Grease Nipple Design

Grease Nipple Design. Grease fittings are permanently installed by a threaded connection, leaving a nipple connection that a grease gun attaches to. The pressure supplied by the grease gun forces a small captive bearing ball in the fitting to move back against the force of its retaining spring. The arrangement is thus essentially a valve that opens under pressure to allow lubricant to pass through a channel and be forced into the voids of the bearing. When the pressure ceases, the ball returns to its closed position. The ball excludes dirt and functions as a barrier to prevent grease escaping back out of the fitting. The ball is almost flush with the surface of the fitting so that it can be wiped clean to reduce the amount of debris carried with the grease into the bearing. The convex shape of the fitting allows the concave tip of the grease gun to seal against the fitting easily from many angles, yet with a sufficiently tight seal to force the pressured grease to move the ball and enter the fitting, rather than simply oozing past this temporary annular (ring-shaped) seal. Grease fittings are commonly made from zinc- plated steel, stainless steel or brass.