Food and beverage processing plants in Australia will soon have access to a complete range of corrosion-resistant ball bearings and ball bearing housed units from Timken® to meet their rotating equipment needs. Industrial Solutions Australia will have the new Timken products available across its business network of CBC, BSC and Webster BSC branches as early as May.
Tony Tormey, Industrial Solutions Australia Product Manager for Industrial Bearings, says the new Timken products have already generated a lot of interest among the industry players.
“The food market generally lacks a single brand solution when it comes to bearing requirements. Food and beverage plants that deal with harsh chemicals and aggressive washdowns can benefit from maximising their hygiene levels with Timken’s new corrosion-resistant range,” says Tony.
The Timken Company have now, launched a new corrosion-resistant ball bearing product range for applications that require ball bearings to withstand chemical washdowns and wet environments.
“The Timken corrosion-resistant ball bearing product range is available from stock in fully sealed 2RS version,” says Tony.
Safer by Design
The new Timken hygienic ball bearing housed unit is a premium product that considers multiple design factors to help combat common safety hazards in food and beverage plants, according to Tony.
“First and foremost, being a unitised solution means there is less risk of contamination. Traditionally, you would need to install a separate housing and bearing inserts to have a complete unit. By installing a unitised unit, you are basically taking all of that manual handling out of the process, which helps ensure more hygiene,” says Tony.
“The Timken Hygienic Ball Bearing Housed Unit is designed to have ultra-smooth surfaces with a very sleek finish that prevents dirt or food particles from sticking on the surface. Everything, including the bearing, cage, balls and the flinger and even the screws are stainless steel to prevent corrosion. Further, the housing is available in optically detectable blue thermoset to help detect foreign particles more accurately,” adds Tony.
Contamination from grease leaking out of the bearing is a big concern when bearings are installed near food processing lines. This has also been addressed by Timken in its new unitised bearing solution, Tony elaborates.
“Timken’s units are pre-filled with NSFH1 registered water-resistance food grade grease. The bearings are greased for life for those standard applications. They are provided with a stainless grease nipple for the harsher environments that require greasing. The double lip seal provides extra protection from water ingress.”
Timken also offers a standard range of corrosion-resistant ball bearing housed units, that offer many of the same benefits as the Hygienic range. According to Tony, the standard units are suitable for applications that are a little less demanding but could still benefit from a unitised housed bearing.
“Timken’s corrosion-resistant ball bearing housed units are also designed with smooth and sleek surfaces for easy washdown. They can be identified with their white thermoplastic surfaces but are also available in stainless steel options.”
In addition to its corrosion-resistant ball bearing housed units, Timken has also introduced new hygienic plain bearing housed units – known as Timken Poly Round. The Timken Poly Round units are engineered with a special polymer insert to prevent water ingress and corrosion.
What’s notable is that Timken hygienic housed units and Poly-Round inserts are certified according to ANSI/NSF/3-A SSI 14159-1-2014 requirements. These globally recognised standards help improve food safety by mandating the use of chemically resistant materials and by requiring that bearings are easy to clean. The housings and inserts are further certified as Accepted Equipment by the USDA under the Meat and Poultry Equipment Review Program.
Tony says the Timken Poly Round has already been trialled successfully in Europe and will be available to order for customers interested in using the products in Australia.
“We encourage any food and beverage company that is experiencing unexpected down time or simply not getting the life from their current products to consider an upgrade to Timken. Local BSC, CBC or Webster BSC branches will be happy to provide more information and help meet all of your rotating equipment needs.”
Timken® Corrosion-Resistant Ball Bearing Housed Units
- White thermoplastic and cast stainless steel options
- Complete units, no handling of the bearing
- Smooth surfaces for easy washdown
- Improved food safety NSF1 registered water-resistant grease
- Double lip seal for better protection from water ingress
Timken Hygienic Poly-Round® Housed Units
- Ideal in aggressive washdown chemicals
- Extreme temperature ranges
- Lubrication free
- Abrasive environments
- Incomplete Rotations
- 100% corrosion proof
- They meet stringent food safety requirements.
- Applications where sanitation and contamination are critical.
Timken® Hygienic Ball Bearing Housed Units
- Complete units, no handling of bearing required
- Ultra-Smooth surfaces and laser marked to reduce bacterial growth
- Thermoset housings are cast to eliminate voids and increase strength
- Optically detectable blue thermoset housings
- Available with optional stainless steel housings
- Doubled lip seal for better protection from water ingress
Timken® Corrosion-Resistant Ball Bearings
- Reduced maintenance
- Decrease unplanned downtime
- Designed to maintain optimum operating efficiency despite chemical washdowns and wet environments
- Inner and outer rings cage and balls all stainless steel (no plastic cages)
- Improved food safety NSF1 registered water-resistant grease
- Operating temperatures between −20°C to 100°C
- Bore sizes from 8mm to 50mm
