JP5045123B2 - Ball bearing and support structure - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a ball bearing and a support structure, and more particularly to a ball bearing and a support structure provided with a resin crown-shaped cage used for a transmission for an automobile or the like.

In general, in an apparatus such as an automatic transmission of an automobile, it is known that lubricating oil is supplied to a ball bearing by forced lubrication (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2). In the apparatuses described in Patent Documents 1 and 2, a technique for improving the lubrication and cooling efficiency by forced lubrication by changing the shape of the machined cage is disclosed.
JP 2005-90692 A Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 5-96548

  Incidentally, in recent years, the need for lower torque is also increasing in ball bearings that constitute a transmission of an automobile, coupled with an increase in environmental problems. However, in a ball bearing that is forcedly lubricated as described above, when a large amount of lubricating oil is supplied, the drag torque due to the resistance of the lubricating oil increases, greatly affecting the dynamic friction torque of the bearing and improving fuel efficiency. It is an obstacle.

  On the other hand, if the supply amount of lubricating oil is reduced to reduce drag torque due to the resistance of the lubricating oil, the oil film thickness may be insufficient and bearing life may be reduced. In extreme cases, seizure of the bearing may occur. There is a concern to do. In addition, when the lubrication oil supply path is shared by ball bearings and other peripheral components, the effect of reducing the amount of lubricant supply will spread to the peripheral components, and supply of lubricant will be sufficient. This could have an adverse effect on the lubrication of peripheral parts. Further, when a crown-shaped cage is used as the cage, there is a problem that the lubricating oil supplied to the bearing is greatly agitated not only by the balls but also by the claw pieces, thereby increasing the agitation resistance.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to reduce the dynamic friction torque of a bearing that is forcibly lubricated and to improve the efficiency of the entire incorporated apparatus and a support structure. Is to provide.

The above object of the present invention can be achieved by the following constitution.
(1) An inner ring, an outer ring, a plurality of balls rotatably disposed between the inner and outer rings, and a resin crown-shaped cage that rotatably accommodates the balls in a pocket. , A ball bearing for an automobile transmission that is forcedly lubricated by being supplied with lubricating oil from the axial direction,
A shield plate provided on the side of the ball and between the inner and outer rings is arranged on the upstream side in the supply direction of the lubricant with respect to the ball,
The inner peripheral portion of the shield plate is bent inward in the axial direction, and is disposed close to the outer peripheral surface of the inner ring with a labyrinth gap ,
A groove is provided at an axial end of the outer peripheral surface of the inner ring,
The inner peripheral portion of the shield plate is disposed adjacent to the groove and the labyrinth gap,
The labyrinth gap is located radially inward from the shoulder of the inner ring,
The annular portion of the crown-shaped cage is disposed on the downstream side in the lubricating oil supply direction with respect to the ball,
The ball bearing according to claim 1, wherein a side of the ball and a downstream side in the supply direction of the lubricant with respect to the ball are substantially open .
(2) The ball bearing according to (1), wherein the inner ring and the outer ring do not have shoulder portions on the side of the ball and on the downstream side in the lubricant supply direction with respect to the ball. .
(3) An inner ring that is externally fitted to the rotating shaft, an outer ring that is fitted to the housing, a plurality of balls that are rotatably arranged between the inner and outer rings, and the balls that are rotatable in the pockets. A support structure for supporting the rotating shaft, comprising a ball bearing for an automobile transmission forcibly lubricated by being supplied with lubricating oil from the axial direction. And
A shield plate provided on the side of the ball and between the inner and outer rings is arranged on the upstream side in the supply direction of the lubricant with respect to the ball,
The inner peripheral portion of the shield plate is bent inward in the axial direction, and is disposed close to the outer peripheral surface of the inner ring with a labyrinth gap ,
A groove is provided at an axial end of the outer peripheral surface of the inner ring,
The inner peripheral portion of the shield plate is disposed adjacent to the groove and the labyrinth gap,
The labyrinth gap is located radially inward from the shoulder of the inner ring,
The annular portion of the crown-shaped cage is disposed on the downstream side in the lubricating oil supply direction with respect to the ball,
A support structure characterized in that a side of the ball and a downstream side in the supply direction of the lubricating oil with respect to the ball are substantially open .
(4) The support structure according to (3), wherein the inner ring and the outer ring do not have shoulders on the side of the ball and on the downstream side in the lubricant supply direction with respect to the ball. .

  According to the ball bearing and the support structure of the present invention, since the shield plate provided between the inner and outer rings is arranged on the upstream side of the supply direction of the lubricating oil with respect to the balls, a larger amount of lubricating oil than necessary is required. It is possible to prevent the oil from flowing into the bearing, and to greatly reduce the drag torque generated when the lubricating oil is stirred by the claws and balls of the crown-shaped cage. Also, when the lubrication oil supply path is shared by the ball bearing and other peripheral components, the supply amount of the lubricating oil flowing into the ball bearing is limited by the shield plate and guided to the peripheral components. It becomes possible to lubricate.

