Needle Roller Bearings

Needle roller bearings are used in confined spaces to carry radial loads. As their name implies, the rollers are similar to needles in shape, but generally have a larger diameter. Please note that there is also a series of needle roller bearings designed to handle thrust loads.

The most commonly used type is the SHELL or DRAWN CUP needle roller bearing. In the SHELL type there are two basic configurations, Open type and Closed type. In both of these the bearings can be either a caged type or full complement type. The full complement type are designed to take higher radial loads.

It should be noted that in certain cases, one of the parts (outer ring, needle rollers, cage) may not be included in the bearing construction. For example, where the bearing has no outer ring, this is called a Needle Roller and Cage Assembly. This type of bearing is intended to be used where both shaft and housing can be produced to sufficient quality standards to run needle rollers directly on. Where the bearing has no cage, this is called a Full Complement Needle Roller Bearing. This type of bearing is intended to be used under high loads at low turning speeds, and the description “full complement” refers to the bearing being “full” of needles (i.e. no space taken up by a cage). The bearings can either run directly on a properly finished shaft or on an inner ring.

The 3 basic parts of Needle Roller Bearings:

  1. Outer ring, there are two different types of outer rings produced for needle roller bearings.
  2. a) Drawn Cup, or Shell Type Outer Ring
  3. b) Precision Ground Outer Ring
  4. Needle Rollers

These are the “rolling elements” of a needle roller bearing, which give the bearing its anti-friction properties. Needle rollers are basically a special form of cylindrical roller. The distinguishing feature which separated needle rollers from cylindrical rollers is that the length of the roller is at least 1.7 times its diameter.

  1. The Cage

The main task of the cage in a needle roller bearing is to provide accurate guidance of the needle rollers.

The following Needle Roller Bearings are available from Pine Rivers Bearings.

  • SCE and SCE-PP Series – Drawn cup needle roller bearing, Open ends for through shafts, cage guided, with/without seals, Inch dimensional
  • HK, and HK-RS Series – Drawn cup needle roller bearing, Open ends for through shafts, cage guided, with/without seals, Metric dimensional
  • BCE and BCE-P Series – Drawn cup needle roller bearing, One end closed for shaft ends, cage guided, with/without seals, Inch dimensional
  • BK, and BK-RS Series – Drawn cup needle roller bearing, One end closed for shaft ends, cage guided, with/without seals, Metric dimensional

Need Assistance Selecting the correct Needle Roller Bearings?

If you need assistance selecting the right bearings for your particular application, please give us a call and talk to one of our knowledgeable staff. We’re here to help and problem solve for you.