Special Bearings
Sensor Integrated Bearing
BOM designs and manufactures the Sensor Integrated Bearing, a precision unit where the sensing element (encoder, speed sensor, or temperature sensor) is mounted directly within the bearing structure rather than attached as a separate external module. This eliminates the eccentricity error and signal distortion caused by separately mounted sensors, while reducing component count, assembly steps, and overall system size. Pre-calibrated and shipped as a single unit for simplified installation. Adopted in servo motors, industrial robot joints, forklift and material handling equipment, and precision positioning systems.
Key Advantages
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Sensor Mounted Directly Within Bearing Structure
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Zero Eccentricity Error for High Signal Accuracy
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Compact Design with No Additional Housing or Brackets
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Pre-Calibrated, Single-Unit Installation
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Multiple Sensor Types: Encoder, Speed, Temperature
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Engineering Collaboration Available: Custom Variants Designed from Your Application Constraints
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Description
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Sensor Integrated Bearing
Integrated Design High Precision Compact Design
A sensor integrated bearing (also called an encoder bearing or smart bearing) combines a deep groove ball bearing with an integrated sensing element, which can be a magnetic encoder, optical encoder, or temperature sensor, all within a single compact unit. The sensor reads from a target mounted directly on the rotating ring, eliminating the separate sensor module, removing installation eccentricity error, and delivering more precise, more reliable signal output within the same envelope as a standard bearing. BOM engineers each custom sensor integrated bearing variant from your sensing, interface, and envelope requirements.
- Integration: sensor element integrated into bearing unit, with no external mounting bracket required
- Precision: sensor reads coaxially from rotating ring, eliminating eccentricity error at source
- Sensor Options: magnetic encoder / optical encoder / temperature sensor. Contact us to confirm
- Signal Output: ABZ incremental / absolute / analog, customizable to your application
- Applications: servo motors, robot joints, forklifts, and precision positioning systems
The Challenge: External Encoder + Bearing Assembly
Accurate sensing of shaft rotation speed, angular position, and temperature is essential for servo control, safety monitoring, and predictive maintenance. The conventional approach mounts a separate sensor module alongside the bearing. This requires its own bracket, alignment procedure, and cable routing. This introduces eccentricity between the sensor and the shaft axis, adds bulk to the assembly, and creates additional failure points.
01
Eccentricity Error Corrupts the Signal
The Problem
A separately mounted encoder or sensor must be aligned to the shaft axis during installation. Even with careful alignment, a small eccentricity remains between the sensor reading axis and the true shaft center. This eccentricity appears in the output signal as a once-per-revolution sinusoidal error. This fundamental limitation reduces effective angular resolution and introduces cyclic velocity ripple in closed-loop servo drives.
BOM's Solution
The sensor integrated bearing mounts the sensing element directly within the bearing unit, reading from a magnetic target or encoder ring fitted to the rotating inner ring. Both the sensing target and the bearing axis are concentric by construction, so the eccentricity error that degrades separately mounted sensors is eliminated at the source. The result is cleaner signal output, better angular resolution, and more accurate position feedback for servo and motion control systems.
02
A Separate Sensor Module Costs Space and Weight
The Problem
An external encoder or sensor module requires a housing, a mounting bracket, and often a separate shaft extension to carry the encoder disk or magnetic target. This adds measurable axial length to the assembly, increases the mass of the rotating system, and requires additional cable routing and connector positions. In compact servo actuators and robot wrists, this overhead can be the limiting constraint on joint miniaturization.
BOM's Solution
Because the sensor is housed within the bearing unit, it adds no additional axial length, radial diameter, or mounting hardware to the assembly. The overall dimensions are essentially those of the bearing itself. In servo motors, robot joints, and forklift drive units, where every millimeter and gram of the rotating assembly matters, eliminating the external sensor module directly reduces the size and weight budget required for position feedback.
03
More Components, More Assembly Steps, More Failure Points
The Problem
Installing a conventional external encoder or sensor requires: mounting the sensor bracket, positioning the sensor relative to the shaft, verifying runout within specification, routing and securing the sensor cable, and often performing an initial calibration. Each step is a source of potential error and delay. In high-volume production environments, this complexity adds measurably to assembly cost and warranty claim rates.
