Bearing unit and method for manufacturing a bearing unit

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11401967-B2
Application number	US-202117221103-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 2, 2021
Priority date	Apr 9, 2020
Publication date	Aug 2, 2022
Grant date	Aug 2, 2022

Abstract

A bearing unit has at least one outer ring and at least one spring unit mounted axially adjacent to the at least one outer ring and connected to the at least one outer ring by a snap fit. The spring unit includes a support element having a connecting element such as a rib or a plurality of lugs, for connecting the support element to the bearing outer ring and a wave spring fastened to the support element.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A bearing unit comprising:
at least one outer ring; and
at least one spring unit mounted axially adjacent to the at least one outer ring,
wherein the spring unit comprises a wave spring attached to a carrier plate, and
wherein the spring unit is connected to the at least one outer ring by a snap fit.

2. The bearing unit according to claim 1 ,
wherein the at least one outer ring includes an inner bore, and
wherein no portion of the spring overlies the inner bore.

3. The bearing unit according to claim 2 ,
wherein the carrier plate includes a rib extending circumferentially around the carrier plate and radially into a groove in the outer ring, and
wherein the wave spring is welded to the carrier plate.

4. The bearing unit according to claim 1 ,
wherein the carrier plate includes at least one snap connector, and
wherein the wave spring is welded to the carrier plate.

5. The bearing unit according to claim 1 , wherein the wave spring is a single-turn wave spring.

6. The bearing unit according to claim 1 ,
wherein the snap fit is formed by a rib extending circumferentially around the spring unit and radially into a groove in the outer ring.

7. The bearing unit according to claim 1 ,
wherein the snap fit is formed by a plurality of snap lugs circumferentially spaced around the spring unit and extending radially into a groove in the outer ring.

8. The bearing unit according to claim 1 , wherein the carrier plate is formed of metal and wherein the wave spring is welded to the carrier plate.

9. An electric motor or a generator comprising:
a housing,
a rotor, and
the bearing unit according to claim 1 supporting the rotor with respect to the housing.

10. The bearing unit according to claim 1 ,
wherein the carrier plate is annular.

11. The bearing unit according to claim 10 ,
wherein the carrier plate is metal.

12. The bearing according to claim 1 ,
wherein the carrier plate is metal.

13. A method comprising:
welding a wave spring to an annular mounting plate; and
snapping the annular mounting plate onto a bearing outer ring.

14. A bearing unit comprising:
at least one outer ring having a radially outer surface, the radially outer surface having a circumferentially extending groove, and
at least one spring unit comprising a wave spring welded to an annular disk, the annular disk having a cylindrical flange and the cylindrical flange including a radially inwardly extending rib,
wherein the rib projects into the circumferential groove to connect the at least one spring unit to the at least one outer ring with a snap fit.

15. The bearing unit according to claim 14 ,
wherein the annular disk overlies an axially facing side of the outer ring and the cylindrical flange overlies the radially outer surface of the at least one outer ring.

16. The bearing unit according to claim 15 ,
wherein the at least one outer ring includes an inner bore, and
wherein no portion of the at least one spring unit overlies the inner bore.

17. The bearing unit according to claim 14 ,
wherein the annular disk is metal.

Assignees

• Skf Ab

Inventors

• Heile Andreas
• Kraus Sebastian

Classifications

• F16C43/04 Primary

  Assembling rolling-contact bearings · CPC title

• F16C17/02 Primary

  for radial load only · CPC title

• F16C2380/26

  Dynamo-electric machines or combinations therewith, e.g. electro-motors and generators · CPC title

• F16C2226/74

  with snap-fit, e.g. by clips · CPC title

• F16C27/04

  Ball or roller bearings, e.g. with resilient rolling bodies · CPC title