Seal for a joint or juncture – Seal between relatively movable parts – Close proximity seal
Reexamination Certificate
2002-05-14
2004-11-09
Miller, William L. (Department: 3677)
Seal for a joint or juncture
Seal between relatively movable parts
Close proximity seal
C277S925000, C384S484000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06814356
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a mount construction for a bearing seal that may be incorporated into a computer device, audio device, and the like. More specifically, the present invention relates to the mount construction for the bearing seal in which the bearing seal may be mounted on the bearing for sealing it, wherein the bearing seal, having a reinforcing ring and an elastic element having a lip and disposed on one side of the reinforcing ring, is inserted into the bearing and mounted on it by using a ring element or diameter-squeezing ring that may prevent the before mentioned lip from being wound between the reinforcing ring and the bearing.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In a conventional bearing seal that may be mounted on a bearing for preventing the escape of the lubricating oil from the bearing and for protecting the bearing against the entry of any dust or water from the outside, the bearing seal includes an engaging portion that is adapted to engage the fitting groove formed on the bearing when the bearing seal is mounted on the bearing. The engaging portion is formed from a flexible material so that it can provide a good engaging ability. Usually, this mounting is performed by causing the engaging portion to become greatly greatly and pressing it into the fitting groove on the bearing.
For the conventional mount construction as described above, wherein the bearing seal may be mounted on the bearing by pressing its engaging portion into the fitting groove, it is required that the engaging portion should have a volume that is large enough to make it flexible, and allow it to become greatly deformed. This mount construction has several problems, however. One problem is that, when the bearing seal having a large volume engaging portion is mounted on the bearing, the engaging portion tends to become excessively elastic, which imposes a limitation on the ability of the engaging portion to prevent the bearing seal from slipping out of the bearing. Another problem is that the ability of the engaging portion to engage the fitting groove may be reduced because it becomes greatly deformed.
In recent years, an improved mount construction for bearing seal has been developed to address the above problems (for example, Japanese Utility Model Registration Application now published under No. H6 (1994)-51555). This mount construction provides an improvement over the prior one. It is disclosed that the bearing seal includes a reinforcing ring and an elastic element having a lip and disposed on one side of the reinforcing ring, wherein the lip is formed to project radially and outwardly beyond the outer peripheral edge of the reinforcing ring. The bearing seal may be mounted on the bearing by placing it into the bearing from the side of the elastic element, and then by causing the lip to be deformed so that it can be wound around the outer peripheral edge of reinforcing ring and into the fitting groove formed on the bearing.
According to such method as described above, wherein the bearing seal may be secured to the bearing by causing the lip to be wound around the outer peripheral edge of reinforcing ring, the lip has the form of an elastic element made of rubber (which is hereinafter referred to as “rubber lip”), and the said rubber lip is held between the inner peripheral surface of the outer race of the bearing and the outer peripheral surface of the reinforcing ring. Accordingly, the rubber lip may be allowed to deform itself by forcing it to engage both the inner peripheral surface of the outer race of the bearing and the outer peripheral surface of the reinforcing ring. Thus, high dimensional precision is required for accurately placing the bearing seal in the bearing. Otherwise, the rubber lip might not be wound around the outer peripheral edge of the reinforcing ring uniformly, so that the mounting would be imperfect.
For the above reason, each of the individual mechanical component parts of the bearing, as well as each of the components of the bearing seal being mounted on the bearing, must have high dimensional precision when it is fabricated, in order to permit the rubber lip to be held uniformly over the outer and inner peripheral surfaces of the bearing, and to permit the bearing seal to be positioned accurately on the bearing.
When the rubber lip is wound around the outer peripheral edge of reinforcing ring as described above, the rubber lip is greatly deformed so that it can surround the outer periphery of the reinforcing ring. Thus, it may exert a strong pressure upon the reinforcing ring, which must have high mechanical strength and spring action to resist such pressure.
When the bearing seal is mounted on the bearing and the rubber lip is wound around the outer peripheral edge of reinforcing ring, the rubber lip may have some part of its tip appearing and exposed beyond the end of the bearing. Thus, the bearing must have an extra space to accommodate such part of the tip therein.
DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION
In order to solve the problems of the prior art described above, the present invention provides a mount construction for bearing seal that allows it to accept the total volume of the lip of the bearing seal in the fitting groove formed on the outer race of bearing, so that the lip of the bearing seal is engaged in the fitting groove, whereby the bearing seal can be mounted on the bearing firmly and securely. Thus, the strength of sealing and engaging is prevented from being lost, after the bearing seal is mounted on the bearing, and a stable sealing function for the bearing is obtained. Also, according to the present invention, the bearing seal is mounted on the bearing easily and securely by using a ring element or diameter-squeezing ring that allows for mounting the bearing seal on the bearing while accepting the total volume of the lip of the bearing seal in the fitting groove formed on the outer race of bearing, thereby engaging the lip of the bearing seal in the fitting groove.
More specifically, one aspect of the present invention provides a mount construction for bearing seal mounting a bearing seal on a bearing by engaging the bearing seal with a fitting groove formed around an inner periphery of an outer race of the bearing, thereby sealing the inside of the bearing from the outside. A bearing seal includes a reinforcing ring and an elastic element disposed on one side of the reinforcing ring and having a lip formed to project radially and outwardly beyond the outer peripheral edge of the reinforcing ring. The bearing seal is pressed into a ring element from the side on which the reinforcing ring is located, and mounted inside the ring element, wherein the ring element has its inner diameter that is greater than the outer diameter of the reinforcing ring and is smaller than the bore diameter of the outer race of the bearing. When the bearing seal is mounted in the ring element, the lip is bent toward the direction away from the outer peripheral edge of the reinforcing ring on the side of the bearing seal at which the elastic element is located. Then, the ring element is made to engage the bore of the outer race of bearing while directing the elastic element of the bearing seal toward the inside of bearing. In this state, the bearing seal is then pushed out of the ring element and into the bore of the outer race of the bearing with the lip thus bent toward the direction away from the outer peripheral edge of the reinforcing ring on the side of the bearing seal at which the elastic element is located, directing the elastic element of the bearing seal toward the inside of the bearing. This may cause the fitting groove on the outer race of bearing to accept the lip, whereby the lip is engaged in the fitting groove, and the mounting may thus be completed.
Another aspect of the present invention provides a mount construction for a bearing seal mounting a bearing seal on a bearing by engaging the bearing seal with a fitting groove formed around an inner periphery of an outer race of the bearing, thereby sealing the inside of the bearing off from t
Miller William L.
Uchiyama Manufacturing Corp.
Wenderoth , Lind & Ponack, L.L.P.
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