JP2013083335A - Bearing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To allow lubricating oil in a tank to be ejected through an on-off valve without using a pump, since a problem is present that a pump becomes an essential component, in a bearing device which is though heretofore known and in which an oil supply unit is incorporated to a side of a raceway groove of a rolling bearing, an electric power source, a pump, a tank and an on-off valve are included as constitution components of the oil supply unit, and the pump is driven by the electric power source and lubricant in the tank is ejected through the on-off valve to the bearing side.SOLUTION: A bearing device is comprised of a combination of a rolling bearing 11 and the oil supply unit 13, the oil supply unit 13 is attached to an outer ring side spacer 12b adjacent to a fixed side race ring of the rolling bearing 11, and is provided with a tank 39, an on-off valve 37, a driving device 40 of the on-off valve 40, and an electric power source 41, and pressure for discharging lubricant from a nozzle 38 of the on-off valve 37 is generated by the weight of lubricant L filled inside the tank 39.

Description

  The present invention relates to a bearing device used for machine tools, industrial machines, and the like, and more particularly to a bearing device composed of a combination of a bearing and an oil supply unit.

  Conventionally, a bearing device in which an oil supply unit is incorporated in a rolling bearing is known (see Patent Document 1). In this bearing device, an oil supply unit is mounted on the inner diameter surface of a stationary ring of the rolling bearings facing each other. The oil supply unit includes a tank that stores a lubricant, a pump that discharges the lubricant in the tank into a bearing, and a generator that drives the pump. Means for adjusting the discharge amount by controlling the pump according to the conditions on the bearing side is provided. The bearing device disclosed in Patent Document 2 also includes a similar oil supply unit.

  The conventional examples are common in that the lubricant is supplied to the bearing by a pump constituting a part of the oil supply unit.

JP 2004-108388 A JP 2004-316707 A

  However, when using a pump, there are the following problems. That is, it takes time to start the pump and reach a dischargeable pressure. Moreover, since the supply amount of the lubricant varies depending on the capacity of each pump, adjustment is required individually. Furthermore, since the electric energy is converted into mechanical rotational energy and the pump is driven, the energy efficiency is not good.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to be able to supply the lubricant in the tank to the bearing without using a pump.

  In order to solve the above problems, a bearing device according to the present invention comprises a combination of a rolling bearing and an oil supply device, and the oil supply device is attached to the rolling bearing or a spacer adjacent thereto, and a lubricant tank, In a bearing device equipped with an on-off valve and a discharge amount adjusting device, and the discharge port of the nozzle of the on-off valve is directed to the raceway groove, pressure for discharging the lubricant from the nozzle is generated by the weight of the lubricant filled in the tank It is made to let you.

  Specifically, the nozzle is provided at a position lower than the lower end of the tank, and a filter for passing air through the opening of the tank to the atmosphere and blocking the lubricant is employed.

  The oil supply unit is unitized as an oil supply unit by a casing and members housed therein, and the casing is fixed to the inner diameter surface of the fixed side raceway ring or the fixed side spacer.

  The discharge amount adjusting device includes an opening / closing valve having the nozzle, a driving unit for the opening / closing valve, and a power supply unit for supplying power to the driving unit.

  The rolling bearing is a vertical type that is used by being mounted on a horizontal shaft, the on-off valve is disposed at the lowest position, and the tank has an inner diameter of a fixed side raceway or a fixed side spacer on both sides of the on-off valve, respectively. It is possible to adopt a configuration in which the drive unit and the power supply unit are arranged along the surface and disposed between the upper end portions of the tank.

  The rolling bearing is a vertical type that is used by being mounted on a horizontal shaft, and when the casing is attached to a stationary spacer, a guide protruding toward the stationary raceway on the outer peripheral side wall of the casing It is possible to adopt a configuration in which a portion is provided, a part of the raceway groove of the stationary side race ring is formed by the guide portion, and the nozzle is opened along the inner diameter surface of the guide portion.

