JP2018080793A - Cage for roller bearing and process of manufacture of cage for roller bearing - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To realize a further low cost improvement in cleanliness of a cage applied in a roller bearing used at a site where its maintenance work is difficult to perform.SOLUTION: This invention relates to a steel cage 1A for a roller bearing having such a shape as one in which a pair of ring parts 2, 3 spaced apart in an axial direction are connected by several columns 4, 4, ... slidably contacted with outer peripheral surfaces of rollers acting as rolling bodies and several pocket holes P, P, ... for use in storing and holding the rollers at the peripheral wall part in peripheral equal spacing and shows a feature that the cage is provided with a plating film C covering the entire surface. Since the entire surface is covered by the plating film C, a degree of cleanliness at the surface of the cage 1A becomes quite high level. Forming the plating film C by an electrical zinc plating causes the plating film C covering the entire surface of the cage 1A to be hardly cracked even at its subsequent fastening work, resulting in that it shows a high adhesion and cleanliness as well as a superior economical efficiency.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a cage used for a roller bearing used in a place where maintenance is difficult.

Wind power generation using wind energy, which is renewable energy, still exceeds 4% of the world's total power demand, and is said to be the most growing field of renewable energy in the future.
Since the bearing that supports the rotating shaft of the wind power generator is at a high place, the maintenance of the bearing is accompanied with great labor and danger, and thus the bearing is required to have high reliability and durability (for example, [0002] of Patent Document 1. In addition, in recent years, pursuing economic efficiency and efficiency, wind turbines have been further increased in size, and offshore wind power generation has increased, making maintenance work of the bearings more difficult.

Here, as a main shaft bearing and a gearbox bearing for a wind power generator, a tapered roller bearing, a self-aligning roller bearing (spherical roller bearing), and a cylindrical roller bearing are mainly used (for example, Patent Document 1). And 2).
The roller bearing is made of a steel cage that is lubricated with a lubricant and that holds the rollers, which are rolling elements, in a pocket so as to keep the circumferential interval constant.

  Further, when the cage is for a tapered roller bearing and is a cage integrally formed by pressing, when the tapered roller and the cage are assembled to the inner ring of the tapered roller bearing, It is necessary to avoid interference with the tapered roller. Therefore, after the cage is once formed into a regular shape and dimensions by press working, a bottom expansion step (bottom pressing step) is performed to expand the small diameter ring side portion of the cage column, and the cage in this state After attaching the tapered roller to the inner ring, it is necessary to perform a caulking process for caulking the cage and restoring the normal shape (see, for example, paragraph [0004] of Patent Document 3).

JP 2006-214545 A JP 2008-309212 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-50281

The cage is generally formed by press working, then shot blasted to remove burrs and ultrasonically cleaned.
However, when metal powder or the like adheres to the cage even a little, the metal powder or the like becomes a foreign substance and enters the lubricant, so that the lubricant deteriorates early.
Therefore, since it is difficult to replace the lubricant used in roller bearings used in wind power generators installed at high altitudes or offshore, further improvement in the cleanliness of the cage itself is desired. Yes.
Further, further improvement in the cleanliness of such a cage needs to be realized at as low a cost as possible in order to increase the value of the product.

  Therefore, in view of the above situation, the problem to be solved by the present invention is to realize further improvement in the cleanliness of the cage used for the roller bearing used in a place where maintenance is difficult, at low cost.

In order to solve the above problems, the roller bearing retainer according to the present invention has a shape in which a pair of axially spaced ring portions are connected by a plurality of column portions that are in sliding contact with the outer peripheral surface of a roller that is a rolling element. And a steel roller bearing retainer in which a plurality of pocket holes for accommodating and holding the roller in the peripheral wall portion are formed equally in the circumferential direction,
A plating film covering the entire surface is provided (claim 1).

