Spherical plain bearings

Spherical plain bearings aren’t roller bearings, they’re plain bearings. In spherical plain bearings, the sliding contact occurs between a spherical inner ring and a hole in the outer ring that is also spherical in design. Because the sliding surfaces have this spherical form, the spherical plain bearing takes on a load-bearing and guiding function. At the same time, misalignment or shaft deflections can be compensated and edge stress can be avoided. Spherical plain bearings are mainly used for the torque-free transfer of radial and bending stress. Since these loads don’t need to be absorbed by the construction, larger degrees of freedom are possible when designing machines and systems.