  When the rolling bearing is a horizontal type that is used by being mounted on a vertical shaft, and the oil supply unit is attached to a fixed spacer disposed higher than the bearing, the nozzle is placed in the raceway groove of the bearing. It is possible to adopt a configuration that is directed.

  As the power supply unit, a battery, a storage battery, or a self-generating power source is used. When using a self-generating power source, the electric double layer capacitor is temporarily stored and used in the same way as a storage battery.

(1) By attaching the oil supply device to the rolling bearing or the spacer adjacent thereto, the oil supply device can be unitized and attached to the bearing, and a stable circulation environment can be provided for a long term.

(2) Since the lubricant is guided to the on / off valve only by its own weight and the discharge amount from the on / off valve is adjusted by the supply amount adjusting device, the pump becomes unnecessary and the structure is simplified. Since the delivery pressure of the lubricant is a pressure generated by the weight of the lubricant itself, it is not necessary to adjust each delivery pressure. Since the lubricant is sent to the opening / closing valve by its own weight, the supply amount of the lubricant can be adjusted only by opening / closing control of the opening / closing valve. Since the mechanical operation is only an on-off valve, it is more energy efficient than using a pump.

(3) Space can be saved by using an electric double layer capacitor for the temporary power storage device of the power supply unit. Further, since the deterioration of the storage capacity due to charging / discharging is reduced as compared with the storage battery, the maintenance work of the power supply unit becomes unnecessary.

(4) When the self-power generation type is used as the power supply unit, efficient power generation becomes possible by using various self-power generation devices depending on the environment. The backup of the power supply function is achieved by using two or more together.

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of the bearing device of the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a partially enlarged sectional view of the above. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line X1-X1 of FIG. FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the closure plug of the first embodiment. FIG. 5 is a block diagram of the supply amount adjusting apparatus. FIG. 6 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing an example of the power supply unit. FIG. 7 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing an example of the power supply unit. FIG. 8 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing an example of the power supply unit. FIG. 9 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing an example of the power supply unit. FIG. 10 is a partially omitted cross-sectional view of the spindle of the second embodiment. FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view of the bearing device of the third embodiment. FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view of a modification of the above. FIG. 13 is a partially omitted sectional view of the spindle of the fourth embodiment.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
[Embodiment 1]

  A bearing device 10 according to the first embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 4 includes a rolling bearing 11, a spacer 12 abutted against one end portion in the axial direction thereof, and an oil supply unit 13 incorporated in the spacer 12. Incorporated between the rotary shaft 14 and the housing 15 for use. Another spacer 16 is also abutted against the other end of the rolling bearing 11, and the positioning of the rolling bearing 11 in the axial direction is performed by both the spacers 12 and 16. The rotating shaft 14 is installed horizontally. The bearing device 10 when the rotating shaft 14 is horizontal is referred to as a vertical type.

  The rolling bearing 11 includes an inner ring 17 and an outer ring 18 that are raceways, a required number of rolling elements 19 interposed between these raceways, and a cage 21 that holds the rolling elements 19 at regular intervals. For example, a deep groove ball bearing is used. In the case of illustration, the outer ring 18 is a fixed-side race.

  The spacer 12 includes an inner ring side spacer 12a and an outer ring side spacer 12b. The inner ring side spacer 12a is fitted and fixed to the rotating shaft 14 side and abuts against one end face of the inner ring 17. The outer ring side spacer 12 b is fitted and fixed to the inner diameter surface of the housing 15 and abuts against one end surface of the outer ring 18. Similarly, the other spacer 16 is fitted and fixed to the rotating shaft 14 side and the housing 15 side, and is abutted against the other end faces of the inner ring 17 and the outer ring 18.

