Rod head bearing

assembly

Service News
Customer Support

For over 30 years this specially developed bearing concept has been successfully operating in Loesche mills.
Fig. 1 demonstrates the operational principle of the
spring system and the direction of the forces within it.

The investigation report shows that there is no

overloading involved but that a combination of
dynamic loads and inadequate lubrication lead
to micro-pitting within the loadzone.
This micro-pitting is known in other elds of operation
and is called False-Brinelling. The investigation
showed that a signicant improvement in mill reliability
could be achieved by redesigning the bearing and
changing of the location of the loadzone.
These ideas were conrmed in a computer simulation
of the spherical roller bearing at the SKF laboratory in
the Netherlands.

Fig. 1: Schematic of the hydropneumatic spring system

Loadzone
on top

As the Loesche mills became bigger, the safety factor

for the bearings (Fig. 2) was also increased to improve
the reliability of the machines.
Our engineers are constantly working to improve the
productivity of Loesche mills and to modernise their
technology. In the past, bearing damage occurred in
the rod heads of some of the larger mills. These failures
were due to wear on the inner and outer races of the
spherical roller bearing installed there. Loesche and the
bearing manufacturer, SKF, worked together to analyse
the cause of such damage.

Fig. 2: Original design of the rod head bearing assembly

Rod head bearing assembly

The new design (Fig. 3):

2 cylindrical roller bearings are now installed in the
side cheeks of the fork of the rocker arm, where
the movement takes place.

Recommendations:
Our Customer Support offers you a conversion kit
comprising of the following components for the modication of your Loesche mill:

The loadzone has moved to the bottom.

The grease flows by gravity into the contact area.

This bearing concept will be applied in future to all
mills from Module 30 upwards, as well as to the
clinker and slag mills.
Advantage:
This concept allows for a better distribution of the loads
as well as a reduction in the dynamic forces experienced by the bearing, thus almost eliminating the risk
of a breakage of the rod head!

Plain spherical bearing

Cylindrical roller bearings
Pin
Rod head
Set of installation parts
Set of turned components

N.B.:
For a modication to the original Module 30 it is necessary to increase the seating bore diameter in the fork.
This rework can be accomplished with the rocker arm
in a workshop or in Situ using a special machine
which can be supplied by Loesche.
Contact:
If you need further information or have a specic question, then contact our Customer Support team by
E-Mail at

customer-support@loesche.de
Force

Pressure
4

Movement

Rocker arm

Rod head

Spherical roller bearing

Cylindrical roller bearing

Loadzone at
the bottom

2
5

Plain spherical roller bearing

Fig. 3: New design of the rod head bearing assembly

Roller

Rocker arm in working position

Rocker arm with stop buffer

Cylinder of the spring system

Loesche GmbH
Hansaallee 243
40549 Dsseldorf, Germany
Tel.
+49 - 211 - 53 53 - 0
Fax
+49 - 211 - 53 53 - 500
E-Mail: loesche@loesche.de
www.loesche.com