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Product category: Bearings
News Release from: NSK UK | Subject: Spacea Series
Edited by the Engineeringtalk Editorial Team on 30 December 2002

Bearings perform in super-clean
environments

NSK's Spacea Series bearings for clean environments integrate the latest materials, lubricants and coatings technologies to provide high performance and reliability.

NSK's Spacea Series bearings for clean environments integrate the latest materials, lubricants and coatings technologies to provide high performance and reliability under demanding super-clean, vacuum and high temperature operating conditions The bearings are designed to meet the widest range of technical requirements in vacuum coating processes and the manufacture of semi-conductors, hard disks and medical equipment

The Spacea clean room series is divided into four main types, each offering graduated performance levels depending upon the application type and the prevailing operating conditions.

For operation in clean rooms, at normal temperature and pressure, grease packed LZZ-H bearings are offered.

These are shielded, deep groove ball bearings with inner rings, outer rings and balls manufactured from martensitic stainless steel.

The bearing shield is also stainless steel.

Lubrication for the LZZ-H bearings is provided by NSK's specially developed clean room greases, LG2 and LGU.

These offer significant advantages compared to fluorine greases, notably lower particle emissions, lower and more stable torque, up to 10 times longer life, and also superior rust prevention.

LGU, in particular, is free from metallic elements and also offers the wider operating range of the two greases; -30 to +120C as compared with -20 to +70C for the LG2.

Typical areas of application for the LG2 or LGU packed LZZ- bearings include liquid crystal and semiconductor manufacture, food processing equipment, medical equipment and hard disk manufacturing.

The Spacea Series also caters for conveying applications in clean environments, either at normal temperature and pressure, or in vacuum conditions at room temperatures.

The structure of the LZZC3-H bearings, designed for these applications, employs martensitic stainless steel outer ring, inner rings and balls, stainless steel cages and shields.

Resin cages are also available in this range.

However, because of their operating environment, LZZC3-H bearings are packed with LGA, a wear resistant fluorine grease specially developed by NSK.

LGA offers greater durability than standard fluorine grease in vacuum environments.

It also has lower particle emissions and a lower vapour pressure, which ensures a reduced lubricant loss over time.

Due to its low vapour pressure, LGA is the ideal lubricant for Spacea bearings in vacuum environments where ambient temperatures are not high.

However, for applications where ambient temperatures are high (up to 200øC) and may cause fluorine grease to vaporise, another type of Spacea bearing is available which uses a solid fluororesin (LDF) coating as its lubrication medium.

The coating is applied to the stainless steel cage of the LZZC4-HPF type bearings and provides such benefits as low particle emissions in normal and vacuum environments, excellent heat resistance, long life and low outgassing.

Spacea bearings benefiting from LDF are used in sputtering equipment in semiconductor manufacture, vacuum producing equipment and aerospace instruments.

For vacuum and even higher temperature operation, up to 300C, the cage of the Spacea bearing itself becomes the lubrication medium.

The cage is constructed from self-lubricating fluorine resin, guaranteeing, in addition to excellent lubrication, long life, low particle emissions, excellent heat resistance and low out gassing.

These benefits are particularly important in such applications as: sputtering equipment, solar cell manufacturing, robotics, hard disk manufacture and liquid crystal display and semiconductor production.

Further extending the scope of the Spacea range, into heavy-duty applications in vacuum environments, is NSK's development of bearings using MoS2 (molybdenum disulphide) solid lubricant.

NSK offers three types of bearings using MoS2; one with a cage containing the material while the remaining two employ solid lubricant spacer joints.

These bearings are suitable for operation in the temperature range up to 400C, with the added features of long life in vacuum environments and low outgassing. Request a free brochure from NSK UK ...

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