Koyo introduce 4th generation Low Friction Torque Tapered Roller Bearings.

Smaller, more durable and significantly less friction. With over 25 years’ experience in developing Low Friction Torque (LFT) Tapered Roller Bearings (TBS) Koyo have managed to significantly reduce torque resistance through design innovation and manufacturing technology.

The main aim was to substantially reduce breakdowns, failures and down time in extreme applications where repairs are expensive.

The Koyo 4th generation LFT tapered roller bearings tackle the three main causes of rotational friction including sliding resistance, rolling viscosity resistance and agitation resistance.  All 3 forces combine to slow the free movement of the bearing components, creating friction and heat which ultimately reduces the life span of the bearing. Koyo’s fourth generation bearings build on previous iterations to combine the advances into a single unit.

LFT 1 saw a significant improvement in the optimisation of the profile and roughness of the large rib and roller end face to reduce sliding resistance.  LFT 2 added new technology to tackle the rolling viscosity resistance with a special ‘crowning’ of the raceways.  LFT 3 introduced a steel cage that helped regulate the inflow of lubricating oil and reduce agitation resistance as well as seeing further improvements on the internal geometry and raceways.

The search for more improvements didn’t stop there and the LFT IV has seen the introduction of a resin cage (as opposed to steel) to drive better performance.  This provides a greater number of design options to control the inflow clearance between rings and cage.

Koyo also took the expertise and developed a special heat treatment to produce a smaller bearing that retained the durability, performance and load capacity of its big brother whilst reducing the overall size of the unit.

These units can be used in a variety of applications including automotive powertrains, drive trains and chassis. As one of the world’s leading manufacturers of bearings Koyo’s full range of products include super large bearings with outer diameters of 7m to miniature bearings with inner diameters as small as 1mm.

We’re also proud to maintain a UK manufacturing base in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, where we design and manufacture double row angle contact flanged bearings (hub units) for many of the world’s leading automotive manufacturers.

For more on Koyo please visit our website at www.koyo.co.uk and for more detail on the relevant performance increases in TRBs, please see the chart below:

 

LFT Generation Enhancement New design features Enhancement features Rotation Torque Index
Standard TRB 100
LFT 1 Optimisation of roughness and profile of large rib and roller end face ~90
LFT 2 Special raceway crowing ~80
LFT 3 (a) Further improved raceway crowning ~50
LFT 3 (b) Optimisation of internal geometry ~20
LFT 4(a) Further improved in-flow control ~35
LFT 4 (b) Compact design and heat treatment ~14

 

 

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