Tough applications in construction and material handling requires a spherical plain bearing with longer life, less maintenance and less downtime than standard spherical plain bearings. A bearing with total interchangeability to standard designs is preferred. RBC engineering developed the QuadLube® spherical plain bearing after observing the three predominant factors which contribute to the failure of spherical plain bearings:
1) Unidirectional loads
2) Heavy loads
3) Neglected lubrication intervals
Each factor contributes to a lack of lubrication in the load zone area which eventually allows for metal to metal contact and premature failure of the bearing in the application. RBC engineering developed the QuadLube® spherical plain bearing to solve each of these three failure modes. The RBC QuadLube® spherical plain bearing is manufactured within the same envelope dimensions as standard inch and metric spherical plain bearings. The lubrication system contains four precisely machined circular grooves on the spherical surface of the inner ring. Each circular groove is connected by a lubrication groove around the circumference of the inner ring. The bearing is packed with an EP moly grease and is sealed with lip contacts seals for grease retention. The innovative design of the RBC QuadLube® interconnecting lubricating groove system ensures a more efficient distribution of the lubricant by providing channels that transport the grease throughout the entire bearing, including into the contact area of the bearing under load. In cases of unidirectional load or when lubrication intervals are missed, the groove system retains extra lubricant where it is needed for added margin of performance. In the dirtiest of environments the grooves and channels capture any dirt or debris and keep these contaminants away from the raceway surfaces.
The RBC QuadLube® long life spherical plain bearing maintains the same size capacity ratings as conventional bearings with the same envelope. They can immediately replace conventional bearings without modifying housings or shafts. Should you have a nonstandard spherical plain bearing in your problem application, RBC can design a QuadLube® bearing specifically for your existing envelope sizes.