DE102020114324A1 - Roller bearings with a bearing cage optimized for lubrication passage - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a roller bearing with several cylindrical or conical rolling elements (3) arranged between an outer bearing ring (1) and an inner bearing ring (2) and guided through a bearing cage (4), with at least one end face (5a, 5b) of the bearing cage (4 ) In the radial interaction with the corresponding edge area of the bearing inner ring (2) and / or the bearing outer ring (1), a limited lubricant passage is formed, which is arranged around the face of the bearing cage (4) along the circumference and in the direction of the bearing inner ring (2) or the bearing outer ring (1) comprises edge recesses (6, 6 ') which are open towards the end, the common cross-sectional area of which takes up up to 30% of the end face area of the bearing cage (4).

Description

The invention relates to a roller bearing with several cylindrical or conical rolling elements arranged between an outer bearing ring and an inner bearing ring and guided through a bearing cage, a limited lubricant passage being formed at least on one end face of the bearing cage in radial cooperation with the corresponding edge area of the bearing inner ring and / or the bearing outer ring .

The field of application of the invention extends to motor vehicle technology, primarily to transmission technology in motor vehicles. Roller bearings of the type of interest here are used, for example, in differential gears or the like, in order to preferably form radial bearing points for an input or output-side gear shaft. Roller bearings have a high bearing load factor that is suitable for such applications.

Efforts to reduce pollutant emissions and to increase ranges in automotive technology mean that roller bearings with the lowest possible friction are required. An optimal lubricant supply is crucial for a rolling bearing that works with as little friction as possible. On the one hand, this must be implemented in such a way that a sufficient amount of lubricant is supplied, but on the other hand its current should not flow so strongly that splashing losses occur, which typically arise as a result of an excess supply of lubricant.

State of the art

From the EP 1 846 665 B1 shows a generic roller bearing in the form of a tapered roller bearing with different embodiments of bearing cages. The roller bearing essentially consists of several conical rolling elements arranged between an outer bearing ring and an inner bearing ring, which are guided through the bearing cage. At both end faces of the bearing cage, a gap is formed in cooperation with an associated edge flange section of the bearing inner ring and also the bearing outer ring, which is large enough on the one hand to allow sufficient lubricant to pass through for the bearing lubrication and on the other hand is sufficiently small to provide an effective seal against the lubricant contained in the bearing Forming dirt particles. In addition to this, the end face of the bearing cage, referred to here as a deflector, is arched and has at least one inner and one outer radial edge, which extend in the direction of the bearing inner ring and bearing outer ring, so that axial and radial functional clearance between the edge areas and the associated bearing outer ring or bearing inner ring are formed, which are dimensioned such that on the one hand the lubricant passage is enabled in the sense described above and on the other hand there is an obstacle to the passage of solid dirt particles. In particular, due to tolerances that are unavoidable from a manufacturing point of view, constant gap dimensions can hardly be reproduced.

the DE 10 2017 126 917 A1 discloses another generic prior art in which the gap dimensions that are as constant as possible are realized by a bearing cage guided by rolling elements. As a result, defined annular gaps are created on both end faces of the bearing cage both towards the bearing outer ring and towards the bearing inner ring, the total cross-sectional area of which forms the lubricant passage in relation to each end face. This leads to a rather complicated component geometry for the bearing cage.

It is therefore the object of the present invention to further improve a roller bearing of the generic type in such a way that a lubricant passage generated via the geometry of the bearing cage can be adjusted in a simple manner such that the exact amount of lubricant required for bearing lubrication can be made available.

Disclosure of the invention

The object is achieved on the basis of a roller bearing according to the preamble of claim 1 in conjunction with characterizing features. The following dependent claims reproduce advantageous developments of the invention.