According to such a configuration, since the entire surface is covered with the plating film with the metal powder or the like attached to the surface of the cage after being subjected to burr removal processing after being molded by pressing or the like, the cage The surface cleanliness is very high.
Therefore, since it is possible to suppress the early deterioration of the lubricant due to metal powder or the like mixed into the lubricant when the cage is assembled to the bearing, roller bearings used for wind power generators installed especially at high places or offshore. Thus, the cage is suitable for a roller bearing used in a place where maintenance is difficult.

Here, it is preferable that the plating film is formed by electrogalvanizing treatment.
According to such a configuration, since the plating film is formed on the cage by the electrogalvanization treatment, the plating film covering the entire surface of the cage has high adhesion and cleanliness and is excellent in economic efficiency. It becomes.

In order to solve the above problems, a method for manufacturing a roller bearing retainer according to the present invention connects a pair of axially spaced ring portions by a plurality of column portions that are in sliding contact with the outer peripheral surface of a roller that is a rolling element. A method for manufacturing a steel roller bearing retainer, comprising a shape, and a plurality of pocket holes for accommodating and holding the roller in the peripheral wall portion are formed equally in the circumferential direction,
A cage forming step of integrally forming the cage by a step including press working from a steel plate, or a step including press working from an annular steel material;
A burr removing step of removing burr by performing burr removal processing on the cage molded in the cage molding step;
A plating process for plating the entire surface with a plating film by plating the cage from which burrs have been removed in the burr removal process;
(Claim 3).

Moreover, in the manufacturing method of the roller bearing retainer according to the present invention, in order to solve the above problem, the pair of ring portions that are separated in the axial direction are formed by a plurality of column portions that are in sliding contact with the outer peripheral surface of the roller that is a rolling element. It is a manufacturing method of a steel roller bearing retainer, in which a plurality of pocket holes for accommodating and holding the rollers in the peripheral wall portion are formed in a circumferential direction equally formed,
The retainer includes a base having a square columnar convex portion provided at one end of the ring portion and a columnar convex portion at the tip of the column portion, and a square columnar convex portion of the column portion including the other of the ring portion. It consists of a connected body with a square hole to be fitted,
A base body forming step for forming the base body by a process including press working from a blank obtained by cutting a steel sheet;
The connected body is formed as a blank obtained by cutting a steel plate, or a connected body forming step for forming by pressing from a blank obtained by cutting a steel plate,
Bonding that bonds and fixes the base body and the coupling body in the state in which the square hole is fitted to the quadrangular columnar convex portion, with the base body and the coupling body molded in the base body molding step and the coupling body molding step. Fixing process;
A burr removing step of removing burr by performing a burr removing process on the cage formed by integrating the base body and the coupling body in the coupling and fixing step;
A plating process for plating the entire surface with a plating film by plating the cage from which burrs have been removed in the burr removal process;
(Claim 4).

According to the manufacturing method like these, the cage after the burr is removed by the burr removing step after being molded by the cage forming step, or the base body forming step, the coupling body forming step, and the coupling and fixing step. Since the metal powder or the like adhering to the surface of the cage is covered with the plating film on the entire surface of the cage in the plating process, the purity of the produced cage surface becomes very high.
Therefore, since it is possible to suppress the early deterioration of the lubricant due to metal powder or the like mixed into the lubricant when the cage is assembled to the bearing, roller bearings used for wind power generators installed especially at high places or offshore. Thus, the cage is suitable for a roller bearing used in a place where maintenance is difficult.

Here, the pair of ring portions is a large diameter ring portion and a small diameter ring portion, the roller is a tapered roller, the roller bearing is a tapered roller bearing,
After the cage forming step, a bottom expanding step of expanding the small diameter ring portion side portion of the column portion is performed,
After the bottom expansion step, perform the burr removal step and the plating treatment step,
After the plating treatment step, an assembly step of assembling the tapered roller and the cage to the inner ring of the tapered roller bearing is performed,
It is preferable to perform a caulking process for caulking the cage after the assembling process to restore the cage to a normal shape (Claim 5).

