10 Cast Net: Roller Bearings

Monday 8 October 2012

Roller Bearings

A rolling-element bearing, also known as a rolling bearing, is a bearing which carries a load by placing round elements between two bearing rings. The relative motion of the pieces causes the round elements to roll with very little rolling resistance and with little sliding. One of the earliest and best-known rolling-element bearings are sets of logs laid on the ground with a large stone block on top. As the stone is pulled, the logs roll along the ground with little sliding friction. As each log comes out the back, it is moved to the front where the block then rolls on to it. It is possible to imitate such a bearing by placing several pens or pencils on a table and placing an item on top of them. See "bearings" for more on the historical development of bearings.