BOM's Solution
The sensor integrated bearing ships as a single, pre-calibrated unit. Installation is the same as a standard bearing, with no alignment procedure, no bracket fabrication, and no separate cable management for the sensor module. The reduced component count lowers assembly time, eliminates the most common source of sensor installation error (misalignment), and reduces the number of potential failure points in the system.
Key Applications
Servo Motors & Servo Drives
Servo motors require accurate shaft position feedback for closed-loop torque and velocity control. The sensor integrated bearing provides encoder output coaxially with the motor shaft, eliminating installation eccentricity, reducing motor length, and simplifying the motor design by removing the need for a dedicated encoder housing at the shaft end.
Industrial Robot Joints
Robot joint actuators demand compact construction and precise position feedback in the smallest possible envelope. Integrating the encoder into the joint bearing eliminates the separate encoder module, reduces joint length, and improves position accuracy by removing the eccentricity error that external encoders introduce.
Forklift & Material Handling Equipment
Forklifts and automated guided vehicles (AGVs) require wheel speed and position sensing for drive control and navigation. The sensor integrated bearing replaces both the wheel bearing and the external speed sensor with a single sealed unit, reducing installation complexity and improving reliability in the dusty, humid environments where these machines operate.
Precision Positioning Systems
Rotary tables, direct-drive axes, and semiconductor handling equipment demand the highest position accuracy from their feedback sensors. The sensor integrated bearing eliminates the eccentricity error inherent in separately mounted encoders, providing the clean, high-resolution signal required for nanometer-class positioning performance.
About BOM Bearing
BOM Bearing designs and manufactures custom-integrated bearing solutions for applications where standard bearings reach their limits. Certified to ISO 9001, IATF 16949, and ISO 14001.
- Certified Quality Management: ISO 9001, IATF 16949, and ISO 14001, meeting the rigorous quality standards required by demanding global OEM supply chains
- Engineering from Your Requirements: Share your current bearing setup and performance targets. Our engineering team works from your constraints, not from catalog limitations
- Technical Partnership: End-to-end engineering support, from analysis of your existing assembly through design, prototyping, and production
- Trusted by Industry Leaders: Custom integrated bearings adopted by global market leaders across industrial automation, robotics, and transportation & logistics
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Frequently Asked Questions
What sensor types can be integrated into the bearing?
Magnetic encoder integration (Hall-effect or magnetoresistive read head + magnetic target ring on the inner ring) is our core offering, covering the majority of speed and position sensing requirements in servo motors, robot joints, and drive systems. Temperature sensor integration is also supported for thermal monitoring applications. The magnetic approach is inherently well-suited to the bearing environment: sealed, compact, and insensitive to the lubricant contamination that optical systems cannot tolerate. Tell us your resolution requirement (PPR), signal interface, and environmental conditions and we will design accordingly.
What signal output formats are available?
We support ABZ incremental quadrature output, analog output (sin/cos), and can design to specific signal interface requirements. Resolution (pulses per revolution) is configurable to your application. Provide your control system signal requirements and we will design a compatible output stage.
Why is the integrated sensor more reliable than an externally mounted encoder in demanding environments?
An external encoder has two vulnerable points: the sensor housing seal and the cable entry. In dusty, humid, or vibration-intensive environments, both are common failure modes. The sensor integrated bearing eliminates both by housing the sensing element within the bearing unit itself, protected by the same seal that protects the rolling elements. The signal path is also shorter and better shielded, reducing susceptibility to electromagnetic interference from nearby motors and drives. The result is a more robust, lower-maintenance sensing solution than a separately mounted encoder in the same operating environment.
Can the sensor integrated bearing directly replace my existing bearing and encoder?
In most cases, yes, provided the replacement can match the bore, outside diameter, and axial width of the existing bearing. Our engineering team will review your current arrangement and design a sensor integrated unit with compatible mounting interfaces and the required signal output. Provide your existing bearing part number and encoder specifications for an evaluation.
What if my application requires a sensor type or signal configuration not covered by your existing designs?
Every Sensor Integrated Bearing is engineered from your application constraints, not from a catalog. Share your measurement requirements (speed, position, temperature, and vibration) along with signal output format, resolution, and space envelope, and our engineering team designs from there. Sensor type, mounting integration, signal conditioning, ring geometry, and material selection are all within the design scope.
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