According to such a manufacturing method, after assembling the cage formed in the cage molding step together with the tapered roller to the inner ring of the tapered roller bearing, the bottom expanding step is performed, and the cage and the tapered roller are assembled to the inner ring. In the tapered roller bearing retainer that needs to perform the caulking process, the burr removing process and the plating process are performed after the bottom expanding process, so that the metal powder that adheres to the retainer during the bottom expanding process Deterioration of cleanliness due to etc. is not a problem.
In addition, even if a caulking step is performed so that the cage is restored to a normal shape, the entire surface of the cage is covered with a plating film, so that metal powder or the like does not fall off from the cage. .

Moreover, it is preferable that the said plating process is an electrogalvanization process (Claim 6).
According to such a manufacturing method, a plating film is formed on the cage by the electrogalvanizing process in the plating process. Therefore, the plating film covering the entire surface of the cage has high adhesion and cleanliness and is excellent in economic efficiency.

  According to the roller bearing retainer and the roller bearing retainer manufacturing method according to the present invention as described above, the cleanliness of the surface of the retainer becomes very high, so when the retainer is assembled to the bearing. Since the early deterioration of the lubricant due to mixing of metal powder or the like into the lubricant can be suppressed, it is suitable as a cage used for a roller bearing used in a place where maintenance is difficult. In addition, by forming a plating film on the cage by electrogalvanization, the plating film is difficult to break even in the subsequent caulking process, has high adhesion and cleanliness, and is excellent in economic efficiency.

1 is a perspective view of a tapered roller bearing retainer according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. It is a perspective view of the tapered roller bearing retainer according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. It is a perspective view which shows a base | substrate and a connection body.

  Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings, and includes all the embodiments that satisfy the requirements described in the claims. It is a waste.

<Embodiment 1>
A tapered roller bearing retainer 1A according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention shown in the perspective view of FIG. 1 is integrally formed by a process including press working from a steel plate or a process including press working from an annular steel material. The entire steel surface is covered with a plating film C.
The tapered roller bearing retainer 1A has a shape in which a large-diameter ring portion 2 and a small-diameter ring portion 3 that are separated in the axial direction are connected by a plurality of column portions 4, 4,. A plurality of pocket holes P, P,... For accommodating and holding the tapered rollers that are rolling elements of the tapered roller bearing are formed in the circumferential wall portion of the cage 1A equally in the circumferential direction. Are in sliding contact with the outer peripheral surface of the tapered roller.

  Next, a method for manufacturing the cage 1A will be described.

(Cage forming process)

(When the cage 1A is integrally formed by a process including pressing from a steel plate)
First, a cage forming process for integrally molding the cage 1A by a process including press working from a steel plate is performed.
In this process, for example, a disk-shaped blank is punched from a steel plate, the disk-shaped blank is drawn into a cup shape, a core hole (reference hole) is drilled on the bottom surface, and a pocket hole in the peripheral wall is removed to form a column part. After forming a bottom hole on the bottom surface and performing window pressing to form a contact surface with the tapered roller at the column portion, the large-diameter side end portion is turned and trimmed to a predetermined size. (For example, refer to [0003] of Patent Document 3).
The disc-shaped blank may be formed from a raw steel plate by cutting such as laser cutting.

(When the cage 1A is integrally formed by a process including pressing from an annular steel material)
First, a cage forming process for integrally molding the cage 1A by a process including press working from an annular steel material is performed.
In this process, for example, a cylindrical steel material having a hole in the center is expanded by rolling forging to form an annular shape, the annular member is turned into a cup shape, the pocket hole in the peripheral wall portion is removed, and the column portion And a window pressing process for forming a contact surface with the tapered roller on the column part.

(Burr removal process)
A deburring process is performed to remove burrs by performing deburring on the cage 1A molded in the cage molding process.
Here, the deburring process is performed by blasting such as shot blasting or barrel processing.

