1. What? Bearings were first used in ancient times?
Since ancient times, humans have developed many ways to reduce friction. Now let's look at the example of the Egyptian pyramids.
The pyramids were built using huge, heavy stones stacked one on top of the other. The size of these boulders is astonishing: How on earth did ancient people move such heavy stones? You can guess the answer by studying ancient Egyptian murals.
There are many murals depicting pyramid structures, in which we can see logs rolling under huge stones. Scholars believe that by rolling these logs, friction was reduced, allowing relatively little force to move these extremely heavy stones. This method of transporting stones gave way to the idea of rolling elements (rollers) used in bearings.
Throughout the ages, humanity's record of reducing friction varies by time period and method, but can be seen around the world. This demonstrates the importance of reducing friction for smoother movement throughout human history.
2. Was Leonardo da Vinci the first person to think of using bearings with cages?
Leonardo da Vinci was an outstanding artist from Italy and one of the typical "Renaissance people". It is no exaggeration to call him the "father" of modern bearings.
Passionate and curious about everything, Leonardo left a deep impression not only in the world of art but also in the field of mechanical design. A sketch of a bearing, an integral part of machinery, can be found in one of his notebooks. This unparalleled ingenuity resulted in bearings that significantly reduce friction.
The structure is a structure of two upper and lower rings (seat rings) and rolling balls (rolling elements) sandwiched between the rings. Amazingly, the sketch even includes a "cage" so the balls don't come into contact with each other.
This is nearly identical to the bearing construction we continue to use today. This "basic bearing structure" consisting of raceways, rolling elements ("balls" or "rollers") and cages was proposed about 500 years ago. It is precisely because of the genius of Renaissance man Leonardo that bearings were able to achieve this milestone leap. But even if he could discover this basic load-bearing structure, actually building and mass-producing such a device would be another matter. To make bearings widely used in machinery, we must wait for the industrial revolution.
3. The popularity of bearings occurred during the industrial revolution
The Industrial Revolution lasted roughly from the mid-18th century to the 19th century. Steel was mass-produced, allowing high-strength steel bearings to be mass-produced for the first time. This means that the bearings can be used in a wide range of industrial areas. The use of bearings on axles was a particularly important discovery of the industrial age.
The first step is the ball bearing, used in bicycle axles, which uses "balls" as rolling elements. This became widely popular. Later roller bearings were developed. It used "rollers" as rolling elements and was used on the axles of horse-drawn carriages. The advent of bearing-based axles has enabled a huge leap forward in transportation and movement.
Almost at the same time, bearings began to be used in various industrial machinery, making great contributions to industrialization. In the process of the industrial revolution, bearings have been secretly assisting industrial development and have become an inseparable existence for mankind.
4. The history of Japanese bearings
The first bearings manufactured in Japan are said to have been produced in 1916 to fill an order for the Imperial Navy. JTEKT's predecessor, Koyo Seiko (later Koyo Seiko Co., Ltd.), began producing and selling bearings just five years later in 1921.
With domestic demand for bicycles growing steadily in Japan and the emergence of automobiles, the Japanese bearing industry seems set to steadily advance and spread. The future is bright. But then World War II happened. Factories across Japan suffered huge war damage, and the bearing industry took a major hit.
But Japan's bearing manufacturers refused to budge. We worked together to develop a manufacturing process for high-quality bearings. The precision and performance of Japanese-made bearings are not only restored, but better than ever.
As motorization increases, more and more bearings are being developed to improve the durability and reliability of automobiles, leading to a surge in domestic demand for bearings in Japan. Bearings played a key role in Japan's miraculous economic growth during this era. Eventually, the precision and performance of Japanese bearings were recognized around the world, allowing us to enter the international market. Now, with Japanese bearings becoming famous around the world, approximately 30% of the bearings on the planet are the work of Japanese bearing manufacturers.
5. The evolutionary history of bearings is the history of the development of human civilization
If bearings hadn't been developed, humans would probably still be struggling to exert enormous amounts of force to move heavy objects today, not to mention we almost certainly wouldn't have all the modern conveniences and comforts that machines provide.
The birth and evolution of bearings have had an immeasurable impact on the development of human civilization.
Bearings are products of the wisdom of our ancient ancestors and have played a key, if hidden, role in the history of industrialization.
The development history of bearings
Bearings are the support for mechanical transmission shafts and are an important guarantee for the performance, function and efficiency of the host. They are known as the "joints" of the machine. Its main function is to transmit force and motion and reduce friction losses.
I believe that few people know that the earliest origin of bearings is China, and it has a history of thousands of years.
// Origin of bearings //
According to the latest archaeological records, the slow wheel was born 8,000 years ago, or it has already evolved to a stage. In March 2010, a wooden pottery wheel base was discovered at the Kuahuqiao cultural site, which confirmed that China's pottery wheel technology preceded the two river basins of West Asia by more than 2,000 years. This means that China began to use bearings earlier than West Asia, or that it used the principle of bearings. .
