Spyraflo Inc. (Peachtree City, GA) manufactures specialty bearings that offer innovative ways for original equipment manufacturers and fabricators to reduce cost and enhance bearing performance. For example, Spyraflow self-aligning bearings have a bearing insert that can pivot ± 5 degrees axially to compensate for shaft misalignment and ensure smooth shaft rotation. Spyraflo self-aligning bearings are available with ID from 1/8 to 1 1/4 inch. They are also self-clinching and can be installed in steel sheets as thin as 0.04 inch. When the bearing is pressed into a steel sheet, the steel cold-flows around the retainer, ensuring a secure installation that requires a very small footprint.

As part of its continuous-improvement program, Spyraflo, an ISO 9001 certified company, recently installed air-powered toggle presses from Schmidt Feintechnik (Cranberry Township, PA) to precisely assemble its highly engineered self-aligning bearings. The outer retainer on these self-aligning bearings is made from heat-treated steel. The bearing insert can be made of Delrin, Oilite bronze, Teflon-impregnated bronze, or it can be a conventional needle roller bearing.

To assemble the bearing, tooling on the press ram rolls the periphery of the outer retainer around the bearing insert as the ram completes its stroke, retaining the insert laterally and axially, while allowing the self-aligning pivot. Ensuring that the self-aligning feature is consistent presents a demanding assembly challenge. For the bearing to be assembled correctly, it is critical that the press ram comes down to the same point every time, both vertically and laterally. A variation as small as 0.002 inch in any direction is not acceptable.