(Plating process)
A plating process is performed in which the cage 1A from which burrs have been removed in the burr removal process is plated and the entire surface is covered with the plating film C.
Here, for the plating treatment, electrogalvanizing, gold plating, silver plating or the like having good plating adhesion in a bending test (JIS H8504: 1999 plating adhesion test method) can be used, and burrs are removed. The plating film C is formed by depositing the plating metal on the entire surface of the cage 1A by immersing the cage 1A in an electrolytic solution and energizing the cage 1A as a cathode.
The thickness of the plating film C is preferably 5 μm or more and 15 μm or less in consideration of the subsequent caulking process. If the thickness of the plating film C is less than 5 μm, the plating film C may be peeled off by sliding contact between the mold used in the caulking step and the cage 1A covered with the plating film C. If the thickness of the plating film C exceeds 15 μm, cracks may occur due to plastic deformation (large deformation) when the cage 1A is restored to the normal shape in the caulking step.
In such a plating process, electrogalvanizing is the cheapest and is difficult to break even if a subsequent caulking process is performed, and is therefore suitable for a large cage.

The “roller bearing retainer” that is the subject of the present invention is not only a tapered roller bearing retainer 1A as shown in FIG. 1, but also a self-aligning roller bearing (spherical roller bearing) retainer and a cylindrical roller bearing retainer. There is a vessel.
Also in cages for self-aligning roller bearings and cages for cylindrical roller bearings, these cages are integrally formed by a process including press working from a steel plate or a process including press working from an annular steel material. After performing the vessel forming process, the burr removing process and the plating process are performed.

  Further, in the tapered roller bearing retainer, as described above, when the tapered roller and the retainer are assembled to the inner ring of the tapered roller bearing, a bottom widening process is performed in which the small-diameter ring portion side portion of the pillar portion of the retainer is expanded. Then, after assembling the cage and the tapered roller in this state to the inner ring, it is necessary to perform a caulking process for caulking the cage and restoring the normal shape.

Therefore, in the method for manufacturing a cage for tapered roller bearings, it is desirable that the bottom expanding step is performed after the cage forming step, and then the plating treatment step is performed.
Then, after the plating process, an assembling process for assembling the cage and the tapered roller to the inner ring of the tapered roller bearing is performed, and a caulking process for restoring the normal shape by caulking the cage after the assembling process is performed.
According to such a manufacturing method, since the burr removing step and the plating step are performed after the bottom spreading step, a decrease in cleanliness due to metal powder or the like adhering to a cage during the bottom spreading step is a problem. do not become.
In addition, even if a caulking step is performed so that the cage is restored to a normal shape, the entire surface of the cage is covered with the plating film, so that metal powder or the like does not fall off from the cage.
The plating film C has good fixability, and as described above, the thickness of the plating film C is set to 5 μm or more and 15 μm or less so that peeling or cracking does not occur even if the caulking process is performed. The metal powder on the inner surface side does not go outside.

<Embodiment 2>
The tapered roller bearing retainer 1B according to the second embodiment of the present invention shown in the perspective view of FIG. 2 is not integrally formed by the process including the pressing of the steel plate as in the first embodiment. The base A and the connector B shown in the perspective view are assembled, and the entire surface is covered with the plating film C.
2 and 3 of the second embodiment, the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 1 of the first embodiment are the same or corresponding parts, and thus detailed description thereof is omitted.
As shown in the perspective view of FIG. 3, the base A includes a small-diameter ring portion 3 and column portions 4, 4,..., And the tips of the column portions 4, 4,.
Further, the connecting body B includes the large-diameter ring portion 2 and includes square holes 2A, 2A,... Into which the quadrangular columnar convex portions 4A, 4A,.

  Next, a method for manufacturing the cage 1B will be described.

