Orbital motion bearing

Details Orbital motion bearing Orbital motion bearing

1999-12-29

2001-11-13

Lorence, Richard M. (Department: 3681)

Bearings

Rotary bearing

Antifriction bearing

C384S609000, C464S103000, C418S055300

Reexamination Certificate

active

06315460

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a thrust ball bearing positioned between two members carrying out eccentric rotating movements relative to one another, such as a swivel scroll member and a stationary scroll member in a vehicle air conditioning scroll compressor.
In the
FIGS. 1-3
, there is shown a known scroll compressor
10
including a housing
11
in which are positioned a swivel scroll member
12
and a stationary scroll member
13
. The stationary scroll member
13
is fixed to the housing
11
and the swivel scroll member is free to rotate inside the housing
11
. The swivel scroll member
12
is provided with spiral partitions
14
extending toward the stationary scroll member
13
and the stationary scroll member
13
is provided with spiral partitions
15
extending toward the swivel scroll member
12
. The partitions
14
and cooperate to form a compression chamber
16
having a capacity that is varied in accordance with the eccentric rotations of the swivel scroll member
12
with respect to the stationary scroll member
13
thereby compressing a fluid in the compression chamber
16
.
A central axis
17
of the swivel scroll member
12
is aligned with a longitudinal axis of an eccentric end
18
of a drive shaft
19
rotated by a drive motor
20
. The drive shaft
19
has a main longitudinal axis
21
that is offset from the central axis
17
by a distance “A” such that as the drive motor
20
rotates the drive shaft
19
, the swivel scroll member
12
eccentrically rotates at a swivel radius equivalent to the eccentricity amount “A”. During operation, a thrust load is imposed in an axial direction upon the rotating swivel scroll member
12
by compression cycles of the fluid in the compression chamber
16
. In order to support the thrust load, a thrust ball bearing
22
is disposed between the swivel scroll member
12
and the housing
11
.
The bearing
22
includes a pair of bearing rings
23
having the same shape and same dimension and a plurality of balls
24
disposed between the bearing rings. As shown in the
FIG. 2
, the bearing rings
23
each have a generally planar annular body
25
with a plurality of annular bearing races
26
open to one planar surface
27
. The races
26
are formed as depressions or grooves in the surface
27
. As shown in the
FIG. 1
, one of the rings
23
is mounted in an annular recess
28
formed in a surface of the housing
11
facing the swivel scroll member
12
and the other ring
23
is mounted in a similar recess
29
formed in a surface of the swivel scroll member
12
facing the housing
11
.
The balls
24
are retained in the facing races
26
as shown in the
FIGS. 1 and 3
. The balls
24
in the respective races
26
roll on a pitch circle
30
corresponding to the eccentric rotations of the swivel scroll member
12
. The pitch circle
30
is the lowest portion of the race wall which is curved at a predetermined radius. A diameter “B” of the pitch circle
30
is equal to the eccentricity distance “A”.
In the conventional thrust ball bearing
22
, the bearing rings
23
are of the same shape and same dimensions, and the groove curvatures of the races
26
are the same. The curvatures of the races
26
have a larger radius than a radius of the balls
24
to decrease the contact pressures with the balls to increase the service life thereof. The use of identical rings
23
decreases manufacturing, assembly and replacement parts costs.
However, manufacturing tolerances may cause the races
26
to be misaligned upon assembly of the bearing
22
. One known solution to this problem is to make the radius of curvature of one of the races
26
larger than the radius of curvature of the facing race to accommodate axial misalignment. If the smaller and larger diameter races are alternated, a pair of identical rings can be utilized in the thrust bearing assembly.
It is also known to make the rings
23
of different thickness.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention concerns a thrust bearing for a scroll compressor having a housing with a stationary scroll member mounted therein and a swivel scroll member positioned in the housing and cooperating with the stationary scroll member to form a compression chamber. The thrust bearing includes a first stationary bearing ring for attachment to the housing and having a plurality of circular bearing races, a second swivel bearing ring for attachment to the swivel scroll member and having a plurality of circular bearing races, and a plurality of balls retained between the rings in associated pairs of the races. The circular races each have a center portion that can be a rounded tip, a pointed tip, a plateau or a flat shape. The first stationary bearing ring can have a thickness different than a thickness of the second swivel bearing ring, for example, the first ring is thinner than the second ring.


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