ADR, from Miniature to Integrated Ball Bearings

ADR’s history began in 1925. Mister Beduneau, engineer and inventor, manufactured alone in his workshop miniature ball bearings mostly used in gyroscopes.

In 1964, the company ADR became a division of the giant SKF and dedicated one of its two factories to the manufacturing of instruments ball bearings. Here are some machine examples where ADR ball bearings could be found in the seventies: calculating machines, machines, fans, household appliances, potentiometers, oscillographs, etc.

At the end of the 1970s, ADR specialized in high precision ball bearings and developed new series with stainless steel and small sections. The company began to work for major clients and extended its ranges of annular ball bearings.

In 2004, ADR joined the ALCEN group and started to develop technological synergies for high-tech markets. After a vast workshop expansion, including the opening of a grinding workshop and the installation of two new cleanrooms in 2010, ADR started manufacturing new products.

Thanks to ADR/Customer collaborations, the company designs new subsystems such as electromechanical actuators, the 3-axis positioners and servomotors which meets new technological requirements. The X-SPACE range, intended for space projects launched in 2021. This new range of integrated ball bearings was conceived to provide reliability, accuracy and performance in difficult environments with extreme temperature, void, etc. in which the bearings operate. Indeed, once a spacecraft is launched into space, it is technically impossible to carry out maintenance or repair on potentially defective parts.

Nowadays, ADR is expanding further its range of thin-section ball bearings with new diameters available, for example the 420 mm. The goal being to develop new diameters up to 450 mm. These ball bearings have been developed primarily for new projects related to the defense and security markets.