NSK Develops a Ball Bearing for Ultra-High-Speed Rotary Motors

～Supports Ultra-High-Speed Rotation in Vacuum Cleaner Motors～

NSK Ltd. (NSK; Headquarters: Tokyo, Japan; President and CEO: Toshihiro Uchiyama) today announced that it has developed a ball bearing for ultra-high-speed rotary motors used in vacuum cleaner motors. This new bearing is capable of speeds in the order of 1 million dmN*1

NSK is targeting 1 billion yen in global annual sales by 2018 for this product.

*1：dmN = (pitch diameter of rolling element in mm) × (min-1).

Approx. 650,000 dmN in bearing for conventional vacuum cleaner motors.

Ball Bearing for Ultra-High-Speed Rotary Motors

Development Background
Household vacuum cleaners are getting more compact and lighter, and the air intake fans are approaching one-third the diameter of conventional ones used. In order to maintain the suction force of such-small diameter fans, the rotating speed of the fan motors has been increased, resulting in the need for the bearing being used to be able to sustain extremely high-speed rotation. In terms of dmN, a value used to indicate the speed characteristic, bearings now must be capable of withstanding in the order of 1 million dmN, which is approximately 1.5 times that of conventional speeds.
In response to this demand for bearings capable of withstanding higher speeds, NSK developed a dedicated bearing cage with an optimized design using high-strength materials. As a result, the new bearing can support ultra high speeds in the order of 1 million dmN.