  The oil supply unit 13 includes an annular resin casing 24 attached to the inner diameter surface of the outer ring side spacer 12b and members housed therein. When a wide outer ring 18 is used, the oil supply unit 13 is attached to the inner diameter surface of the outer ring 18. In that case, the spacer 12 functions only as the original spacer. In this Embodiment 1, the structure which attaches the oil supply unit 13 to the spacer 12 is employ | adopted like illustration.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the casing 24 has a U-shaped cross-section in which a surface opposite to the rolling bearing 11 is opened, and an annular lid 25 is detachably attached to the open surface. A guide portion 28 protruding outward is provided over the entire periphery at the corner portion of the inner end surface 26 and the outer peripheral surface 27 of the casing 24 opposite to the open side. The guide portion 28 is incorporated in a step portion 29 provided on the shoulder portion of the inner diameter surface of the outer ring 18 of the rolling bearing 11 and constitutes a part of the outer ring 18. The outer ring 18 is provided with a partial raceway groove 31 cut out by the step portion 29.

  A complementary raceway groove 34 that complements the partial raceway groove 31 is formed at the corner portion of the distal end surface 32 and the inner diameter surface 33 of the guide portion 28, and a complete raceway groove 35 is formed by combining both.

  A discharge port hole 36 is provided at the boundary between the inner diameter surface 33 of the guide portion 28 and the inner end surface 26. The casing 24 is positioned so that the discharge port hole 36 is at the lowest position in use, and the casing 24 is incorporated in the inner diameter surface of the outer ring side spacer 12b. As the material of the casing 24, resin or metal can be used.

  As shown in FIG. 3, various members of the fuel supply unit 13 incorporated in the casing 24 include a normally closed on-off valve 37 formed of an electromagnetic valve, a pair of left and right tanks 39, and a power supply unit 41 of the drive unit 40.

  The on-off valve 37 is housed in the lowest position during use, that is, in a portion including the discharge port hole 36. The on-off valve 37 is provided with a nozzle 38 at a lower position thereof, and the nozzle 38 penetrates the discharge port hole 36 in an inclined manner so that the discharge port 38a at the tip thereof faces downward (see FIG. 2). The discharge port 38a reaches a portion close to the raceway groove 35 on the inner diameter surface of the guide portion 28.

  The pair of tanks 39 are detachably accommodated at positions higher than the nozzles 38 on both sides of the on-off valve 37. A connecting pipe 42 is provided between the lower end of each tank 39 and the on-off valve 37. If the structure which integrates the on-off valve 37 and the tank 39 is taken, the connection piping 42 will become unnecessary.

  A closing plug 43 is fitted into the opening at the upper end of each tank 39. The closing plug 43 is removed when the inside of the tank 39 is filled with a lubricant, and is closed during use to prevent the lubricant from leaking. However, when completely sealed, the inside of the tank 39 has a negative pressure and prevents the discharge of the lubricant, so an air hole 44 (see FIG. 4) is provided, and air is passed through the air hole 44 but the lubricant is shut off. A filter 45 is attached. The filter 45 is made of, for example, a resin having a continuous porous structure.

  The driving unit 40 and the power supply unit 41 are disposed between the upper ends of the tanks 39. Energization between the drive unit 40 and the power supply unit 41 and between the drive unit 40 and the on-off valve 37 is performed by a cable (not shown) provided inside the casing 24.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the drive unit 40 includes sensors such as a bearing temperature sensor 46, a bearing rotation sensor 47, a lubricant remaining amount sensor 48, and a lubricant temperature sensor 49. Signals from these sensors are input to the CPU 51, and the opening degree and opening time of the on-off valve 37 are automatically controlled according to the temperature of the rolling bearing 11 and the rotation state thereof, thereby adjusting the amount of lubricant supplied.

  The on-off valve 37, the drive unit 40, and the power supply unit 41 constitute a discharge amount adjusting device 65 for the lubricant discharged from the on-off valve 37 (see FIG. 5).

  The power supply unit 41 can use a self-power generation type power supply in addition to a battery and a storage battery. Moreover, the following can be used as a self-power generation type power supply. That is, the power supply unit 41 shown in FIG. 6 is provided with the heat conductors 52 and 53 through the wall surfaces on the outer peripheral surface 27 and the inner peripheral surface 30 of the casing 24, respectively. The Seebeck element 54 is interposed therebetween.