The wooden pottery wheel base unearthed from the Kuahuqiao cultural site
The base of this wooden pottery wheel is like a trapezoidal round platform. There is a small raised cylinder in the center of the upper table, which is the axis for the pottery wheel turntable. The turntable supports rotation through the shaft on the circular table, which is the prototype of the bearing.
Schematic diagram of the working of the pottery wheel at the Kuahuqiao cultural site
The slow wheel across the lake bridge is the first time that humans have used wheel and axle machinery to make pottery, and it is also the first time that archaeological discoveries have used bearings.
Schematic diagram of the restoration of the slow wheel device of the Northern Wei Dynasty in Datong City, Shanxi Province
1 Car Pit 2 Car Piles 3 Car Barrel 4 Wheel Disk 5 Wheel Disk Center Point
Later, people discovered that wooden wheels with larger diameters were used for faster transportation, so the diameters of wooden wheels became larger and larger, gradually evolving into wheels with axles, which formed the earliest prototype of wheels. Of course, the wheel is also an invention of our Chinese nation.
During the Yellow Emperor's period 4,700 years ago, the first vehicle in human history entered the stage of history.
Huangdi built chariots, so he was called Xuanyuan.
Xuan is a kind of covered car in ancient times, and the shaft is the basic component of the car.
The emergence of sliding bearings puts forward the need for lubrication or promotes the development of tribology.
The Book of Songs is China's earliest poetry collection. Therefore, poetry probably originated from the early Zhou Dynasty to the middle Spring and Autumn Period, that is, from the 11th century BC to the 6th century BC. In the "Book of Songs·Beifeng·Quanshui" chapter, there is a saying: "Carrying fat and carrying jurisdiction, returning the chariot with words of greatness. To reach the peak of Wei, is it flawless and harmful?" The jurisdiction was interpreted as "the end key of the axle" in ancient times. Used on ancient cars, it is equivalent to what we call a pin now. It passes through the axle end and can "bind" the wheel to fix the wheel axially; and "grease" is of course a lubricant, and "return" means going home. , "Mai" means fast. Translated into modern Chinese, these lines of poetry are: Use grease to lubricate the axle, check the pin at the end of the axle, drive a long way, and send me home. Hurry to your hometown guard! Don't make me feel guilty.
Jurisdiction
The Qin (221-206 BC) and Han dynasties had rudimentary structures of bearings and bearing writing forms.
Due to the practice of the invention and application of bearing technology in the Zhou, Qin, and Han dynasties, in some important cultural classics of the Qin and Han dynasties, special words related to bearings with clear connotations and mature writing have been recorded and often used. Among them, the more common ones are "axis" Words such as "釭" and "锏" as well as subject-predicate words such as "axis receive" (see "Shuowen Jiezi"). In contemporary Japan, the written expression of bearing is still "axis". In the Qin Dynasty writing in Xiaozhuan, there are "axis", "bearing", "锭" and "machine". The original meaning of the characters in the Han Dynasty is explained as "axis" means holding the wheel, "cheng" means serving or receiving, "釭" means the iron in the hub, and "machine" means the iron in the axle. It can be seen that the Qin and Han Dynasties have established the bearing cultural concept and writing form.
Ring-shaped bronze object with internal cavity found in rural Shaanxi, China
(2nd century BC)
Yuan Dynasty (1206～1367) Jianyi used cylindrical rolling bearing technology
The simplified sphere is simplified from the armillary sphere. The armillary sphere is an instrument mainly used for astronomical observation. Its parts can be divided into two parts: supporting parts and moving parts. The supporting parts include the Shui Fu, dragon pillars, double Tianjing rings, equatorial single rings, and the Tianzhu in the center of the Shui Fu. The image below visually shows the main supporting decorative parts of the Armillary Sphere.
Simplified model of armillary sphere and schematic diagram of its components
// Modern bearing development //
The birth of the first set of domestic bearings in modern China
In early 1937, Wang Ruibao and Ma Genbao brought "1511" bearing inner and outer rings, cages, steel balls and other samples from Wuxi to Qin Furong, the owner of the Qin Fuxing hardware stall, and proposed the idea of jointly manufacturing bearings. Qin Furong saw that the sample was similar to the Japanese product NSK, and heard from Wang and Ma that the cost of steel rings forged from railway steel was only one-third of that of Japanese products. He thought it was profitable, so he made a steel ring in Mantingfang. Qin Fuxing Machinery Factory was opened at No. 48, "Yueguili", Zhilong, with Wang Ruibao and Ma Genbao serving as technical guidance.
The equipment at that time was only two belt lathes, two foot-operated punch presses, and a drilling machine. The lathes were also used as grinders. In addition to the imported steel balls, the ferrules are forged by Gaoshun Tai Iron Shop. The material is railway steel and quenched with sodium hydride. The retainer is made of iron sheets and is blued with potassium nitrate. At the same time, plug gauges and steel tapes are used as measuring tools. It is the first domestically produced set in Shanghai. "1308" double row self-aligning ball bearing was born under such simple conditions. This is also the first set of domestic bearings in China, and the product brand is SRF.
