PLAN No. 1125. BEARING MANUFACTURE
Bearing manufacture is practically an industry in itself. In this plant or department, a force of real mechanics is employed, men who are authorities on steel and the heat treatment of steel. The wheel bearings of an automobile receive many severe shocks and strains, and a poor piece of steel or a poorly heat-treated piece of steel may do considerable damage to the car. Roller and ball bearings are used in several places in an automobile. They are used in the engine, magneto, generator clutch, transmission and rear axle. Wherever it is desirable to reduce friction to save power, an antifriction bearing is used.
Research work as connected with bearing manufacture covers a large field. It includes not only work in the laboratory but as well work done in the field, wherever tractors are used. The engineers are always watching their product for any chance to improve it.
In manufacturing bearings, whether ball or roller, a high-grade pure iron is selected. This raw material is put into furnaces and melted. Alloys are added in proper portions to make a tough, close-grained long-wearing steel, able to resist shocks. Samples of this steel are tested in the laboratory as to their hardness, grain, and tensile strength. This is work for a carefully trained metallurgist, who must have well-trained assistants. Handicapped men who are technically qualified can take up this branch of the industry.
After the steel has been compounded it goes to the drop-forge department, where the balls or rollers are rough forged. The trip hammer in this department is controlled by one foot, and the steel must be turned over several times in passing through the various dies. The rough-forged balls or rollers are next taken to the machine shop or grinding department.
In the various departments of the bearing manufacturing plants small electric cars are used to pull trailers loaded with parts to various points of the factory. The operator of these cars must be a man who has the free use of one foot for operating the brake, and he must have two hands to operate the control levers. This work is usually done standing on the truck. However, some of the operators are provided with seats.
The balls and rollers are next machined and ground to size. They are then carefully assorted as to sizes and passed to the inspection department, where men sitting at benches carefully check and test each piece, using special testing devices and machines. This department could readily use a man with one leg, but he should have the free use of two hands. A loss of one or more fingers would not be a serious handicap. As this work is all inspection work, it is done sitting. The department is usually quiet, and the work is not hard. Conditions and pay are good.
In another department the races (inside and outside) and the retainers are manufactured. The work is similar to that done in the ball or roller department, although the pieces are different. It includes forging, machining, grinding and inspecting.
The bearing parts have been made and tested, the bearing is now ready for assembling. In the assembling department men sit at their work. A man with one leg, and possibly one who had lost both feet, might find employment. Some of the work is done by machinery, while some is handwork. The pieces are placed upon benches, and the bearing is then assembled and placed in a machine that clinches the cage or retainer so as to hold in the balls or rollers. The bearing is then ready for the inspector who determines whether or not it has been properly put together, and if the balls and rollers are free in the cages.
The next step is to lubricate the bearings with an acid-proof grease to prevent rust. The bearing is then wrapped in oil paper and placed in a box ready for the storeroom or for shipment.
There are several operations in this department where a handicapped man could secure employment. The work as a whole is not hard, conditions are excellent, and the wages are good. Some of the work is noisy and is not desirable for men with certain disabilities, but on the other hand there are places where men who have only one eye, arm, or leg could find employment on equal terms with other men.
It should be noted that large bearing factories have many improved methods of manufacturing which vary considerably from that described above. Only a general statement has been attempted.