Emerson Bearing Announces Printing Division

Emerson Bearing Boston, a bearing company catering to OEM and MRO (maintenance, repair and operations) markets around the world, has experienced increased demand for bearings and related products for prepress, offset, digital printing and paper converting, and established a Printing Division to specifically cater to these markets.

Rick Piracini, an industry solutions expert with more than a decade of experience, will oversee converting and printing clients of Emerson Bearing Boston’s Printing division, while industry expert Lee Holt oversees pulp and paper clients. They assist clients in determining which bearing technologies would be most suitable by taking into consideration the specifications, recommendations, maintenance strategies, fatigue life and wear resistance of the bearing in relation to the application.

“At every point in the process of going from pulp to print these bearings have to meet the highest standards. In the initial phase of creating paper the rolling bearings in a paper machine must meet extreme requirements: Moisture, very high temperatures, shaft deflections, high speeds and long running times,” explained Steve Katz, president of Emerson Bearing Boston.

The process of converting paper into a usable form has very different bearing requirements. Slitters and rewinders require high-speed ball bearings and linear motion bearings that have high running accuracy.

To achieve the required pin sharp print quality, Emerson Bearing Boston provides high precision and wear free bearing supports for the print rollers. This insures that the impression cylinder is supported with as little clearance, and as much rigidity as possible and with very few runout errors. The NAO style needle bearing with offset cage packets has become the standard. Needle rollers, cam followers and yoke rollers are used extensively in the distributor roller drives, gripper shaft controls and throughout the presses. Other related products available through Emerson Bearing include ball bearings, needle bearings, roller bearings, linear motion, free running, mounted units, oil seals, cam followers and rod ends.

“The printing industry has made a comeback. Due to the increased demand, we’ve created an entire division to specifically cater to their needs,” noted Mr. Katz.