Abstract
Each stage of production in the textile industry presents its own bearing and friction problems. In addition there is contamination by oil or grease from bearings and gears of the fibres, yarn, or fabric being processed. Dust and fly penetrating every part of a machine clogs gears and bearings and makes effective lubrication very difficult. Sealed rolling contact bearings, self-lubricating plastics or porous metal, and unlubricated bearings based on plastics have found acceptance because of their ability to run cleanly without attention for long periods, but solutions to bearing problems must be cheap as well as effective because a single machine may have thousands of bearings.
Difficult bearing conditions which have been resolved after much research and development work are found in the high-speed spinning spindle rotating unbalanced at 12 000 rev/min or more, and the ring and traveller where steel runs on steel at high pressure and velocity.
Existing conventional textile processes have reached such a level of development that further major advances are likely to require completely new techniques but there is still much that engineers can do to increase the reliability, efficiency and smooth operation of conventional machines which will remain in the majority for many years to come. Lubrication plays a vital part in achieving optimum performance.
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