JP2006336792A - Self-aligning thrust bearing - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a self-aligning thrust bearing easy to arrange under narrow mounting space environment because of no existence of an aligning seat, and inexpensive to manufacture with small rotating torque because of the use of balls instead of rolling elements. <P>SOLUTION: The self-aligning thrust bearing comprises first and second bearing rings 12, 14 opposed to each other in the axial direction, the plurality of balls 16 arranged between the opposite faces of both rings, and a cage 18 for holding the balls between both rings. The first bearing ring has an annular deep groove type first raceway 12a on the opposite face to the second bearing ring. The second bearing ring has a spherical recessed face type second raceway 14b with a spherical center on a bearing center line, on the opposite face to the first bearing ring. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a self-aligning thrust bearing.

Conventionally, a centering seat (aligning ring) has been attached to a thrust bearing in which a rolling element held by a cage is arranged between a pair of raceways that form an annular shape. There is a self-aligning thrust bearing that performs self-alignment by the aligning action of the center seat. In such a self-aligning thrust bearing, the number of parts increases as the aligning seat is provided, and the outer dimensions are increased by the wall thickness of the aligning seat, making it difficult to install the aligning seat in a narrow installation environment.

In view of this, a self-aligning thrust bearing structure that eliminates the aligning seat and has a self-aligning action on the opposing surface shapes of both races has been proposed (see Patent Document 1). ). However, in the self-aligning thrust bearing according to the above proposal, the rolling element is a cylindrical roller having a large rotational torque and high manufacturing cost.
No. 58-51449

  Therefore, the problem to be solved by the present invention is to make it possible to reduce the rotational torque and the manufacturing cost on the premise that it can be easily arranged in a narrow mounting environment by not using the aligning seat.

  A self-aligning thrust bearing according to the present invention includes two bearing rings arranged opposite to each other in the axial direction, a plurality of balls arranged between opposed surfaces of both wheels, and a cage for holding the balls between the two wheels. One raceway is provided with an annular deep groove type raceway on the surface facing the other raceway, and the other raceway is a spherical concave type having a spherical center on the bearing center line on the face opposite to the one raceway. It has the trajectory of. The cage may be made of metal or resin. In the case of metal, it may be a machined product or a press-worked product.

  In the present invention, since the rolling elements disposed between the facing surfaces of both races are balls, not balls, it is possible to provide a self-aligning thrust bearing that has a small rotational torque and is inexpensive to manufacture. In addition, in the present invention, there is no alignment seat for automatic alignment, and automatic alignment is possible only with the raceway of both races. Therefore, the alignment seat becomes unnecessary, and it is easy even in a narrow installation environment. Can be incorporated.

  According to the present invention, since the aligning seat is not provided, it can be easily arranged in a narrow mounting environment, and the rolling element is a ball, not a roller. It is possible to provide a self-aligning thrust bearing that is low in cost.

  1 is a sectional view showing a self-aligning thrust bearing, and FIG. 2 is a self-aligning shaft shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view showing the thrust bearing, and FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing an example of use of the self-aligning thrust bearing. For convenience of explanation, the upper side in the drawing is the one side in the axial direction, and the lower side is the other side in the axial direction.

  1 and 2, the self-aligning thrust bearing 10 includes two first and second race rings 12 and 14. Both the race rings 12 and 14 form an annular shape, and are arranged to face each other in the axial direction. A plurality of balls 16 are arranged between opposing surfaces of the first raceway ring 12 and the second raceway ring 14. These balls 16 are held in a rollable manner by a metal cage 18 machined. The cage 18 is formed with pocket holes 18 a for holding the balls 16 at equal intervals in the circumferential direction.

The first race 12 includes an annular deep groove type first race 12 a on the surface facing the second race 14, and the second race 14 is located on the face facing the first race 12. And a spherical concave second track 14a having a spherical center O1 on the bearing center line L1.
The action line L2 passing through the contact point between the ball 16 and the first and second tracks 12, 14 is inclined with respect to the radial plane, and the self-aligning thrust bearing 10 has an angular type bearing structure.

  With reference to FIG. 3, an example of use of the self-aligning thrust bearing 10 of the embodiment having the above-described configuration will be described. The first race 12 is a fixed ring fixed to a housing 22 of a mechanical device. Has been. A rotating shaft 24 is fixed to the outer diameter surface of the second race ring 14. A load caused by the weight of the rotary shaft 24 is applied to the self-aligning thrust bearing 10 as a thrust load. The rotary shaft 24 is driven to rotate by a drive source (not shown). The second race 4 is also rotated by the rotation of the rotating shaft 24. In the above description, even if the rotation center axis is tilted to the left or to the right as indicated by the phantom line with respect to the bearing center line L1 due to the load imbalance during the rotation of the rotation shaft 24, the first bearing ring 12 does not rotate. By displacing as shown by the phantom line with O1 as the center, it is possible to allow the rotation shaft 24 to be tilted to the right or to the left. In this case, since the second raceway 14a of the second race ring 14 is a spherical concave surface type having the spherical center O1 on the bearing center line L1, the second raceway 14a is smoothly displaced and adjusted with respect to the displacement of the rotary shaft 24. Can do heart movement.

  In the above case, as shown in FIG. 4, the second race ring 14 is a fixed ring fixed to the housing 22 of the mechanical device, and the rotary ring 24 is fixed to the first race ring 12. Can do.

It is sectional drawing which shows the self-aligning thrust bearing which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view which decomposes | disassembles and shows the self-aligning thrust bearing of FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows the usage example of the self-aligning thrust bearing of FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows the other usage example of the self-aligning thrust bearing of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Self-aligning thrust bearing 12 First raceway ring 12a Deep groove type raceway groove 14 Second raceway ring 14a Spherical concave type raceway groove 16 Ball 18 Cage

Claims (1)

  Two bearing rings arranged opposite to each other in the axial direction, a plurality of balls arranged between opposing surfaces of both wheels, and a cage for holding the balls between the two wheels, one of the bearing rings being the other of the bearing rings An annular deep groove type raceway is provided on the surface facing to the other, and the other raceway has a spherical concave raceway having a spherical center on the bearing center line on the surface facing the one raceway. Self-aligning thrust bearing.

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