Standard and Special Offshore Bearings
In the offshore and marine engineering sector there is a high requirement for reliable and effective turntable bearings that meet the sector-specific performance and safety standards. The R. A. Rodriguez own-brand turntable bearings not only fulfil these requirements but also provide off-the-shelf availability of the most popular part numbers.
These bearings are manufactured at the R. A. Rodriguez factory in Germany, using branded and in-house tested components. The products meet the requirements of almost any application technically and commercially and may be specified from a wide choice of materials, coatings and seals to provide conformity with the relevant insurance certification.
Indeed, R. A. Rodriguez has a wealth of applications’ experience in the offshore and marine engineering sector and is therefore well placed to guide customers through the specification process. It may be, for example, that the application would be better served by a different design such as a double row ball, cross roller or triple row roller bearings; the latter is available in outside diameter sizes up to 6m for heavy duty applications.
Standard off-the-shelf bearings
Two basic versions of the standard R. A. Rodriguez turntable bearings are available. The KDL series is for light applications where high accuracy is not a pre-requisite and the KDM series which provides a higher order of performance for greater loads. Both are manufactured, as standard, in high grade carbon steel or stainless steel and shipped pre-lubricated and ready for use.
All bearings are of a proven, four-point contact design which allows them to support axial, radial and tilting moment loads. They consist of a single row of balls with a ‘gothic arch’ raceway and either spacer or spacer balls to ensure smooth running or one-piece separators for low frictional torque.
Standard bearing diameters range from 100mm to 3900mm and are available as flanged units or with external or internal gearing and induction-hardened raceways. Fixing can be via standard, equally spaced drilled holes or via tapped holes or even special bolt patterns determined by the customer.
Considerable capital investment in the R. A. Rodriguez GmbH factory near Aachen in Germany has resulted in the company becoming one of Europe’s leading suppliers of bearings. In addition to turntable bearings, it also produces a range of special bearings and drive line products including linear guideways, bearing housings, ballscrews and acmescrews.
The close working relationship between the two R. A. Rodriguez companies allows customers to take advantage of high quality German design and manufacture as well as expert technical support that is specific to the UK.
