Sector journal bearing

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9664237-B2
Application number	US-201414529896-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 31, 2014
Priority date	Oct 31, 2014
Publication date	May 30, 2017
Grant date	May 30, 2017

Abstract

A universal joint assembly includes a hollow upper shaft, a lower shaft extending at least partially within the upper shaft, and a cage having a plurality of bearing apertures. Each bearing aperture includes a pair of opposed loading pads having a distinct inner wall surface sector extending radially inward into the at least one bearing aperture. The cage receives at least a portion of the lower shaft and is positioned within the hollow upper shaft. The assembly further includes at least one upper tilt pin extending through the upper shaft and a bearing aperture of the plurality of bearing apertures, and a lower tilt pin extending through the lower shaft and a bearing aperture of the plurality of bearing apertures.

First claim

Having thus described the invention, it is claimed:

1. A cardan joint cage comprising:
a rotatable cardan joint cage, the cardan joint cage configured to rotatably couple a first shaft and a second shaft of a universal joint assembly having a spin axis;
a first opposed pair of bearing apertures disposed in the cage about a first axis perpendicular to the spin axis;
a second opposed pair of bearing apertures disposed in the cage about a second axis perpendicular to the spin axis, the first axis and the second axis perpendicular to one another; and
each of the bearing apertures having an inner wall surface and a pair of opposed loading pads extending radially inward into the at least one bearing aperture, the opposed loading pads oriented along a predetermined load path in a transverse plane of the cage that is transverse relative to the spin axis.

2. The cardan joint cage of claim 1 , wherein the opposed loading pads are discontiguous along the inner wall surface.

3. The cardan joint cage of claim 1 , wherein each loading pad of the pair of opposed loading pads is a non-adjoining sector of a circumference of the at least one bearing aperture, the sector defining a portion of the circumference having a sector radial angle.

4. The cardan joint cage of claim 3 , wherein the sector radial angle is between 15° and 120°.

5. The cardan joint cage of claim 3 , wherein the sector radial angle is between 75° and 105°.

6. The cardan joint cage of claim 3 , wherein the sector radial angle is approximately 90°.

7. The cardan joint cage of claim 1 , wherein the opposed loading pads have a loading pad size corresponding to the predetermined load path.

8. A universal joint assembly comprising:
a hollow upper shaft;
a lower shaft extending at least partially within the upper shaft;
a rotatable joint cage having a plurality of bearing apertures comprising a first opposed pair of bearing apertures disposed in the cage about a first axis perpendicular to a spin axis of the assembly and a second opposed pair of bearing apertures disposed in the cage about a second axis perpendicular to the spin axis, the first axis and the second axis perpendicular to one another, each bearing aperture having a pair of opposed loading pads having a distinct inner wall surface sector extending radially inward into the at least one bearing aperture, the opposed loading pads oriented along a predetermined load path in a transverse plane of the cage that is transverse relative to the spin axis, the cage receiving at least a portion of the lower shaft, the cage positioned within the hollow upper shaft;
at least one upper tilt pin extending through the upper shaft and the first opposed pair of bearing apertures; and
a lower tilt pin extending through the lower shaft and the second opposed pair of bearing apertures.

9. The assembly of claim 8 , wherein the inner wall surface of each bearing aperture includes sectors that are discontiguous with the inner wall surface of opposed loading pads.

10. The assembly of claim 8 , wherein each loading pad of the opposed loading pads is a sector of a circumference of its respective bearing aperture, the sector defining a portion of the circumference having a sector radial angle.

11. The assembly of claim 10 , wherein the sector radial angle is between 60° and 120°.

12. The assembly of claim 10 , wherein the sector radial angle is between 75° and 105°.

13. The assembly of claim 10 , wherein the sector radial angle is approximately 90°.

14. The assembly of claim 8 , wherein the opposed loading pads have a loading pad size corresponding to the predetermined load path.

15. A method of fabricating a rotatable cardan joint cage, the method comprising:
forming the rotatable cardan joint cage, the cardan joint cage configured to rotatably couple a first shaft and a second shaft of a universal joint assembly having a spin axis with a first opposed pair of bearing apertures disposed in the cage about a first axis perpendicular to the spin axis and a second opposed pair of bearing apertures disposed in the cage about a second axis perpendicular to the spin axis, the first axis and the second axis perpendicular to one another; and
removing material from a portion of the circumference of each bearing aperture to define a pair of opposed loading pads extending radially inward into each aperture, the opposed loading pads oriented along a predetermined load path in a transverse plane of the cage that is transverse relative to the spin axis.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the step of removing material further comprises removing material from an area that is unloaded by a load path in a transverse plane of the cage.

17. The method of claim 15 , further comprising defining each loading pad as a sector of the circumference of the at least one bearing aperture, the sector defining a portion of the circumference having a sector radial angle that defines a loading pad size.

18. The method of claim 17 , further comprising forming the sector radial angle between 15° and 120°.

19. The method of claim 17 , further comprising forming the sector radial angle between 75° and 105°.

20. The method of claim 17 , further comprising forming the sector radial angle as approximately 90°.

Assignees

• Steering Solutions Ip Holding

Inventors

• Bodtker Joen C
• Brzezinski Gregory D

Classifications

• Y10T29/49989

  Followed by cutting or removing material · CPC title

• B23P15/00

  Making specific metal objects by operations not covered by a single other subclass or a group in this subclass · CPC title

• B23P15/003

  bearings (see also F16C33/00) · CPC title

• B23P2700/11

  Joints, e.g. ball joints, universal joints · CPC title

• F16C2361/41

  Couplings · CPC title