The invention includes the technical teaching that a lubricant passage comprises several edge recesses arranged at the end of the bearing cage along the circumference and opening in the direction of the bearing inner ring or the bearing outer ring, the common cross-sectional area of which takes up up to 30% of the end face of the bearing cage. In comparison with the prior art, the advantage of the solution according to the invention results from the fact that a largely gap tolerance-independent inlet geometry is created for the lubricant passage, in which gap tolerances to the adjacent components only play a subordinate role. This is because the main passage is created by the said edge recesses on the end face of the bearing cage, also called the side band of the bearing cage. This allows the amount of lubricant that passes through the roller bearing to be adjusted depending on the system fill amount of lubricant. The inflowing volume can be admitted by the passage geometry defined according to the invention Determine the lubricant more precisely and design the blocking elements on the bearing cage more precisely, which enables precise lubricant regulation. As a secondary effect, splashing losses are also avoided and, on the other hand, inadequate lubrication is counteracted.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention it is provided that the edge recesses each have an arcuate segment-shaped cross-sectional area, the arc length of which is in each case several times greater than the depth of the edge recess. This arcuate segment-shaped cross-sectional area is also roughly comparable to an elongated rectangle. The depth of the edge recesses should be a maximum of 50% of the cage height. In the areas outside the edge recesses, the cage height thus takes up almost the entire distance between the outer circumferential surface of the bearing inner ring and the inner circumferential surface of the bearing outer ring, minus a slight amount of play. In the areas within the edge recesses, however, the depth is limited to a level which, on the one hand, ensures adequate stability of the bearing cage and, on the other hand, also provides a wide scope for adjusting the cross-sectional area of the total lubricant passage. In the claimed dimension range, a lubricant regulation corresponding to the structural boundary conditions can be carried out.

According to the preferred embodiment of the invention, all edge recesses have an identical geometry and are arranged equidistant from one another along the circumference of the bearing cage, preferably with the opening side in the direction of the bearing inner ring. The arc length of each edge recess should be longer than the arc distance between adjacent edge recesses. With this constructive measure, the variable cross-sectional area is maximized in the circumferential direction without the stability of the bearing cage suffering as a result.

According to a further measure improving the invention, it is proposed that the frontal cage height of the bearing cage is dimensioned such that a defined radial gap width S1 or S2 results compared to the bearing outer ring and / or the bearing inner ring. As a result, the cross-section formed by the radial gap width (s) also takes up an area portion of the lubricant passage and is to be taken into account in addition to the total cross-sectional area of the edge recesses. The radial gap width (s) should be dimensioned in such a way that, on the one hand, sufficient play is achieved with respect to the adjacent components rotating relative to this, i.e. the bearing inner ring and the bearing outer ring, in order to avoid frictional wear. On the other hand, the radial gap width (s) should not be so wide that the guiding function is impaired by the neighboring components.

According to a further measure improving the invention, it is proposed that the lubricant passage on the inflow end is smaller than the lubricant passage on the outflow end of the roller bearing. As a result, the lubricant is regulated on the inflow side, so that an excessive amount of lubricant cannot accumulate inside the bearing in order to cause the splashing losses to be avoided there. According to a preferred embodiment, the flow cross-section on the outflow-side end face should be between 10 to 100 times larger than on the inflow-side end face in order to ensure an unimpeded outflow of the lubricant from the interior of the bearing.

According to the preferred embodiment, the at least one end face of the bearing cage is designed to be planar. Lubricant-conducting deflector surfaces and the like can therefore fall in favor of the edge recesses attached to the front and the simplified straight-surface geometry also enables a correspondingly simpler production, which can preferably be done by injection molding a suitable plastic.

Figure list

• 1 einen Teilquerschnitt durch ein Kegelrollenlager mit erfindungsgemäß ausgebildetem Schmiermitteldurchlass,
• 1a eine Detailansicht der 1 an derjenigen Stirnseite des Lagerkäfigs, an welcher das Schmiermittel in das Kegelrollenlager eintritt,
• 2 eine Seitenansicht des Lagerkäfigs des Kegelrollenlagers auf der in der 1a gezeigten Schmierstoffeintrittsseite, und
• 2a eine Detailansicht des Lagerkäfigs gemäß 2.

Further measures improving the invention are shown in more detail below together with the description of a preferred exemplary embodiment of the invention with reference to the figures. It shows:

• 1 a partial cross-section through a tapered roller bearing with a lubricant passage designed according to the invention,
• 1a a detailed view of the 1 on the face of the bearing cage where the lubricant enters the tapered roller bearing,
• 2 a side view of the bearing cage of the tapered roller bearing on the in 1a lubricant inlet side shown, and
• 2a a detailed view of the bearing cage according to 2 .

According to 1 the tapered roller bearing consists of an outer bearing ring 1 as well as a bearing inner ring 2 , between which a plurality of conical rolling elements 3 are arranged. The rolling elements 3 are supported by a bearing cage made of a plastic material 4th guided.

The storage cage 4th has a first end face 5a and a second end face 5b and forms here on the first end face 5a in cooperation with the bearing outer ring 1 as well as the bearing inner ring 2 a respective lubrication gap S1 respectively. S2 which part of the lubricant passage on the lubricant inlet side of the tapered roller bearing are.

According to the detailed illustration of the 1 a is the one on the part of the bearing inner ring 2 formed radial gap S1 so small that the bearing cage 4th is at least slightly supported or guided by the bearing inner ring in motion.

