History:
The Conrad style ball bearing is named after its inventor, Robert Conrad (not the actor from the TV show "Wild, Wild West"), who was awarded British patent # 12,206 in 1903 and U.S. patent # 822,723 in 1906.

Design:
A Conrad bearing is assembled by placing the inner race into an eccentric position relative to the outer race, with the two races in contact at one point, resulting in a large gap opposite the point of contact. The balls are inserted via this gap and then evenly distributed around the bearing assembly, causing the races to become concentric. Assembly is completed by fitting a cage to the balls to maintain their positions relative to each other. Absent the cage, the balls would eventually drift out of position during operation, causing the bearing to fail. The cage carries no load and serves only to maintain ball position.