  Generally, when the bearing device 10 is used, the temperature of the inner ring 17 and the outer ring 18 rises due to frictional heat with the rolling elements 19 (see FIG. 1). Usually, since the outer ring 18 is incorporated in the housing 15 of the device, it is dissipated by heat conduction, and a temperature difference occurs between the inner and outer rings 17 and 18. The temperature is conducted to each of the thermal conductors 52 and 53, and a temperature difference is generated between both end faces of the Seebeck element 54, thereby generating power by the Seebeck effect.

  The configuration shown in FIG. 7 is applied when an alternating magnetic field exists in the bearing device 10. In a built-in spindle such as a machine tool or in the vicinity of a high-frequency device that handles high power, leakage magnetic flux or high-frequency irradiation occurs. Electricity is generated by electromagnetic induction using this leakage magnetic flux. That is, by combining the coil 56 with the E-shaped iron core 55 with one side open, an alternating magnetic field is efficiently captured and power is generated by electromagnetic induction. An insulating base 57 is attached to the open surface of the iron core 55. When the frequency of the leakage magnetic flux is known, a coil 56 that resonates with the frequency of the leakage magnetic flux except for the iron core 55 may be used.

  The one shown in FIG. 8 is applied when vibration occurs in the bearing device 10. That is, a large number of electrodes 60 are provided on the opposing surfaces of the fixed-side insulating substrate 58 and the movable-side insulating substrate 59 disposed thereon, and the electret 61 is stacked only on the electrodes 60 of the fixed-side insulating substrate 58 to move the electrodes. A gap is provided to face the electrode 60 of the side insulating substrate 59. The movable insulating substrate 59 can be moved only in the direction of arrow a in the figure by the sliding device 62.

  When vibration is generated in the bearing device 10, the movable insulating substrate 59 is vibrated in the direction of the arrow a by the sliding device 62. At this time, charges due to electrostatic induction are generated between the electrodes 60 due to the relative movement of the fixed and movable insulating substrates 58 and 59 and the electret 61. Electricity is generated by taking out the generated electric charges to the outside.

  The one shown in FIG. 9 is also applied when vibration occurs in the bearing device 10. In other words, an elastic sheet-like piezoelectric body 64 is disposed between the fixed-side insulating substrate 58 and the weight 63. When vibration is generated in the bearing device 10, the weight 63 is vibrated in the direction of the arrow a by the weight 63 and the piezoelectric body 64. At this time, the piezoelectric body 64 is distorted to generate an electromotive force due to dielectric polarization. Electric power is generated by extracting the electromotive force to the outside.

  The bearing device 10 according to the first embodiment is configured as described above, and after filling each tank 39 of the oil supply unit 13 with the lubricant L (see FIG. 3) in advance, the closure plug 43 is applied, and then the lid 25 is closed for use. Provided.

  When the rotating shaft 14 rotates, signals detected by sensors such as the bearing temperature sensor 46, the bearing rotation sensor 47, the lubricant remaining amount sensor 48, and the lubricant temperature sensor 49 are input to the CPU 51. Based on these signals, the CPU 51 automatically controls the opening degree and the opening time of the on-off valve 37 to perform optimal refueling. As the lubricant L, lubricating oil or low-viscosity grease is used.

The internal pressure of the tank 39 is maintained at atmospheric pressure by the action of the filter 45 that allows air to pass through. Thus, the lubricant L is discharged from the discharge port 38a at the tip of the lubricant L through the nozzle 38 by its own weight. The discharged lubricant moves along the inner diameter surface of the guide portion 28 along the 33 and is supplied to the track groove 35 (see FIG. 2). The pressure for discharging the lubricating oil L is generated only by the weight of the lubricating oil L inside the tank 39.
[Embodiment 2]

  The second embodiment shown in FIG. 10 relates to a spindle 70 of a machine tool or the like using the bearing device 10 of the first embodiment. Since the spindle 70 has the rotating shaft 71 installed horizontally, the bearing device 10 of the vertical type of the first embodiment is used.