(Substrate molding process)
A base body forming step is performed in which the base body A is formed by processing including press working from a blank obtained by cutting a steel plate (see, for example, International Publication No. 2013/94615).
For example, first, a portion that becomes the column portions 4, 4,... Protrudes radially outward from the outer peripheral portion of the disk-shaped member having the center hole, and a square is formed at the tip of the portion that becomes the column portions 4, 4,. A base blank cutting step for cutting the steel sheet to obtain a base blank is performed so as to form the columnar convex portions 4A, 4A,.
Next, a bending step is performed on the blank of the base body so as to bend the portions that become the pillar portions 4, 4,... Along the outer peripheral portion of the disk-shaped member.
Further, each of the portions to be the column portions 4, 4,..., Which is performed as the next step of the substrate blank cutting step or the subsequent step of the bending step, presses the contact surface with the tapered roller into a predetermined inclination. A surface pressing process is performed to finish the surface.

(Connected body forming process)
The connected body B is formed as a blank obtained by cutting a steel plate, or a connected body forming step is performed by pressing from a blank obtained by cutting a steel plate (see, for example, International Publication No. 2013/94615).
For example, a connected body blank cutting step of cutting a steel plate to obtain a connected body blank so as to form the square holes 2A, 2A,.
Here, when the quadrangular columnar convex portions 4A, 4A,... At the tips of the column portions 4, 4,. A forming step is performed in which the plate portions are formed by press working so as to be orthogonal to the column portions 4, 4.

(Bonding and fixing process)
The base body A and the connection body B formed in the base body forming step and the connection body forming step are formed in a state in which the quadrangular holes 2A, 2A,. A joining / fixing step of joining and fixing the base body A and the connecting body B by crimping the tips of the parts 4A, 4A,... Is performed (for example, see International Publication No. 2013/94615).
By this step, caulking portions 4B, 4B,... Shown in FIG.
Note that the coupling and fixing step may be performed by laser welding or the like instead of caulking.

(Burr removal process)
A deburring process is performed in which the deburring process is performed on the cage 1B formed by integrating the base A and the connecting body B in the bonding and fixing process to remove the deburring.
Here, the deburring process is performed by blasting such as shot blasting or barrel processing.

(Plating process)
A plating treatment step is performed in which the cage 1B from which burrs have been removed in the burr removal step is plated and the entire surface is covered with the plating film C.
Here, for the plating treatment, electrogalvanization, gold plating, silver plating, copper plating, or the like can be used. The cage 1B from which burrs have been removed is immersed in an electrolytic solution, and the cage 1B is energized as a cathode. Then, the plating film C is formed by depositing the plating metal on the entire surface of the cage 1B.

The “roller bearing retainer” that is the subject of the present invention is not only a tapered roller bearing retainer 1B as shown in FIG. 2 but also a self-aligning roller bearing (spherical roller bearing) retainer and a cylindrical roller bearing retainer. There is a vessel.
Even in the self-aligning roller bearing retainer and the cylindrical roller bearing retainer, after performing the steps including the base body forming step, the coupling body forming step, and the coupling and fixing step, A deburring process and the plating process are performed.

<Evaluation of cleanliness>
In the cage having the shape as shown in FIG. 1, the burrs are removed by shot blasting in the deburring process, shower cleaning is performed, and ultrasonic cleaning is performed (conventional cage), and the deburring is performed. After removing burrs by performing shot blasting in the process, the cleanliness of those subjected to ultrasonic cleaning (the cage of the present invention) in the plating process was compared.
Here, the shower cleaning was performed by jetting oil.
In addition, the cleanliness was evaluated by measuring the weight of metal powder or the like adhering to the entire surface of the cage. The weight measurement of the metal powder or the like is performed by brushing while immersing the cage in the cleaning liquid placed in the tray, and after the brushing is completed, the cleaning liquid is poured into a measurement filter, filtered and dried, and the weight of the filter is measured. It was.
The plating treatment was electrogalvanizing.
As a result, the weight of the metal powder or the like adhering to the entire surface of the cage of the present invention is about 1/7 of the weight of the metal powder or the like adhering to the entire surface of the conventional cage. It has been found that the cage of the present invention has significantly improved cleanliness as compared with the conventional cage.

