Bearings – Rotary bearing – Antifriction bearing
Patent
1998-09-18
2000-03-28
Hannon, Thomas R.
Bearings
Rotary bearing
Antifriction bearing
384572, F15C 3346
Patent
active
060422750
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention concerns a radial rolling bearing, particularly a cylinder roller bearing, comprising an outer and/or inner ring with associated rolling elements guided in pockets of a cage, and means which retain the rolling elements in contact with an outer raceway or an inner raceway.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Rolling element crown rings, especially those installed in bearings often manifest a large rolling element sag, i.e., the rolling elements fall downwards within the pocket due to the force of gravity so that a gap arises between their rolling contact surface and the outer raceway. This sag has the effect that a shaft which has to be introduced into the bearing abuts with its end face against the end faces of individual cylinder rollers thus causing problems in the introduction of the shaft into the bearing. Due to this, an automatic assembly is not possible.
According to the solution described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,051,534, this sag of the rolling elements is prevented by arranging a second ring above or below the actual cage, said ring comprising retaining sections which press the rolling elements guided in the cage against the inner or the outer raceway, as the case may be.
However, this type of rolling element retention is very complicated and thus also expensive because, besides the actual bearing cage, a further retaining element has to be manufactured and installed in the bearing. In addition, such a solution incorporates the danger that due to the close guidance between the rolling elements and the cage, or between the rolling elements and the additional ring, the operation of the bearing is impaired.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore the object of the invention to provide a simple solution for the retention of rolling elements in a bearing which, on the one hand prevents a sag of the rolling elements during mounting and, on the other hand, does not impair the operation of the bearing.
The invention achieves this object where in by the fact that the means on the inner rolling element holding member or on the outer rolling element holding member, as the case may be, are arranged in the pockets of the cage and have a filigree and elastically deformable configuration so that, after a few rotations of the bearing, a normal operational clearance is established between the rolling elements and the cage due to the elasticity, deformability or wear of said means.
This means that the initially existing means on the inner or outer rolling element holding member ensure that the cage retains the rolling elements in bearing relationship to the raceway during the mounting operation so that, when a shaft is inserted into the bearing, it does not strike the end faces of the cylinder rollers. During operation of the bearing, i.e., after a few rotations of the bearing, these means become ineffective due to elastic deformation or wear so that, as previously described, a normal clearance can be established between the cage and the rolling elements.
Due to the formation of a structural unit comprised of the cage and the means for holding the rolling elements in a defined position, the costs of manufacture are also reduced because, in place of two elements, it is now only necessary to produce one element, and the assembly of the entire bearing is simplified because, again, only one component, i.e. the cage, has to be mounted.
Advantageously, in a further development of the invention, the means comprise two retention elements which point in radial direction and are arranged on one side of pockets in axially spaced relationship to each other, opposite which retention elements in peripheral direction, two complementary retention elements are arranged on the other side of the pockets.
During the mounting of the bearing, these four retention elements, which can be integrated without any problem into the cage during the manufacturing process thereof, assure a reliable support of the rolling elements on the inner or the outer ring, as the case may be, depending on whether the retention
REFERENCES:
patent: 2359120 (1944-09-01), Kilayin
patent: 3051534 (1962-08-01), Kohler et al.
patent: 3167365 (1965-01-01), Helms
patent: 3256052 (1966-06-01), Howles
patent: 3345723 (1967-10-01), Stilla et al.
patent: 4561157 (1985-12-01), Johnsom
patent: 4613239 (1986-09-01), Hofmann et al.
patent: 4620806 (1986-11-01), Rabe
patent: 5249872 (1993-10-01), Rhodes et al.
Muntnich Leo
Rost Herbert
Steinberger Wolfgang
Hannon Thomas R.
Ina Walzlager Schaeffler OHG
LandOfFree
Radial roller bearing does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Radial roller bearing, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Radial roller bearing will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-1320306