News Releases
NACHI-FUJIKOSHI CORP.
Start of Quest, a new brand for bearings
NACHI-FUJIKOSHI CORP. will name new family brands for main product groups including bearings to actively appeal their superiority as product groups. We will position high function bearings for industrial machines as "Quest," searching high function and reliability as an important machine element. Quest brand consists of various high function bearings for industrial machines, and they utilize our unique material, heat treatment and machining technology. (Industrial machines are various machines including machine tools, industrial robots, construction machines, and injection molding machines.) For the advancing and diversifying needs of the market, we will provide sophisticated features including high speed, high load, improvement of durability, low torque, energy saving, low noise and low vibration, maintenance free and module. We will develop Quest brand products in turn, and we will put them into market, beginning by "ball screw support bearings" which we are announcing this time.
Quest Bringing the new type of
"ball screw support bearings" into market
In the fields of various machine tools, precision measurement machines, industrial robots, and injection molding machines, NACHI-FUJIKOSHI CORP. has supplied high function precision bearings to support ball screws, which are the actuators for precise feeding. Up to now, we have brought into market "open type" for external oil seal equipment and "contact sealed type" that achieved maintenance free by sealing high performance lubricating grease. This time, we developed "non-contact sealed ball screw support bearings" that aim at energy saving by reduction of torque and at suppression of temperature increase, and we will expand the lineup. By adding "non-contact sealed type" to conventional "open type" and "contact sealed type," customers can select ball screw support bearings of our company in accordance with application and features of machines.
1.Recent technological trends of ball screws
- Stronger thrust is required for the ball screws that are assembled in machine tools and injection molding machines. As for bearings that support the ball screws, high load and high rigidity are needed.
- We are promoting the reduction of maintenance man-hour and longer life of the element parts of machines including ball screws, and we are working on the improvement of operation rate and efficiency.
- Feeding precision of ball screws affects machining quality of machine tools, so deformation by heat has to be restrained to the minimum.
2.The position of our company
- Bearing division in our company develops business for mainly high value-added high function bearings. In the auto-industry, we develop bearings for car air-conditioners and for constant velocity joints. In the field of industrial machines, we develop bearings for machine tools and for printing machines. Above all, ball screw support bearings used for machine tools have good record of sales in Japan, and they contribute to high accuracy and sophistication of machines.
- By the expansion of product lineup, we will cultivate the market for injection molding machines that are becoming electric-powered. We will also cultivate the market for semiconductor manufacturing equipment and the market for precision measurement equipment for which high precision is required.
3.Features of "ball screw support bearings" of our company
- Open type
Compared to conventional ball bearings, we assembled many large balls, and we adopted ball retainers made of special plastic to achieve high rigidity. It is suitable when there is external oil seal equipment. - Contact sealed type
Based on the basic structure of open type, we sealed in high-performance grease, and we put seals with excellent sealing performance. Therefore, invasion of dust and outflow of oil are quite rare, and maintenance and external oil sealing equipment are not necessary. - Non-contact sealed type (This time developed and will be put into market.)
We reduced torque at start-up and rotation, and achieved energy saving. It restrains temperature increase of bearings to the minimum, and it reduces fluctuation of feeding precision by heat.
4.Application and sales target
| (1) | Application: | Ball screws used for various machine tools, injection molding machines, industrial robots, and precision measurement machines. |
| (2) | Size: | inner diameter 15-60mm, outer diameter 47-120mm, width 15mm, 20mm |
| (3) | Start of sales: | December 1, 2005 (non-contact sealed type) |
| (4) | Sales target: | 1 billion yen for the fiscal year 2006, and 2 billion yen for the fiscal year 2010 (Total of ball screw support bearings) |