JP2003294034A - Thrust needle bearing - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a thrust needle bearing having a superior handling property. <P>SOLUTION: Projections 11c and 12c prohibiting a retainer 14 from moving to an axial direction by connecting with the retainer 14 are formed on a flange of raceways 11 and 12. For example, when the thrust needle bearing is assembled to or dismantled from a compressor for a car air-conditioner, separation of the retainer 14 from the raceways 11 and 12 is prohibited by the projections 11c and 12c. Thus, falling and misassembling of components are avoidable. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a thrust needle bearing suitable for use in a car air conditioner compressor or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A variable capacity compressor is known as one type of car air conditioner compressor. Generally, in a variable displacement compressor, a drive shaft is rotatably fitted in a housing, a swash plate is connected to the drive shaft in a variable inclination angle, and a wobble plate slides on the swash plate. It is installed freely. A thrust bearing is arranged between the swash plate and the wobble plate. Wobble board,
One ends of the plurality of piston rods are attached at equal intervals in the circumferential direction, and the other ends of the piston rods are connected to the piston. The piston is provided so as to slide inside a cylinder provided in the housing, and compresses and discharges the refrigerant gas flowing into the bore of the cylinder. In other words, when the swash plate rotates, the wobble plate
A so-called rasping operation is performed, and the piston is reciprocated in the axial direction via the piston rod to compress and discharge the refrigerant gas.

[0003]

By the way, since the drive shaft receives a force through the swash plate during operation of the car air-conditioning compressor, a thrust bearing for supporting the drive shaft in the thrust direction with respect to the housing is required. Become. The conventional thrust needle bearing used for such an application is composed of a race having a cylindrical flange and a roller and a cage.Therefore, the race and the roller and the cage are separated from each other when assembled or disassembled. It was easy to handle and there was a problem in handling such as the risk of damage to parts due to dropping. Further, when the roller and the cage are assembled in a fixed direction, if the roller and the cage are easily separated from the race, they may be reversely assembled after that, and it is necessary to prevent this.

The present invention has been made in view of such conventional problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a thrust needle bearing excellent in handleability.

[0005]

A thrust needle bearing according to the present invention has a race provided with a flange, a rolling element, and a retainer for holding the rolling element, and the radial direction with respect to the flange of the race. The rolling element and the cage are arranged, and further, the flange is formed with a protrusion that abuts against the cage to inhibit axial movement of the cage. To do.

[0006]

The thrust needle bearing of the present invention has a race having a flange, a rolling element, and a retainer for holding the rolling element, and the rolling element and the radial element are arranged in a radial direction with respect to the flange of the race. A retainer is arranged, and further, a protrusion for prohibiting axial movement of the retainer is formed on the flange by contacting with the retainer. The protrusion prevents the retainer from being separated from the race when it is assembled or disassembled into a compressor or the like, thereby avoiding problems such as falling of parts and misassembly. When there are two races provided with flanges, it is sufficient if at least one of them has a protrusion.

When the thrust needle bearing is provided in a compressor for a car air conditioner, for example, it is often arranged on the side of a pulley unit connected to a drive shaft and receiving a rotation amount from a belt. In such a case, it becomes a mist. There is also a problem in that it is located far from the supply source of the supplied lubricating oil, and therefore the oil film formation between the rolling elements and the raceway surface deteriorates. On the other hand, in the thrust needle bearing of the present invention, since the race has a notch in at least a part of the flange, it is possible to promote the supply of the lubricating oil through the notch, and to improve the lubricity of the raceway surface and the rollers. Can be increased.

Such a thrust needle bearing is suitable for use in a compressor for a car air conditioner.

[0009]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a car air conditioner compressor using a thrust needle bearing according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view around the thrust needle bearing. FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the thrust needle bearing of FIG.

In FIG. 1, a variable capacity compressor, which is a compressor for a car air conditioner, is a housing 1
The drive shaft 2 is rotatably fitted to the swash plate 3, the swash plate 3 is connected to the drive shaft 2 in a variable inclination angle, and the wobble plate 4 is slidably attached to the swash plate 3. A thrust bearing 5 is arranged between the swash plate 3 and the wobble plate 4. One end of a plurality of piston rods 6 is attached to the wobble plate 4 at equal intervals in the circumferential direction, and the other end of the piston rod 6 is connected to a piston 7. This piston 7
Is provided so as to slide inside a cylinder 1a provided in the housing 1, and the refrigerant gas flowing into the bore of the cylinder 1a is compressed and discharged.
The right end of the drive shaft 2 in FIG. 1 is connected to a pulley 8 via a clutch mechanism CM, and a thrust plate 9 is press-fitted to the pulley 8 side outer periphery of the drive shaft 2 so as to rotate integrally,
A thrust needle bearing 10 is arranged between the thrust plate 9 and the housing 1.

