Pillow Block Bearings and Shaft Mounts¶

Run the Pillow Block Bearings and Shaft Mounts MicroSim Fullscreen

About This MicroSim¶

This MicroSim marks six numbered zones on FanPedia's bearing drawings (page 92). The top row shows three pillow block housings: a solid pillow block with ball rolling elements, a solid pillow block with spherical rollers, and a split pillow block whose cap lifts off. The bottom row shows three ways the bearing's inner ring is locked to the shaft: the set screw mount, the D-Lok / Skwezloc style concentric mount and the adapter mount. The names sit in a numbered list under the drawing.

The quiz describes one drawing at a time ("Which drawing shows a housing whose cap lifts off?") in a shuffled order, and you select the matching zone. You get two attempts per prompt. The first wrong answer shows a hint about where to look; the second reveals the drawing and counts as missed. Mastery is 5 of 6 correct on the first attempt. Explore mode is never scored.

How to Use¶

Explore mode (the starting mode). Point at a numbered zone, or Tab to it, to see its name, a one-line summary and the key facts in the panel below. Click it (or press Enter) to open it; opened drawings get a ✓ in the name list and the counter shows how many of the 6 you have visited.
Quiz mode. Press Quiz. The names disappear and a prompt describes one drawing:
- Correct: "✓ Correct:" with the name and summary; the zone gets a green solid border and a ✓ badge.
- Wrong on the first attempt: "✗ Not quite.", the name of the drawing you picked, and a hint that never names the answer.
- Wrong on the second attempt: the answer is marked "Answer" and named, and the prompt counts as missed.
Press Next prompt after each answer. The toolbar shows "Drawings correct: n of 6".
After the sixth prompt, the summary shows your first-attempt score, whether you reached mastery (5 of 6), and each missed prompt with its answer. Retry missed practises the misses (not scored), Start over reshuffles and resets the score, and Back to explore returns to the names.

Keyboard: Tab moves through the zones in number order and then the buttons; Enter or Space selects a zone. After an answer, focus moves to Next prompt, so Enter goes on.

Data label: "Drawing: FanPedia, Twin City Fan, p. 92", shown under the drawing.

Iframe Embed Code¶

You can add this MicroSim to any web page by adding this to your HTML:

<iframe src="https://moroshek.github.io/FanTASTIC-textbook/sims/ch17-pillow-block-bearing-overlay/main.html"
        height="704px"
        width="100%"
        scrolling="no"></iframe>

Lesson Plan¶

Learning Objective¶

The learner will identify the solid (ball and spherical roller) and split pillow block housings and the set screw, D-Lok / Skwezloc and adapter shaft mounts on FanPedia's drawings, given a description of each (Bloom: Remember, verb: identify).

Audience¶

Adult professional development: new application engineers, sales staff, representatives and facilities staff.

Duration¶

10 minutes

Prerequisites¶

Chapter 17, sections "Pillow Block Housings: Solid, Split and Totally Split" and "Locking the Bearing to the Shaft".
Chapter 16, "Mounting the Bearing to the Shaft", for the set screw mount.

Activities¶

Explore (3 min): Open all six drawings. For the top row, say which housing lets a mechanic inspect the bearing by lifting off a cap. For the bottom row, say which mounts clamp evenly around the shaft.
Quiz (4 min): Switch to quiz mode and match all six descriptions without going back to explore mode.
Review (3 min): Read the missed list, open those drawings in explore mode, then press Start over for a new order.

Common Misconceptions Addressed¶

A split pillow block is a different kind of bearing: it is a different housing; FanPedia offers it with ball or spherical roller elements, like the solid housing.
Every mount pushes the bearing to one side of the shaft: only the set screw mount does; the D-Lok / Skwezloc and adapter mounts are concentric and clamp the segmented inner ring evenly around the shaft.
One set screw is enough: FanPedia says two set screws are always required, spaced 65 to 120 degrees apart depending on the manufacturer.

Assessment¶

First-attempt score shown in the summary as "First-attempt score: n of 6"; mastery is 5 of 6 on the first attempt.
Pointing at zones and opening infoboxes in explore mode is exploration, not evidence.
Follow-up question: a heavy fan with spherical roller bearings needs a mount that will not fret the shaft. Which bottom-row drawing fits, and which tool tightens it?

References¶

FanPedia: The Fan & Blower Encyclopedia (PDF) - Twin City Fan; p. 92 holds the pillow block and shaft mount drawings used here, p. 92 also shows the concentric mounts and pp. 178-179 describe the housings.
FanPedia online - Twin City Fan's online version of the encyclopedia.
Chapter 17: Bearing Details, Lubrication and Pedestals - the section "Locking the Bearing to the Shaft", where this MicroSim is embedded.
Chapter 16: Bearings, Shafts and Shaft Seals - the set screw mount.