The key difference between a conventional ball bearing and a wire race bearing lies in the races. In a wire race bearing, the rolling elements do not roll on solid housing rings, but on hardened wires. The flexibility of this principle makes it possible to design more freely and simply in order to develop better products.

For this reason, wire race bearings offer a number of advantages that cannot be overlooked.

Comparison of principles

Traditional rolling bearings can often be bulky and heavy, and they take up an unnecessary amount of space in the design. Wire race bearings, on the other hand, are compact and offer a gain in space both externally and internally for your components. This is particularly useful for applications such as robots, where every centimetre counts, or for the integration of internal cable bushings.

This can be impressively demonstrated using the example of the LER type bearing element.

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Design example 1: Franke wire race bearing type LER with direct drive.
The compact installation space enables extremely thin-walled designs. The load is fully compensated by the LER bearing element.


Image no. 3:
Design example 2: Wire race bearing type LER in the housing of a lightweight bearing for antenna rotation.
Low space requirement due to direct integration into the housing. High rigidity and insensitivity to vibrations and temperature changes are further advantages.


Wire racebearings adapt to your requirements

A unique feature of wire race bearings is their ability to have inserted running wires take on all loads. This allows a free choice of material and design of the surrounding construction. From steel and stainless steel to aluminum, plastic and even 3D-printed materials, wire race bearings adapt seamlessly to different requirements. They not only offer load-bearing capacity and rigidity, but also enable thin-walled geometries with sufficient strength, which increases the degree of freedom in the design.

Thinking about the future

With wire race bearings, it is often sufficient to replace only certain components such as raceways, rolling elements and cages to make the bearing fully functional again.

Especially in the case of complex housing parts with intricate geometry or made of high-quality materials such as stainless steel, such overhauls quickly show their benefits.

Even with conventional slewing rings, replacing the wire race bearing can save up to 60% in costs compared to purchasing a new complete bearing.