How does the Wrist Bearing fail?

Common failure modes: Play developing from exceeding rated wrist payload or moment load, Grease contamination from a failed wrist seal, Wear from sustained high-cycle wrist motion, Damage from a tooling collision transmitted through the flange.

Mechanical

Wrist Bearing

Supports a wrist axis shaft while carrying tool reaction loads close to the end effector.

Wrist bearings support the small-diameter shafts inside the wrist unit that carry the final one or two axes of motion, and because they sit closest to the tool, they absorb reaction loads from the end effector directly.

These bearings are sized tightly to fit the compact wrist housing, which limits their load capacity compared to base axis bearings, making it important not to exceed the wrist's rated payload and moment load.

A worn wrist bearing often presents as play felt at the tool flange when checked by hand, or as a repeatability complaint specific to tool orientation rather than overall arm position.

Related components

robot flange wrist unit oil seal

Common questions

What does the Wrist Bearing do?: Supports a wrist axis shaft while carrying tool reaction loads close to the end effector.
How does the Wrist Bearing fail?: Common failure modes: Play developing from exceeding rated wrist payload or moment load, Grease contamination from a failed wrist seal, Wear from sustained high-cycle wrist motion, Damage from a tooling collision transmitted through the flange.