Lubrication – Lubricators – Force feed
Reexamination Certificate
1999-09-09
2001-01-23
Fenstermacher, David (Department: 3682)
Lubrication
Lubricators
Force feed
C384S466000, C384S468000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06176349
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the technical field of a bearing lubricating device, and more particularly to an oil lubricating device for a rolling bearing which rotates at high speed.
2. Description of the Related Art
A rolling bearing which is used in a portion which rotates at high speed such as a main shaft of a machine tool is lubricated with oil. Grease is easy to handle, but since the grease is inappropriate in terms of its service life, the rolling bearing is lubricated with oil. In this lubrication with oil, it is required that the lubricating oil be supplied by an appropriate predetermined amount. Since this amount is very small, it is necessary to feed the lubricating oil reliably to raceway surfaces of the bearing. As a means for feeding the lubricating oil to the raceway surfaces, air which is jetted from a nozzle or nozzles has been used. Conventionally, the lubricating oil and the air are fed by the same pipe or separate pipes each formed in the shape of a nozzle. In either case, however, such pipes are disposed in such a manner as to be oriented toward the inner space of the bearing at one location or a number of locations in the circumferential direction of the bearing.
The plurality of rolling elements of the rolling bearing are arranged at intervals in the circumferential direction by means of a retainer, and are adapted to revolve and travel on the raceway surfaces of the race rings as the bearing rotates. In addition, the air which is directed toward the inner space of the bearing for feeding the lubricating oil is jet-like high-speed air which is jetted out from the pipe at one location or the pipes at a number of locations in the circumferential direction as described above, and is intermittently interrupted by the aforementioned rolling elements which revolve and travel. Consequently, the rolling bearing issues high-frequency noise and harms the working environment of the machine tool.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a bearing lubricating device which is capable of reducing such noise and of feeding a very small amount of lubricating oil to the raceway surfaces reliably.
To this end, in accordance with the present invention, there is provided a bearing lubricating device comprising: oiling means for supplying a predetermined amount of lubricating oil to a shoulder peripheral surface of a race ring of a rolling bearing located on a side of a raceway surface of the race ring of the rolling bearing; and air jetting means for jetting air so as to transfer the lubricating oil on the shoulder peripheral surface toward an interior of the bearing, wherein the air jetting means has a receiving space formed in a side member disposed on a side of and adjacent to a nonrotating race ring of the bearing so as to receive air from an outside as well as an air jetting slit communicating with the receiving space, the air jetting slit having an annular shape concentric with the race ring and substantially continuous in a circumferential direction and being formed to be open in such a manner as to be oriented toward the interior of the bearing.
With the above-described bearing lubricating device in accordance with the present invention, the air jetting slit has an annular shape which is formed to be substantially continuous in the circumferential direction, and the jetting of air is effected uniformly and continuously in the entire circumferential direction. Consequently, the air does not produce intermittent interruption noise which is otherwise caused by the rolling elements. Hence, the nose is remarkably reduced.
In the present invention, in the case where an outer ring of the race rings is nonrotatable, if the oiling means is formed as an oiling port formed in the outer ring and leading to the shoulder peripheral surface, and the air jetting slit is provided at a substantially identical radial position to that of the shoulder peripheral surface, since the lubricant is supplied to the shoulder peripheral surface located close to the raceway surface, the lubricant is made to reach the raceway surface more reliably.
In addition, in the case where an inner ring of the race rings is rotatable, an arrangement can be provided such that the side member has an approach portion which approaches to the interior of the bearing up to a position which is close to the shoulder peripheral surface of the inner ring, an annular slit is formed as the air jetting slit between an inner peripheral surface of the approach portion of the side member and the shoulder peripheral surface of the inner ring, and the oiling means is formed by an oiling port provided in the side member in such a manner as to lead to an intermediate portion of the air jetting slit. By adopting the above-described arrangement, since the lubricating oil is supplied to the inner ring side, the lubricating oil reaches the outer ring side from the inner ring side owing to the pumping effect based on the centrifugal force which the air obtains as the bearing rotates, with the result that the overall bearing is lubricated reliably. The higher the rotating speed of the bearing, the more this pumping effect increases. Furthermore, in this case, it is more effective if the air jetting slit is formed in such a manner as to be inclined radially outward toward the interior of the bearing. In addition, if the approach portion has a surface which is close to an inner peripheral surface of a retainer, the lubricating oil reaches more reliably the surfaces of the rolling elements and the raceway surfaces via the surfaces of the rolling elements.
In the present invention, the air jetting means and the oiling means can be provided separately, but it is possible to integrate the two means, and the lubricating oil may be adapted to be transferred by the air flowing in the air jetting slit, in such a manner as to creep over an inner wall surface of the air jetting slit.
The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3885842 (1975-05-01), Furutsu
patent: 3940191 (1976-02-01), Tomioka et al.
patent: 3951476 (1976-04-01), Schulien et al.
patent: 4942944 (1990-07-01), Frey et al.
patent: 49-51983 (1972-08-01), None
patent: 3-49419 (1991-05-01), None
patent: 5-346122 (1993-12-01), None
patent: 8-284961 (1996-11-01), None
Fenstermacher David
Kanesaka & Takeuchi
SKF Japan Ltd.
LandOfFree
Bearing lubricating device does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Bearing lubricating device, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Bearing lubricating device will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2505941