Danfoss Power Solutions is a global leader in the mobile hydraulic power market. As a key supplier to some of the world’s most recognized names in construction and agricultural machinery, Danfoss’s market share includes remanufactured hydraulic pumps and motors. Parts and Service is responsible for producing these remanufactured units and continues to encounter and overcome challenges unique to remanufacturing. One such problem is the removal of journal bearings from the pump and motor castings.

Journal bearings are thin, press-fit bushings that provide a bearing surface for shafts in low load locations. Most bearings are installed in blind holes with little clearance between the bottom of the bearing and the bottom of the hole. Traditional removal methods are insufficient to remove them effectively, and so removal is accomplished by deforming the bearing in place with a cold chisel and repeated blows with a hammer until the bearing can be pried out of the bore with pliers. This method creates the following problems:

• Bad ergonomics and potential injury risk
• Potential contamination of the workbench and unit under assembly
• Potential damage to the casting
• Time-consuming
• Requires skill

Approximately 2000 bearings are removed annually, in 8 sizes and in a wide variety of parts. An upcoming process change will increase the number of bearings removed by over 30%. Furthermore, the removal process is currently done by highly skilled assembly technicians, but there is a desire to move the process to the “teardown” room to consolidate disassembly operations where the teardown technicians are typically less skilled. All of these factors contributed to prioritizing a solution to this problem.