Bearing device

Details Bearing device Bearing device

2000-02-04

2001-08-28

Footland, Lenard A. (Department: 3682)

Bearings

Rotary bearing

Antifriction bearing

C384S493000, C384S536000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06280095

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a bearing device to be mounted in various fluid systems, and more specifically to a bearing device for bearing a rolling element arranged in a fluid passage within a fluid system housing.
2. Description of the Related Art
A vehicle engine carburetor used as a fluid system is exemplified in FIG.
2
. In
FIG. 2
, the carburetor includes a venturi
3
in the middle of an intake passage
2
within an intake pipe
1
. A nozzle
4
which is connected to a fuel chamber (float chamber) is mounted on the narrowest portion of the venturi
3
, and is made open so that fuel may be injected from the nozzle
4
by making use of a negative pressure generated in the venturi
3
to form a mixture gas. Typically, a throttle valve
5
for controlling amount of supplying the mixture gas to the engine side is disposed at the downstream side of the venturi
3
in such a manner that the valve
5
can be rotated by means of a bearing device
10
as will be described later.
The bearing device
10
is so structured as in shown in
FIG. 3. A
roller bearing
12
is fitted into a coupling bore
11
formed in a wall portion of the intake pipe
1
which faces the diameter direction thereof, and a shaft
6
of the throttle valve
5
is supported by this roller bearing
12
. As the roller bearing
12
used herein, a general-purpose bearing having a plurality of balls
16
held between an outer race
13
and an inner race
14
by a retainer
15
is chosen. Since air flow must be shielded, the bearing used therefor is formed with seals such that sealing plates
17
,
17
are arranged at the both sides. The movement of an acceleration pedal (not shown) which exerts on one end of the shaft
6
via a lever
7
allows the throttle valve
5
to appropriately rotate.
Due to the structural design of the above-stated carburetor, the throttle valve
5
may be assembled concurrently while the shaft
6
is passed to the roller bearing
12
. Therefore, the coupling bore
11
in the intake pipe
1
may not be tightly engaged with the roller bearing
12
, and the roller bearing
12
may not be tightly engaged with the shaft
6
of the throttle valve
5
. This potentially results in clearance a or b at the respective engaged sections due to a dimensional error. If the clearance a or b is formed, air as well as impurities such as water, oil or grease permeates through the clearance a or b into the intake passage
2
since the rotation of engine may also generate a negative pressure in the intake passage
2
. This causes the engine performance to be deteriorated. Therefore, a sealing measure against this malfunction has been desired. Further, this type of carburetor is disposed in an engine room having a large variance of temperature, resulting in a difference in thermal expansion among the following three essential components of the bearing device
10
: the intake pipe
1
, the roller bearing
12
, and the shaft
6
of the throttle valve
5
. Then, the same clearance a or b as above may be possibly formed at these engaged sections. In view of this, the above-described sealing measure has also been desired.
The carburetor typically includes a choke valve for controlling the amount of intake gas at the upstream side of the venturi
3
. A bearing device for bearing this choke valve also requires the above-described sealing measure.
Some of the vehicle engine fuel systems may include a fuel injection system in place of a carburetor. A bearing device for bearing a throttle valve mounted in this type of fuel injection system also requires the same sealing measure.
Further, some fluid systems may include a fluid passage in which a higher pressure is generated than atmospheric pressure. A bearing device for bearing a rolling element disposed in such a fluid passage requires a sealing measure to prevent the fluid in the fluid passage from leaking to the outside therefrom.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention has been made in view of the conventional problems pointed out as above, and has an object to provide a bearing device with high sealing capability which is reliable of shielding any fluid or material from moving between the fluid passage within a fluid system housing and the outside of the housing.
In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a bearing device having a roller bearing equipped with seals which is fitted into a coupling bore in the wall of a fluid system housing, the fluid system having therein a fluid passage generating pressure difference between inside and outside of the housing, so that the roller bearing supports a shaft of a rolling element disposed in the fluid passage, wherein the roller bearing includes at least one annular groove in the outer circumferential surface of the outer race thereof and the inner circumferential surface of the inner race thereof, and a seal ring made of an elastic material is engagingly arranged on the interior of each of the at least one annular groove to attain sealing effect between the outer race and the inner surface of the coupling bore in the housing and between the inner race and the shaft of the rolling element.
With the thus constructed bearing device, any clearance that may occur in the engaged sections between the roller bearing and the housing and between the roller bearing and the shaft of the rolling element due to a dimensional error, difference in thermal expansion, etc. will be eliminated by a seal ring made of an elastic material. This closure shields any fluid or material from moving between the fluid passage within the housing and the outside of the housing.
According to the present invention, any particular kind or form of the fluid system housing and the rolling element disposed in the fluid passage within the housing may be available. An intake pipe for a vehicle engine and a butterfly valve may be chosen as the housing and the rolling element, respectively. In this case, the fluid passage within the housing is available for an intake passage and the butterfly valve is available for a throttle valve or a choke valve.


REFERENCES:
patent: 4696587 (1987-09-01), Nishida et al.
patent: 5975764 (1999-11-01), Okada et al.

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