Qin Fuxing Hardware Shaft Collar Iron Factory
From 1937 to 1945, more than ten workshops including Qin Fuxing Hardware Factory, Shanghai Jinchang Iron Factory, Rongtai New Machine Factory, Qin Fuxing Machine Factory, Jinxing Iron Factory, Yuan Xingchang Machine Factory, Jincheng Machine Factory, etc. began to manufacture bearings, thus laying the foundation for This laid the foundation for Shanghai's national bearing production.
China's bearings have gone through a long history, but there is still a long way to go in becoming bigger and stronger.
International
// History of world bearing development //
Speaking of the origin of foreign bearings, this can be traced back to the ancient Egyptian period.
The early form of linear motion bearings was a row of wooden rods placed under the crowbar. This technology may date back to the construction of the Great Pyramid of Giza, although there is no clear evidence. Modern linear motion bearings use the same working principle, except that balls are sometimes used instead of rollers.
Start-up period
From heavy-duty wheel axles and machine tool spindles to precision watch parts, rotating bearings are needed in many applications.
The simplest swivel bearing is a sleeve bearing, which is simply a bushing sandwiched between the wheel and axle.
This design was later replaced by rolling bearings, which replaced the original bushings with many cylindrical rollers, each rolling element acting like a separate wheel. The earliest rolling bearing with a cage put into use was invented by watchmaker John Harrison in 1760 to make the H3 chronograph.
In the 17th century, Galileo made the earliest description of "fixed ball" or "cage ball" ball bearings.
For a long time, the installation of bearings on the machine was not realized. The first patent for ball grooves was in 1794. An iron manufacturer named Philip Vaughan in Carmarthen, Wales, used ball bearings as axle bearings for carriages. It was not until the 1950s and 1960s that people used ball bearings as axle bearings for carriages. Ball bearings are widely used in the shafts of children's merry-go-rounds, propeller shafts, machine gun turrets on warships, armchairs, bicycles and other equipment.
In 1883, FAG founder Friedrich Fisher proposed the idea of using suitable production machines to grind steel balls of the same size and accurate roundness. The foundation for the creation of an independent bearing industry was laid.
Picture of the ball mill designed by Friedrich Fischer
In 1895, Henry Timken designed the first tapered roller bearing. Three years later, he obtained the patent and established the Timken Company.
In 1907, Sven Wingquist of the SKF bearing factory designed the earliest modern self-aligning ball bearing.
At that time, although the invention of bearings had been around for some time, the industrial production of bearings had just started from scratch and was quite naive.
Image Sven Wingquist's original drawing of a self-aligning ball bearing in 1907
growth period
The two world wars stimulated the development of the military industry. The position of bearings in the military industry has become increasingly prominent. Coupled with the rapid development of science and technology, the short-term stability after World War I and the urgent need for arms during World War II, the world's bearing industry has grown rapidly and the variety of bearings has increased. It is widely used in automobiles, aircraft, tanks and armored vehicles, machine tools, instruments, meters, bicycles, sewing machines and many other fields.
During the Second World War, with the modernization of war methods and people's understanding and attention to bearings, various countries were in urgent need of bearings and eager to establish a bearing industry. A large number of bearing factories appeared in various countries.
This can be seen only from the selection of points when the Allied forces attacked the German Nazis.
Large-scale cluster bombing, destroying the enemy's morale and economy in one fell swoop, was a typical tactic of World War II. When attacking targets in Germany, the Allies believed that in order to weaken the enemy's combat effectiveness, they must carry out focused bombing on German submarine manufacturing plants and bases, aircraft manufacturing plants, bearing factories, oil refineries, synthetic rubber plants and vehicles. The bearing factory was designated as a key bombing target. The small town of Schweinfurt, where the German bearing factories were concentrated, was heavily bombed twice in August and October 1943.
The bombing mission was carried out by the US ace Eighth Air Force. Nazi Germany's Munitions Minister Albert Schupe admitted that the bombing in August reduced German bearing production by 38%, while the results of the bombing in October caused 65% of bearing enterprises to be destroyed.
Development period
With the rapid development of high and new technologies such as aerospace, electronic computers, optical and electromagnetic instruments, and precision machinery, the world's bearing industry, which embodies the level of contemporary science and technology, has entered a stage of comprehensive innovation in manufacturing technology, rapid development of varieties, vigorous improvement of performance and precision, and increasingly mature and perfect A new era in history.
During this period, there were all kinds of bearings with all-encompassing uses. Currently, there are tens of thousands of bearing varieties. Extra-large bearings are as large as 38 meters, and miniature bearings are as small as a few tenths of a millimeter. There are traditional single-row, double-row, and multi-row ball bearings, roller bearings, Needle roller bearings, tapered bearings, unlubricated bearings, self-lubricating bearings, angular contact bearings, transmission bearings, universal joint bearings, ultra-thin wall bearings, hub unit bearings, air bearings, linear bearings, superconducting bearings, magnetic levitation Bearings etc.
The bearing industry has become a big success. As a component, small bearings have a unique and large-scale market that cannot be ignored. The bearing trade has ushered in its heyday.
