Bearings – Rotary bearing – Antifriction bearing
Patent
1997-02-13
1998-09-08
Footland, Lenard A.
Bearings
Rotary bearing
Antifriction bearing
F16C 3346
Patent
active
058036202
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a roller and cage assembly, and more particularly, to a roller and cage assembly that attains long service life.
BACKGROUND ART
Roller and cage assemblies that took advantage of characteristics such as being lightweight, having a small cross-sectional height, large load capacity, high rigidity and favorable high-speed rotation performance, as well as being able to be used under severe lubrication conditions were frequently used in the past for the connecting rods of engines equipped on motorcycles and so forth.
FIGS. 8 through 12 show an example of a roller and cage assembly of the prior art. Furthermore, this roller and cage assembly is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 5-118337.
As shown in FIGS. 8 through 10, this roller and cage assembly is composed of a roughly cylindrically shaped cage 101, in which a plurality of pockets 101a are formed at equal intervals in the circumferential direction and formed in parallel in the axial direction, and rollers 102 (see FIG. 9), which have a larger diameter than the wall thickness of said cage 101 and are inserted into each of said pockets 101a. Said cage 101 has two rings 101b on both ends, and a plurality of columns 101c, which are integrated into a single structure with both said rings 101b and are arranged in the circumferential direction so as to demarcate the above-mentioned pockets 101a together with said rings 101b.
The end surfaces of both sides in the circumferential direction of each of said columns 101c serve as smooth roller guide surfaces 101d. In addition, inner retaining projections 101f and outer retaining projections 101g are respectively formed on both sides in the circumferential direction near the center and both ends in the axial direction of each of said columns 101c so as to face each pocket 101a. Rollers 102 are prevented from falling out to the inside and outside from said pockets 101a by these projections. As a result of employing this constitution, cage 101 and each roller 102 are integrated into a single structure, thereby making handling easy during attachment or removal of said roller and cage assembly to and from the engine and so forth.
The above-mentioned inner retaining projections 101f and outer retaining projections 101g are formed in the following manner.
Namely, a knurling shaft (not shown) is brought from inside and outside in contact with, pushed against with a prescribed pressure and rotated with respect to cage 101 in the form of a semi-finished product comprised by forming pockets 101a by punching a cylindrical material formed to have a cross-section roughly in the shape of the letter "M". As is clear from FIG. 10, according to this forming method, together with linear grooves 101h and 101i being formed on the inside and outside that cross columns 101c in the circumferential direction, buildups 101j and 101k are formed due to strain on the edges of said grooves 101h and 101i.
In the roller and cage assembly of this example, a design is employed wherein the outer circumference of cage 101 is guided by the inner surface (guide surface) of the attaching partner (e.g. the big end of a connecting rod). For this reason, since the guide surface of the attaching partner is damaged if the above-mentioned buildup 101k is present on the outside of columns 101c, the outside of cage 101 is ground (indicated with dimension e.sub.1) as shown with the double-dotted broken line in FIGS. 11 and 12 to remove this buildup 101k. However, since it is not removed to the bottom of groove 101i and remains, grinding does not mainly extend to the above-mentioned outer retaining projection 101g formed farther to the inside from the bottom of said groove 101i.
Furthermore, since the inner circumference of cage 101 is not guided, buildup 101j formed on the inside of columns 101c is not removed. In addition, as is clear from FIG. 12, outer diameter D.sub.1 of the material is set to be slightly larger (by the amount of the above-mentioned dimension e.sub.1) than normal diameter D.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3494684 (1970-02-01), Benson
patent: 5540506 (1996-07-01), Yokota et al.
patent: 5584583 (1996-12-01), Hidano
Footland Lenard A.
Nippon Thompson Co. Ltd.
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