RBI Wuxi Tech Center settles in to new facility

RBI Wuxi Technical Center and Trading Company has recently completed moving to its new 4,000 square foot location in the National Development Industrial Zone in Wuxi City, China.

The company also reorganized its staff of 13 people to better support RBI Bearing sales activities.  Bob Chen joined RBI Wuxi Tech Center as Vice President in August and has implemented a more efficient flow of information between all RBI departments.  Mr. Chen previously was with a large European industrial firm and brings 9 years of international business experience to the RBI team. He is also a certified engineer and is bilingual which will be a great asset in developing our international business.

According to Mr. Chen, "Our new structure will make all internal operations more efficient and ensure better responses to our customers. All business departments are required to work as one team, and I am confident we have the best people to support the continued growth of RBI."

RBI Canada adds product lines

Tony Bisante, President of RBI Canada recently announced the addition of Rod Ends and Spherical Plain Bearings at their Mississauga facility. Please contact them at (800) 724-2426 toll free in Canada or (905) 670-9733 for specific item availability.

Brian Kleszyk joins RBI as Applications Engineer

Mike Mortensen, Director of Engineering announced the addition of Brian Kleszyk to the RBI Engineering staff as an Applications Engineer.  Brian is a 2004 graduate of the University Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a BS in Mechanical Engineering.

Brian will be working on researching and analyzing new customer application feasibility, product quality standards and assist in the resolution of quality and application issues.

Welcome aboard, Brian!

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China Update
A monthly look at news from China
Click the title to read the story

Chinese farmer sues Volkswagen
A Chinese farmer, turning the usual run of copyright lawsuits on its head, is suing German car giant Volkswagen A.G. for its use of what he says is his patented anti-theft device, state media reported.

China plans unmanned moon mission by 2007
China is planning to launch its second manned mission in October with 2 astronauts onboard.

Unlimited flights for China's west
China plans to allow overseas carriers to operate an unlimited number of international flights in the country's west.

China picks female space trainees
China's space program has picked 35 women as possible candidates to be its first female astronaut, and plans to launch her into space by 2010, the government has said.

Seals or shields - which is better?
by Mike Mortensen - Director of Engineering RBI-USA

“Seals or shields, which is better?” is a common question. The answer often involves a tradeoff between the level of advantage or disadvantage each option offers.

Shields offer some protection against contamination but will not stop grease purging. Shields can resist some chemicals better than seals and endure temperature extremes. The fact that shields do not contact the inner ring means they do not generate frictional heat.

Seals generally offer better protection against contamination and purging than shields. Nitrile rubber seals have problems if exposed to certain chemicals or excessive temperatures. Changing the seal material from nitrile to poly acrylic or Viton material can increase chemical resistance and temperature capability. Seals generally contact the inner ring which can limit the rotational speed of the bearing due to heat generation. The drag from the seals contacting the inner ring generally requires more energy or torque to rotate the bearing. Seals can address some of their performance limitations with design modifications. Changing the lip design can change the torque or heat generated by modifying the seal from a non-contact to a light contact to a heavy contact seal. Often changing the seal material or lip design can increase the cost or availability of the seal.

The table below provides some relative comparison of seals and shields.

Technical Article Archive

Have a question or topic you would like to see covered? Click here to let Mike know!

Final Word
by the numbers...

Labor Day has been an American annual holiday since 1894 - President Grover Cleveland signed the bill that designated the first Monday in September as Labor  Day.

There are 149.1 million of us in the workforce today - and most of them seem to be on the road with me to and from work every day.  For an interesting rundown of who we are and what we do,

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We Get It Done.

RBI Connections is a publication of RBI Bearing, Inc and is intended to provide useful company and/or industry news and information. We understand and respect your need for privacy. Email addresses in our files are from our customers or published materials. Please accept our apologies if you believe this email to be unsolicited. We are sorry for the inconvenience. Any personal information provided to us will be stored in a secure environment and will not be misused. RBI Bearing, Inc. does not make email addresses available to third parties for their use. RBI Bearing would like to send news releases and special promotions to you from time to time. If you would not like to receive these emails from us, please click this link and type the word "unsubscribe" in the subject. © 2005 RBI Bearing, Inc.