The Timken Company (NYSE: TKR) has announced updates to its lineup of ball bearing pillow blocks and mounted industrial bearings, including a new online interchange. Units are offered under the Timken and Fafnir brands.

The new line of ball bearing pillow blocks are offered as larger, stronger housings, and with optional set screw inners or eccentric locking collars.

At the same time, Timken announced it is now offering what it calls Shaft Guarding, which is a, "premium set-screw locking system," involving a shaft protection sleeve.

Dan Muller, President of Distribution and Services, said: "Through our expertise in friction management, we have taken one of Timken's core products and fundamentally enhanced it to improve our customers' system performance in many applications."

Wider along the shaft's loading and bearing centerline, and up to 30% heavier, Timken said FEA modeling indicates the new housings are up to three times more durable in service. The units also have larger flats at the through mounts for ultimately stiffer installation and no stress points at the recessed corners. They are powder coated in black epoxy.

Shaft Guarding is a mounting system employing traditional inner race set screws. But they do not rely on the set screws locking into the shaft by deforming or denting it. Instead, the shaft is clamped in a stainless steel sleeve; the set screws tighten down against that sleeve which then locks against the shaft.

Timken said the stainless steel band design, "exceeds all current gripping application requirements, maintains dimensional integrity and reduces fretting corrosion."

Also on tap is a new online resource for Timken mounted industrial bearings and housed units.

The Housed Unit Interchange on the timken.com website allows users to interchange part numbers for mounted units and housings across multiple vendors and part numbering systems.

Interchanges can be accessed directly by part number, or indirectly by identifying the unit by features -- housing type, insert and locking system, and bore/shaft size.

Timken housed unit interchange site
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Aside from the expected number-for-number interchange, Timken's differs from most in that it also notes dimensional differences between similar units, and whether those differences might be application-critical. Search results show annotated drawings which allow users to better visualize the units.