10 percent of the friction of a regular ball bearing

greaseless balls

That's just killer!Goodbye ceramics.If that bearing rolled like that without a load...imagine how it'd work with a load.I'd be a bit concerned though that over time,with heat affecting the unit,would the internal parts remain stable?I suppose they've made sure in the choice of metallurgy here that they would.

* Last updated by: Grn14 on 5/27/2015 @ 9:31 AM *

I see why it rolls better but I can't believe they would last long without grease and I think there would be a lot of dirt that would get in them and make them wear even faster. Regular bearings would spin freer without grease too but nobody makes them greaseless.

they said it will last longer than a standard bearing because of the reduced friction.

I hope the reduced friction isn't supposed to come from the leaf shaped hole. That would cause double the friction. The ball is rolling on two edges of the hole instead of one surface inside the bearing.

Removing the race removes all edge friction, so even if the rolling friction goes up a bit the net friction is way down. That's what they are saying at least.

the leaf shaped hole is to keep the balls spaced evenly, which is the purpose of the grease and races in a normal bearing. Contact of the balls results in higher friction and uneven stress loads. According to them anyway. Grease attracts dirt. With no grease to stick too, they should stay cleaner, cooler, and last longer. theoretically. Interesting idea.

* Last updated by: alg8er on 5/28/2015 @ 3:54 AM *

Yeah...the dirt thing...good point Rook.Are they sealed somehow?Surely they'd need to have something like that to get the applications they want?A car or motorcycle just wouldn't work well for an open bearing like that.

Thanks for sinopsis. I was not able to watch the full video. OK I see there is no contact with an outer race. Back in the day, I saw bearings like these on skateboards and rollerskates. You could see the balls and sometimes they would even fall out. The better bearings were sealed. Maybe this is a new twist on an old idea.

I'm amazed at some of the innovations I've read about in the last couple years. I only wish I could get results after these ideas go to market. Some that I read about last year, that I thought were amazing, I haven't seen anything. No backers, bad results, who knows.

Bookmark the sites...then go back a year or so later...see what's happened?

the same article will be there. I need a "what are they up to now" article.