Documentation

Our bearing houses are IP69K certified!

The IP69K rating is for applications where high pressure and high temperature washdown are used to sanitise equipment. The IP69K test specification was initially developed for road vehicles, especially those that need regular intensive cleaning, such as dump trucks and cement mixers but has been widely adopted in the Food and Beverage industries as a test of products to withstand sanitary washdown.

In the IEC 60529 rating system, IP6 refers to the product’s ability to resist ingress of dust. The 69K refers to the product’s ability to resist ingress of high temperature (Steam) / high pressure water.

How is the product usually tested?

• Products rated to IP69K must be able to withstand high-pressure and steam cleaning.
• The test specifies a spray nozzle that is fed with 80 °C water at 80–100 bar (1160-1450 psi) and a flow rate of 14–16 L/min.
• The nozzle is held 10–15 cm from the tested device at angles of 0°, 30°, 60° and 90° for 30 seconds each.
• The test device sits on a turntable that rotates once every 12 seconds.

Our bearing houses are USDA certified!

A high focus on hygienic design ensures that the bearing house can be cleaned behind and around the shaft and furthermore, NGI offers hygienic spacers to increase the distance to machines and equipment to over an inch as recommended by the USDA.

USDA Guidelines for the Sanitary Design and Fabrication of Dairy Processing Equipment: Point 23, Rotating shafts, page E 10 : ..."bearings shall be mounted to provide a minimum of 1 inch (25mm) exterior open space on the shaft between the mechanical seal for the bearing and the nearest part of the sanitary seal or the opening to the product contact area. The 1 inch (25mm) minimum space shall be open to the atmosphere and be easily accessible for inspection and cleaning."

Sum up of requriements for the USDA certification:

• 1 inch  (25mm) minimum space
• Material food approved
• Roughness maximum 1.6 Ra we are at 0.8 Ra
• Radii minimum 3.2 mm

3-A certified!

3-A SSI is a US based, non-profit organization dedicated to improving hygiene design in the food, beverage and pharmaceutical industries. The standards set are intended to ensure product quality and thus protect the health of the end user. The principles and certificates are therefore recognized by many countries and food manufacturers.

For the certification of hygienic parts, the evaluation is based on design features, so that, for example in a pipe, small angles or small radii should be avoided. This is to ensure the protection of consumer goods from contamination, a simple possibility for cleaning surfaces and easy disassembly for cleaning purposes.

The design specifications of the 3-A standards are very detailed and describe, for example, precisely the execution of radii and the required surface finish. If these specifications cannot be met, a 3-A certification of the product is not possible. 

All of our bearing houses and more of our certified hygienic levelling feet are 3-A certified.

EHEDG certified!

The EHEDG (European Hygienic Equipment Design Group) has been supporting hygiene measures during the production and packaging of food since 1989 and is a foundation of food-related organizations. The main task of EHEDG is to contribute to hygienic engineering and design in all areas of food production and thus to ensure the safe production of food. The EHEDG certifies hygienic components only if they satisfy theoretical approaches on the one hand and practical tests on the other. The EHEDG certificate is mainly recognized in Europe.

EHEDG is more general than 3-A in its formulations and describes the intended effect. If, for technical or functional reasons, the design, geometry and surface specifications cannot be met, the effectiveness of the chosen design must be proven through a cleaning test. If this test is passed successfully, this product will receive an EHEDG certificate, despite its design deviations.

 All of our bearing houses and more of our certified hygienic levelling feet are EHEDG certified.