The bearings are pregreased and fitted with seals, and most cast iron housings allow relubrication of the bearing via a hole kept sealed with a plastic plug.

Customers have a choice of flanged housings, plummer block housings and takeup housings.

The same three styles of housing are also available in the pressed steel range, with bearing sizes ranging from 12 to 60mm as well as imperial equivalents.

For the pressed steel housings, however, all the bearings are maintenance-free, sealed-for-life units.

Radial insert ball bearings are characterised by spherical outer surfaces that fit the housings and therefore help to compensate for shaft misalignment, together with an inner ring that is extended on one or both sides.

INA offers two alternative arrangements for fixing the inner ring to the shaft: eccentric locking collars or two set screws.

Standard radial insert bearings and housings will perform adequately in most commonly encountered environments, coping with moisture and particulate contamination.

Nonetheless, for corrosive conditions INA offers its Corrotect protective coating that shrugs off moisture, contaminated water, salt spray, and weak alkaline or acidic cleaning solutions.