Compared with ordinary bearings, Four Point Angular Contact Ball Bearings have significant differences in structure, performance, application and maintenance. Its biggest feature is its unique contact mode, which enables it to bear radial and bidirectional axial loads at the same time, which has obvious advantages in many mechanical systems that need to withstand complex forces.
Ordinary bearings, such as deep groove ball bearings or single-row angular contact ball bearings, have certain limitations in load capacity. The groove design of deep groove ball bearings allows the ball to form a single point contact with the inner and outer rings, which enables it to withstand large radial loads, but the axial load capacity is limited and can usually only be used under unidirectional force conditions. Although single-row angular contact ball bearings can withstand axial loads, their structure determines that they can only withstand unidirectional axial forces. Therefore, if bidirectional axial loads need to be borne at the same time, two bearings must be installed in pairs, such as O-type or X-type combinations, which not only increases the space occupied by the bearings, but also increases the complexity and cost of installation.
The design of four-point contact angular contact ball bearings provides an efficient solution in this regard. Its groove shape allows the ball to contact the inner and outer rings at four points. The biggest advantage of this structural design is that it can withstand radial loads and bidirectional axial loads at the same time. In many applications that require space saving and simplified structure, four-point contact ball bearings can often directly replace the combination of two single-row angular contact ball bearings, thereby reducing the volume of components, reducing overall costs, and improving system reliability. Since the balls inside can automatically adjust the force direction between the four contact points according to the change of load, this feature also helps to reduce friction inside the bearing, improve rotation accuracy and service life.
In practical applications, four-point contact ball bearings are widely used in mechanical equipment that needs to withstand complex forces. For example, in the fields of machine tool spindles, industrial robots, aerospace equipment, and automotive steering systems, it can provide higher rigidity and stability to ensure that the equipment can still maintain good performance under high-speed operation or heavy loads. In machine tool spindles, it can effectively reduce axial clearance and improve processing accuracy; in industrial robot joints, it can provide better rotation flexibility and load capacity; in the aerospace field, it can save weight while withstanding extreme working environments. In the automotive steering system, it can improve steering accuracy and enhance safety, making driving smoother and more reliable.
From the perspective of maintenance and service life, four-point contact ball bearings also have certain advantages over ordinary bearings. Because it can bear radial and axial loads at the same time, it can reduce the installation error caused by improper bearing combination in actual use, and improve the durability and stability of the bearing. When ordinary single-row angular contact ball bearings are used in pairs, if the installation angle is inaccurate or the clearance between the bearings is improperly adjusted, it may cause premature wear or performance degradation. Due to its structural characteristics, the requirements of four-point contact ball bearings in this regard are relatively low, thereby reducing maintenance costs and replacement frequency.