In FIG. 2, the thrust needle bearing 10
Is a race 11 attached to the thrust plate 9, a race 12 attached to the housing 1, and both races 1
It is composed of a plurality of rollers 13 which are rolling elements arranged between 1 and 12 so as to be rotatable, and a cage 14 which holds the rollers 13 at equal intervals in the circumferential direction. The cage 14 includes two plates 14a,
14b is formed by bending and combining,
A pocket portion 14c that accommodates the roller 13 is formed.

The race 11 is a disk-shaped main body 11a with a hole.
And a cylindrical flange 11b extending in the axial direction from the inner peripheral edge thereof. The race 12 has a disk-shaped main body 12a with a hole and a cylindrical flange 12b extending from the outer peripheral edge thereof in the axial direction.

A method of assembling the thrust needle bearing 10 will be described. After the rollers 13 are loaded in the cage 14,
The races 11 and 12 are sandwiched so that the flanges 11b and 12b are overlapped in the radial direction.
Combine. After that, the outer periphery of the end of the flange 11b is crimped outward at equal intervals in three (not limited to three) radial directions to form the convex portion 11c, and the flange 12
The convex portion 12c is formed by crimping the outer circumference of the end portion of b at four locations (not limited to four locations) radially inward at equal intervals.
The protrusions 11c and 12c have a function of preventing the cage 14 from moving in the axial direction and preventing the rollers 13 and the cage 14 from coming off by coming into contact with the cage 14, resulting in the race 11 , 12 separation is prevented,
When the car air conditioner compressor is assembled or divided, problems such as the roller 13 and the cage 14 falling off are eliminated, and the handleability is excellent.

When the clutch mechanism CM is turned on, the operation of the car air conditioner compressor is started. In this case, when the pulley 8 is driven by a belt (not shown), the drive shaft 2
When the swash plate 3 is rotated, the wobble plate 4 makes a so-called rasping motion, causing the piston 7 to reciprocate in the axial direction via the piston rod 6.
The refrigerant gas is compressed and discharged.

At this time, from the piston 7 to the drive shaft 2,
The compression force of the refrigerant gas is transmitted as a thrust force, and the thrust needle bearing 10 supports the thrust force between the thrust plate 9 and the housing 1.

FIG. 4 is an exploded view of a thrust needle bearing according to another embodiment which can be used in the car air conditioner compressor of FIG. In FIG. 4, the thrust needle bearing 110 is different from the embodiment of FIG.
Since only the race flange shape is different, the description of the other configurations is omitted.

In FIG. 4, the flanges 11b, 12b
Form notches 11d and 12d between the protrusions 11c and 12c. As shown in FIG. 1, blow-by gas generated along with the operation of the piston 7 flows in the direction of the arrow, and the mist-like lubricating oil contained in the blow-by gas is used to
Thrust needle bearing 10
Is located away from the piston 7, so the lubrication conditions are severe. On the other hand, when the thrust needle bearing 110 according to the present embodiment is used, the notch 1
Thrust needle bearing 11 due to the presence of 1d and 12d
The mist-like lubricating oil that flows in the radial direction of 0 is easily supplied to the rollers 13 and the cage 14, and the lubrication state in the thrust needle bearing 110 can be improved.

Although the present invention has been described above with reference to the exemplary embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the above-described exemplary embodiments, and it goes without saying that modifications and improvements can be made within the scope of the invention. Is. For example, the protrusions and notches on the lace
If it is provided in at least one race, the effect can be exhibited to some extent. Furthermore, the thrust needle bearing according to the present invention can be used not only for car air-conditioning compressors but also for various automobiles, industrial machines and the like.

[0019]

The thrust needle bearing of the present invention has a race having a flange, a rolling element, and a retainer for holding the rolling element, and the rolling element is arranged in a radial direction with respect to the flange of the race. And the cage are arranged, and further, since the flange is formed with a projection that inhibits axial movement of the cage by contacting the cage, for example, the thrust needle bearing When assembled or disassembled in a car air conditioner compressor or the like, the protrusion prevents the retainer from being separated from the race, thereby avoiding the problem of parts falling or misassembly.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a car air conditioner compressor using a thrust needle bearing according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view around a thrust needle bearing according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the thrust needle bearing according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an exploded view of a thrust needle bearing according to a second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 housing 2 drive shaft 3 swash plate 4 wobble board 6 piston rod 7 pistons 9 Thrust plate 10,110 Thrust needle bearing

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Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A race having a flange, a rolling element,
A cage for holding the rolling element, wherein the rolling element and the cage are arranged in a radial direction with respect to the flange of the race, and the flange is in contact with the cage. The thrust needle bearing is characterized in that a protrusion for prohibiting axial movement of the retainer is formed. 2. The thrust needle bearing according to claim 1, wherein the race has a notch in at least a part of the flange. 3. The thrust needle bearing according to claim 1, which is used in a compressor for a car air conditioner.