According to the roller bearing retainer and the roller bearing retainer manufacturing method as described above, metal powder or the like attached to the surface of the retainer after being molded by press working and subjected to deburring Since the entire surface is covered with the plating film, the cleanliness of the cage surface becomes very high.
Therefore, since it is possible to suppress the early deterioration of the lubricant due to metal powder or the like mixed into the lubricant when the cage is assembled to the bearing, roller bearings used for wind power generators installed especially at high places or offshore. Thus, the cage is suitable for a roller bearing used in a place where maintenance is difficult.
In addition, by forming the plating film by electrogalvanization, the plating film covering the entire surface of the cage has high adhesion and cleanliness and is excellent in economic efficiency.

1A, 1B Retainer for tapered roller bearing 2 Large diameter ring portion 2A Square hole 3 Small diameter ring portion 4 Column portion 4A Square columnar convex portion 4B Caulking portion A Base B Linked body C Plated coating P Pocket hole

Claims (6)

A pair of ring portions spaced apart in the axial direction are connected by a plurality of column portions that are in sliding contact with the outer peripheral surface of the roller, which is a rolling element, and a plurality of pocket holes for accommodating and holding the rollers in the peripheral wall portion. A steel roller bearing retainer formed equally in the circumferential direction,
It is equipped with a plating film that covers the entire surface.
Roller bearing cage. The plating film is formed by electrogalvanizing treatment,
The roller bearing retainer according to claim 1. A pair of ring portions spaced apart in the axial direction are connected by a plurality of column portions that are in sliding contact with the outer peripheral surface of the roller, which is a rolling element, and a plurality of pocket holes for accommodating and holding the rollers in the peripheral wall portion. A method for manufacturing a steel roller bearing retainer formed equally in the circumferential direction,
A cage forming step of integrally forming the cage by a step including press working from a steel plate, or a step including press working from an annular steel material;
A burr removing step of removing burr by performing burr removal processing on the cage molded in the cage molding step;
A plating process for plating the entire surface with a plating film by plating the cage from which burrs have been removed in the burr removal process;
Including,
A method for manufacturing a roller bearing cage. A pair of ring portions spaced apart in the axial direction are connected by a plurality of column portions that are in sliding contact with the outer peripheral surface of the roller, which is a rolling element, and a plurality of pocket holes for accommodating and holding the rollers in the peripheral wall portion. A method for manufacturing a steel roller bearing retainer formed equally in the circumferential direction,
The retainer includes a base having a square columnar convex portion provided at one end of the ring portion and a columnar convex portion at the tip of the column portion, and a square columnar convex portion of the column portion including the other of the ring portion. It consists of a connected body with a square hole to be fitted,
A base body forming step for forming the base body by a process including press working from a blank obtained by cutting a steel sheet;
The connected body is formed as a blank obtained by cutting a steel plate, or a connected body forming step for forming by pressing from a blank obtained by cutting a steel plate,
Bonding that bonds and fixes the base body and the coupling body in the state in which the square hole is fitted to the quadrangular columnar convex portion, with the base body and the coupling body molded in the base body molding step and the coupling body molding step. Fixing process;
A burr removing step of removing burr by performing a burr removing process on the cage formed by integrating the base body and the coupling body in the coupling and fixing step;
A plating process for plating the entire surface with a plating film by plating the cage from which burrs have been removed in the burr removal process;
Including,
A method for manufacturing a roller bearing cage. The pair of ring portions are a large-diameter ring portion and a small-diameter ring portion, the roller is a tapered roller, and the roller bearing is a tapered roller bearing,
After the cage forming step, a bottom expanding step of expanding the small diameter ring portion side portion of the column portion is performed,
After the bottom expansion step, perform the burr removal step and the plating treatment step,
After the plating treatment step, an assembly step of assembling the tapered roller and the cage to the inner ring of the tapered roller bearing is performed,
Performing a caulking process for caulking the retainer after the assembling process and restoring it to a normal shape,
A method for manufacturing a roller bearing retainer according to claim 3.   The said plating process is an electrogalvanization process, The manufacturing method of the roller bearing retainer of any one of Claims 3-5.

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