Traditionally, for plain bearings, manufacturing tolerance ranges can cause high friction variation. To keep the friction low and reduce the variation, large clearance is required, which can cause rattle noise. The SPRINGLIDE™ Spring Energised Bearing solution, with consistent friction throughout the tolerance range, eliminates the need for clearance, which eliminates the rattle noise.
Saint-Gobain engineers solved this issue by listening to their customers in the automotive industry so they could fully understand the problems associated with manufacturing tolerances. To act as a sliding element, the solution needs the low friction properties of the PTFE layer in NORGLIDE® Bearings. To eliminate problems with tolerance ranges, the tolerance compensation properties of RENCOL® Tolerance Rings are needed. The conclusion, then, was to combine the two solutions to give the best of both.