Cam Follower Bearings

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What are they?
Cam follower bearings are also referred to as track follower bearings. They are designed to follow a sliding or rotating piece (cam) and they use rollers or needles as the rolling elements. Cam follower bearings are therefore able to replicate a specific motion because they are highly versatile. They have thick-walled outer rings that run on a track. They are used to minimize distortion and bending stress while facilitating high load carrying capacity.
Generally speaking, cam follower bearings are designed in different configurations and special structures can be designed according to the task requirements. They may either be of two styles:

Stud style
Stud style cam follower bearing has one end plate integrated into the inner race (stud) and the other pressed onto the stud unto a shoulder on the inner race. Both ends of the stud have holes for lubrication and the inner race is induction hardened to maintain some degree of softness in case some modification is required.

Yoke styles
The end plates of Yoke style cam follower bearings are pressed or liquid metal injected onto the inner race. The inner race may either be through hardened or induction hardened. Yoke style is suitable for applications that exceed the capabilities of the stud type due to exceeding loading conditions. They are suitable for applications that require minimum deflection.

Structure of cam follower bearings
The cam follower has an outer race which is loaded to a single point. In order to reduce deformation, the outer race has a thick cross section and the roller diameter is decreased.
Stud style may have a standard stud or heavy stud depending on the required static load capacity.

The materials used in their manufacture are:
Needle roller: Gcr15, quench-hardening HRC60—65
Rings: Gcr15
Cage: Low-carbon steel or reinforced nylon
Both the stud and yoke cam followers have an outer diameter that may either be cylindrical or crowned. The crowned ones are often used in turntable type applications because they help reduce skidding.

Application
Cam follower bearings are suitable for applications that involve high radial loads and certain shock loads. They are widely used in machine tools, metallurgy, textile and printing machinery, pressing lines, indexing equipment, ram support rollers, material handling, motor vehicles, pumping devices, etc.

Product series
STO/RSTO, NA/RNA22...2RS, NATR, NATR...PP, NATV, NATV...PP, NUTR, KR, KR...PP, KRE, KRE...PP, KRV, KRV...PP, KRVE, KRVE...PP, NUTR, NUTRE