NKE Austria has developed a special bearing unit for the cutter tine rotor of a power harrow from agricultural machinery manufacturer Lemken. The Zirkon 10 power harrow was previously designed with a standard deep groove ball bearing. A radial oil seal running on the inner race of a needle roller bearing and a felt seal in a metal housing were arranged next to the deep groove ball bearing, and each of these four components had to be handled and fitted separately.
NKE proposed a unit in which the external seals were already integrated in the bearing. Based on a standard deep groove ball bearing 6212, the resulting bearing features an RS synthetic rubber seal on one side, a radial oil seal between the outer and inner races as well as a felt seal with a metal cap on the other. The design changes required from Lemken were minimal: only one snap ring groove had to be relocated. Thanks to the new design, only a single part has to be purchased and fitted now instead of the four components previously required.