s sealed bearings are used inside transmission in preventing the ingress of gear dust as well as other contaminants resulting in a longer service life and greater reliability. In the new product, straining force was reduced by 50% through narrowing the seal lip by 10% and length by 70% in comparison to conventional bearings based on computer simulations of the lip shape. The new shape in this product improves lip-following and stabilizes contact pressure along the edge. The new product will be used in manual transmission as well as double clutch transmissions (DCT) vehicles, a popular style of transmission in Europe combining fuel efficiency with a sporty feelings. The Company’s sales target for this product is 1.5 billion yen by 2015.