  On the outer diameter surface of the large diameter portion 72 provided at the intermediate portion of the rotating shaft 71, a flange portion 73 is provided at one end portion in the axial direction, and a screw portion 74 is provided at the other end portion. Two bearing devices 10 are attached between the flange portion 73 and the screw portion 74 with an intermediate spacer 75 interposed therebetween.

  One bearing device 10 is positioned inside the flange portion 73 and the flange portion 77 at one end of the spindle housing 76 facing the flange portion 73 in the radial direction. The other bearing device 10 is positioned inside a nut 78 screwed into the screw portion 74 and a flange portion 79 at the other end of the spindle housing 76 facing the nut 78.

  The bearing device 10 on the flange portion 73 side and the bearing device 10 on the screw portion 74 side have a symmetrical arrangement in which the rolling bearing 11 is disposed on the intermediate spacer 75 side (inner side) and the spacer 12 is disposed on the outer side. ing. Specific configurations of the rolling bearing 11 and the spacer 12 are the same as those of the first embodiment.

The operation of supplying lubricating oil by its own weight from the discharge port 38a of the nozzle 38 to the raceway groove 35 of the rolling bearing 11 with the rotation of the rotating shaft 71 is the same.
[Embodiment 3]

  The bearing device 10 according to the third embodiment shown in FIG. 11 is of a horizontal type that is attached to a rotating shaft 14 that is arranged vertically. The basic configuration is the same as that of the first embodiment except that the orientation is changed by 90 °.

  In this case, since the tank 39 is in a horizontal posture, the nozzle 38 of the on-off valve 37 is provided on the bottom surface of the on-off valve 37 so as to be positioned at or below the bottom surface of the tank 39, so that the lubricant inside the tank 39 is self-weighted. So that it can be discharged. In addition, the spacer 12 including the oil supply unit 13 is disposed on the upper side and the rolling bearing 11 is disposed on the lower side so that the discharged lubricant is dropped onto a predetermined position of the rolling bearing 11. The closing plug 43 of the tank 39 is provided on the upper end wall surface of the tank 39.

  Since the lubricant discharged from the discharge port 38a of the nozzle 38 is reliably supplied to the inside of the rolling bearing 11 below by the gravity, it is necessary to provide the guide portion 28 (see FIG. 4) as in the first embodiment. There is no. The discharge port 38 a only needs to face the upper part of the gap between the inner ring 17 and the outer ring 18 of the rolling bearing 11.

In the case of FIG. 11, the nozzle 38 is inclined outward in order to supply the lubricant to the raceway groove 35 of the outer ring 18 of the rolling bearing 11. When the lubricant is supplied to the raceway groove 50 of the inner ring 17, it is inclined inward as shown in FIG.
[Embodiment 4]

  The fourth embodiment shown in FIG. 13 is a case where the spindle 70 is installed with the rotating shaft 71 vertically, and the horizontal bearing device 10 of the third embodiment (see FIG. 12) is used as the bearing device 10. The The bearing device 10 is provided at two locations, an upper portion and a lower portion. In the upper bearing device 10, the spacer 12 is arranged in a higher order and the rolling bearing 11 is arranged in a lower order. In the lower bearing device 10, the oil supply unit 13 is assembled to the intermediate spacer 75, and the rolling bearing 11 is attached to the lower part thereof. The interior of the lowermost spacer 12 is a void.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Bearing apparatus 11 Rolling bearing 12 Spacer 12a Inner ring side spacer 12b Outer ring side spacer 13 Lubrication unit 14 Rotating shaft 15 Housing 16 Spacer 17 Inner ring 18 Outer ring 19 Rolling body 21 Retainer 24 Casing 25 Lid 26 Inner end surface 27 Outer surface 28 Guide part 29 Step part 30 Inner peripheral surface 31 Partial track groove 32 Tip surface 33 Inner diameter surface 34 Complementary track groove 35 Track groove 36 Discharge port hole 37 On-off valve 38 Nozzle 38a Discharge port 39 Tank 40 Drive unit 41 Power supply unit 42 Connection piping 43 Blocking plug 44 Air hole 45 Filter 46 Bearing temperature sensor 47 Bearing rotation sensor 48 Lubricant remaining amount sensor 49 Lubricant temperature sensor 50 Track groove 51 CPU
52, 53 Thermal conductor 54 Seebeck element 55 Iron core 56 Coil 57 Insulating base 58 Fixed side insulating substrate 59 Movable side insulating substrate 60 Electrode 61 Electret 62 Sliding device 63 Weight 64 Piezoelectric body 65 Discharge amount adjusting device 70 Spindle 71 Rotation Shaft 72 Large-diameter portion 73 Head portion 74 Screw portion 75 Intermediate spacer 76 Spindle housing 77 Head portion 78 Nut 79 Head portion

