Rolling bearing with rolling bodies disposed in a plurality of cage segments

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9541130-B2
Application number	US-201414784070-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 11, 2014
Priority date	Apr 11, 2013
Publication date	Jan 10, 2017
Grant date	Jan 10, 2017

Abstract

A rolling-element bearing includes inner and outer rings and a cage between the rings, the cage having a plurality of cage segments with lateral boundary walls defining a receiving pocket for a rolling element having a diameter D w , the pockets being dimensioned such that in a load-free state the rolling elements are positionable in the receiving pockets with a circumferential clearance (c) on the pitch circle between adjacent boundary walls of the pocket such that the clearance satisfies the relationship: c max ≧c≧C min , where: c min =0.01*D w −0.5 mm and c max =0.02*D w −0.4 mm, and wherein the diameter (D w ) of the rolling-element bearing is at least 50 mm.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A rolling-element bearing comprising:
at least one inner ring;
at least one outer ring, and
a cage disposed between the at least one inner ring and the at least one outer ring, the cage comprising a plurality of cage segments, each cage segment having a plurality of lateral boundary walls defining a receiving pocket for a rolling element, the rolling element having a diameter (Dw),
each of the receiving pockets being dimensioned relative to the rolling element in the receiving pocket such that in a load-free state of the rolling-element bearing one of the plurality of rolling elements is positionable in the receiving pocket between the at least one inner ring and the at least one outer ring with a circumferential clearance (c) on the pitch circle of the rolling-element bearing between circumferentially adjacent, mutually facing, boundary walls of the receiving pocket and the rolling element in the receiving pocket, wherein
the clearance (c) satisfies the relationship:
cmax≧c≧cmin

where:
c min=0.01 *Dw− 0.5 mm and
c max=0.02 *Dw− 0.4 mm, and
wherein the diameter (Dw) of the rolling-element bearing is at least 50 mm, and wherein, with uniform distribution of the clearance (c) in the rolling-element bearing on the pitch circle of the rolling-element bearing, there is a total clearance (x) in the circumferential direction of the rolling-element bearing between the running surfaces of the cage segments and the rolling elements in the circumferential direction, and wherein a relationship between the clearance (c) and the total clearance (x) is: c<0.2x, wherein the cage is configured such that when a load on the cage provided by an adjacent roller element located outside of the cage exceeds a predetermined amount, the cage deforms so that the rolling element inside of the pocket is clamped by the cage.

2. The rolling-element bearing according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of cage segments comprise a plurality of separate cage segments, each adjacent pair of cage segments being separated by a gap, wherein a first set of the plurality of rolling elements is located in the cage segments and a second set of the plurality of rolling elements is located in the gaps.

3. The rolling-element bearing according to claim 2 , wherein each of the cage segments includes first and second running surfaces configured to guide the rolling element in the cage segment.

4. The rolling-element bearing according to claim 3 , wherein the cage segments are rolling-element-guided, wherein the cage segments are configured as one-piece plastic molded parts and wherein the rolling elements are cylindrical rolling elements.

5. The rolling-element bearing according to claim 3 , wherein the cage segments are raceway-guided, wherein the cage segments are configured as one-piece plastic molded parts, and wherein the rolling elements are tapered rolling elements.

6. The rolling-element bearing according to claim 1 , wherein the cage segments are rolling-element-guided.

7. The rolling-element bearing according to claim 1 , wherein the cage segments are raceway-guided.

8. The rolling-element bearing according to claim 1 , wherein the cage segments are flange-guided or shoulder-guided.

9. The rolling-element bearing according to claim 1 , wherein the cage segments are configured as one-piece plastic molded parts.

10. The rolling-element bearing according to claim 1 , wherein the rolling elements are cylindrical rolling elements.

11. The rolling-element bearing according to claim 1 , wherein the rolling elements are tapered rolling elements.

Assignees

• Skf Ab

Inventors

• Liang Baozhu
• Tanke Jesko-Henning

Classifications

• F16C33/50

  formed of interconnected members, e.g. chains · CPC title

• F16C19/26

  with a single row of rollers · CPC title

• F16C2300/14

  Large applications, e.g. bearings having an inner diameter exceeding 500 mm · CPC title

• F16C2240/46

  Gap sizes or clearances · CPC title

• F16C33/4605

  Details of interaction of cage and race, e.g. retention or centring · CPC title