Ball Bearing
notes: label: Description
content: Bearings were used to reduce friction for thousands of years before late 19th century industrial production techniques made their use ubiquitous. Bearings reduce friction by facilitating radial and axial movement between surfaces, allowing heavy objects to move at high speeds while saving critical parts from the wear of friction. Bearings come in a variety of shapes and sizes (such as ball, roller, or tapered) and are commonly set in an inner and outer ring (called a race) sometimes with cages (separators) spacing the bearings. Changes to the size, shape, alignment, race, and cage allow for bearings to be used in almost any every industry—from automobiles and airplanes to heavy machinery and hard drives.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Mechanical and Civil Engineering
label: See more items in
content: Industry & Manufacturing
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Anti-Friction Bearing Manufacturers Association
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: MC.336103.01
label: accession number
content: 1977.0585
label: catalog number
content: 336103.01
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Bearing