Claims (14)

  It comprises a combination of a rolling bearing and an oil supply device, and the oil supply device is attached to the rolling bearing or a spacer adjacent thereto, and includes a lubricant tank, an opening / closing valve, and a discharge amount adjusting device, and discharging the nozzle of the opening / closing valve. In the bearing device in which the outlet is directed to the raceway groove, a pressure for discharging the lubricant from the nozzle is generated by the dead weight of the lubricant filled in the tank.   2. The bearing device according to claim 1, wherein the nozzle is provided at a position lower than a lower end of the tank, and a filter that allows air to pass through the opening to the atmosphere of the tank and blocks the lubricant is attached.   The oil supply device is unitized as an oil supply unit by a casing and members housed therein, and the casing is fixed to an inner diameter surface of the fixed side raceway ring or a fixed side spacer. The bearing device according to 1 or 2.   The said discharge amount adjusting device is comprised by the on-off valve which has the said nozzle, the drive part of the on-off valve, and the power supply part which supplies a power supply to the drive part, The any one of Claim 1 to 3 characterized by the above-mentioned. Bearing device.   The bearing device according to claim 1, wherein the tank is detachably stored in the casing.   The rolling bearing is a vertical type that is used by being mounted on a horizontal shaft, the on-off valve is disposed at the lowest position, and the tank has an inner diameter of a fixed side raceway or a fixed side spacer on both sides of the on-off valve, respectively. The bearing device according to claim 1, wherein the bearing device is provided along a surface, and the drive unit and the power supply unit are disposed between upper end portions of the tank.   The rolling bearing is a vertical type that is used by being mounted on a horizontal shaft, and when the casing is attached to a stationary spacer, a guide protruding toward the stationary raceway on the outer peripheral side wall of the casing 6. The device according to claim 1, further comprising: a guide portion, wherein the guide portion forms a part of a raceway groove of the fixed-side raceway, and the nozzle is opened along an inner diameter surface of the guide portion. The bearing device described in 1.   When the rolling bearing is a horizontal type that is used by being mounted on a vertical shaft, and the oil supply unit is attached to a fixed spacer disposed higher than the bearing, the nozzle is placed in the raceway groove of the bearing. The bearing device according to claim 1, wherein the bearing device is directed toward the bearing.   The discharge amount adjusting device includes various sensors for detecting the state of the bearing, and adjusts the discharge amount of the lubricant by controlling the on-off valve based on the detection result. To 8. The bearing device according to any one of 8 to 8.   The bearing device according to claim 1, wherein the power supply unit is any one of a battery, a storage battery, and an electric double layer capacitor.   The bearing device according to claim 1, wherein the power supply unit is a self-power generation type.   The self-power generation type power supply unit has a structure in which a heat conductor is provided through the wall surface on each of the outer diameter side wall surface and the inner diameter side wall surface of the casing, and a Seebeck element is interposed between the heat conductors. The bearing device according to claim 11.   12. The self-power generation type power supply unit according to claim 11, wherein an electromagnetic coil interlinked with the leakage alternating magnetic flux is provided inside the casing when there is a leakage alternating magnetic flux source in the vicinity of the device. The bearing device described. A spindle comprising the bearing device according to claim 1.

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