According to 2 However, the main part of the cross-sectional area of the lubricant passage is due to several end faces on the bearing cage 4th Edge recesses arranged along the circumference and open in the direction of the bearing inner ring - not shown in any further detail 6th , 6 ', etc. In doing so, it takes through all the edge recesses 6th , 6 ', etc. common cross-sectional area formed less than 30% of the end face area of the bearing cage 4th a. This ensures that despite the edge recesses 6th , 6 ', etc. caused material weakening, sufficient component stability can be ensured even with high bearing loads. At the same time, the cross-sectional area of the edge recesses in the area according to the invention can be dimensioned in such a way that an adequate supply of lubricant can be achieved.

From the outside diameter there minus the inside diameter di of the bearing cage 4th results in the cage height H . The depth T of the edge recesses 6th , 6 ', etc. is less than 50% of the cage height here H . Furthermore, it can be seen that all have edge recesses 6th , 6 ', etc. have an identical geometry and are equidistant from one another along the circumference of the bearing cage 4th arranged.

As from the detail of the 2a shows, has each edge recess 6th , 6 ', etc. each have an arc length L. which is several times greater than the depth T the edge recesses 6th , 6 ', etc. Further is the arc length L. every edge recess 6th , 6 ', etc. in this embodiment is longer than the web-shaped arcuate spacing between adjacent edge recesses 6th ; 6 '.

The invention is not restricted to the exemplary embodiment described above. Rather, modifications thereof are also conceivable, which are also covered by the scope of protection of the following claims. For example, it is also possible to split the bearing cage, which is preferably made of plastic.

List of reference symbols

1

Bearing outer ring

2

Bearing inner ring

3

Rolling elements

4th

Bearing cage

5

Front side

6th

Edge recess

S1

first radial gap

S2

second radial gap

di

Inner diameter of the inlet side of the bearing cage

there

Outside diameter of the inlet side of the bearing cage

L.

Arc length edge recess

T

Deep edge recess

H

Cage height

QUOTES INCLUDED IN THE DESCRIPTION

This list of the documents listed by the applicant was generated automatically and is included solely for the better information of the reader. The list is not part of the German patent or utility model application. The DPMA assumes no liability for any errors or omissions.

Patent literature cited

• EP 1846665 B1 [0004]
• DE 102017126917 A1 [0005]

Claims (10)

Roller bearing with several cylindrical or conical rolling elements (3) arranged between an outer bearing ring (1) and an inner bearing ring (2) and guided through a bearing cage (4), whereby at least one end face (5a, 5b) of the bearing cage (4) interacts radially a limited lubricant passage is formed with the corresponding edge area of the bearing inner ring (2) and / or the bearing outer ring (1), characterized in that the lubricant passage is a plurality of end faces on the bearing cage (4) arranged along the circumference and in the direction of the bearing inner ring (2) or the The outer bearing ring (1) comprises edge recesses (6, 6 ') which are open towards the end and whose common cross-sectional area takes up up to 30% of the end face area of the bearing cage (4). Roller bearing according to Claim 1 , characterized in that the edge recesses (6, 6 ') each have an arc-segment-shaped cross-sectional area, the arc length (L) of which is in each case several times greater than the depth (T). Roller bearing according to Claim 2 , characterized in that the depth (T) of the edge recesses (6, 6 ') is a maximum of 50% of the cage height (H). Roller bearing according to Claim 1 , characterized in that all the edge recesses (6, 6 ') have an identical geometry and are arranged equidistant from one another along the circumference of the bearing cage (4). Roller bearing according to Claim 4 , characterized in that the arc length (L) of each edge recess (6, 6 ') is longer than the web-shaped arc spacing between adjacent edge recesses (6; 6'). Roller bearing according to Claim 1 , characterized in that the frontal cage height (H) of the bearing cage (4) is dimensioned such that there is a defined radial gap width (S1; S2) compared to the bearing outer ring (1) and / or the bearing inner ring (2). Roller bearing according to Claim 1 , characterized in that the lubricant passage on the inflow end face (5a) is smaller than the lubricant passage on the outflow end face (5b). Roller bearing according to Claim 7 , characterized in that the flow cross-section on the outflow-side end face (5b) is between 10 to 100 times larger than on the inflow-side end face (5a). Roller bearing according to Claim 1 , characterized in that at least one of the end faces (5a, 5b) of the bearing cage (4) is planar. Roller bearing according to Claim 1 , characterized in that the bearing cage (4) is made of a plastic consisting of injection molding.

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