  Therefore, the dynamic friction torque of the ball bearing can be reduced, and the efficiency of the entire apparatus in which the ball bearing is incorporated, such as a transmission of an automobile, can be improved to improve fuel efficiency. Reduction of the loss torque is effective not only in a small ball bearing but also in a large ball bearing having an inner diameter exceeding 100 mm.

  Furthermore, since the annular portion of the crown-shaped cage is disposed downstream of the balls in the direction of supply of the lubricating oil, it is possible to further reduce the torque loss due to the stirring of the lubricating oil.

  DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of a ball bearing according to the present invention will be described in detail based on the drawings. As shown in FIG. 1, the ball bearing 10 includes an outer ring 11 having an outer ring raceway surface 11a on an inner peripheral surface, an inner ring 12 having an inner ring raceway surface 12a on an outer peripheral surface, the outer ring raceway surface 11a and the inner ring raceway surface 12a. A plurality of balls 13 provided between the outer ring 11 and the outer ring 11 so as to be rotatably supported between the inner ring 12 and the inner ring 12. A synthetic resin crown-shaped cage 20 and a metal shield plate 14 fixed to a groove 11b provided at one axial end of the inner peripheral surface of the outer ring 11.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the crown-shaped cage 20 includes an annular portion 21 and a plurality of claw portions 22 a and 22 b that protrude from the plurality of locations toward the one side in the axial direction at intervals in the circumferential direction of the annular portion 21. And comprising. The opposing surfaces of the claw portions 22a and 22b adjacent to each other in the circumferential direction and the axial side surface of the annular portion 21 between the opposing surfaces cooperate to form a pocket 23 and hold the ball 13 so as to be rotatable. . The balls 13 are pushed into the pockets 23 provided in the annular portion 21 at predetermined equal intervals from the opening side of the pair of claw portions 22a and 22b, and the claw portions 22a and 22b are elastically deformed and fitted.

  The material of the crown-shaped cage 20 is not particularly limited. For example, various synthetic resins such as a polyamide synthetic resin and a thermoplastic synthetic resin can be used, and glass fibers and carbon fibers are reinforced as necessary. Fibers may be included to improve strength and prevent deformation and damage at high temperature and high speed. Since the crown-shaped cage 20 is excellent in self-lubricating properties and low friction characteristics, it is effective in reducing friction loss torque.

  The shield plate 14 is, for example, a thin metal plate formed in a substantially annular shape, and its outer peripheral portion 14a is press-fitted and fixed in a groove 11b provided at an axial end portion of the inner peripheral surface of the outer ring 11. The inner peripheral portion 14b is bent in the axial direction, and is disposed close to the groove 12b and the labyrinth gap C provided at the axial end portion of the outer peripheral surface of the inner ring 12. Thereby, the inner peripheral portion 14 b of the shield plate 14 is positioned radially inward from the shoulder portion 12 c of the inner ring 12. The shield plate 14 may be formed in an overall annular shape by covering a metal core with an elastic material such as rubber or synthetic resin.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the ball bearing 10 is assembled such that the shield plate 14 and the annular portion 21 of the crown-shaped cage 20 are on opposite sides of the ball 13. That is, the shield plate 14 is disposed upstream of the ball 13 in the direction of supply of the lubricant (in the direction of arrow A), and the annular portion 21 of the crown-shaped cage 20 is downstream of the ball 13 in the direction of supply of the lubricant. The outer ring 11 is fitted in the housing 1 and the inner ring 12 is fitted on the rotary shaft 2 so as to be disposed on the side, and the ball bearing 10 is incorporated in a device such as a transmission of an automobile. At this time, the space between the housing 1 and the rotating shaft 2 acts as a supply path 16 and a discharge path 17 for supplying and discharging the lubricating oil.

  When the lubricating oil is supplied from the side of the ball bearing 10 (in the direction of arrow A) from the lubricating oil tank (not shown) via the supply path 16, the lubricating oil is supplied to the inner peripheral portion 14 b of the shield plate 14. Flows into the ball bearing 10 through the gap C between the groove 12b and the lubricating oil is stirred by the claws 22a and 22b and the balls 13 of the crown-shaped cage 20 as the ball bearing 10 rotates.

  At this time, since the shield plate 14 prevents an excessive amount of lubricating oil from flowing into the ball bearing 10, the lubricating oil stirred by the claws 22 a and 22 b of the crown-shaped cage 20 and the balls 13 is used. The amount is limited, and the drag torque generated with the stirring of the lubricating oil is small.

  The lubricating oil lubricates the sliding surfaces of the outer ring 11, inner ring 12, ball 13, and crown-shaped cage 20, and then is discharged to the discharge path 17, but the crown shape is arranged on the downstream side in the lubricating oil supply direction. There is almost no stirring action of the lubricating oil by the annular portion 21 of the cage 20, and the loss torque due to this is small.

  Further, since the crown-shaped cage 20 made of synthetic resin is excellent in self-lubricating properties and low friction characteristics, the friction resistance with the ball 13 is small and the friction loss torque is small.

  As described above, the drag torque generated with the agitation of the lubricating oil and the friction torque of each part are reduced to reduce the dynamic friction torque of the ball bearing 10, and the mechanical device in which the ball bearing 10 such as an automobile transmission is incorporated. Efficiency can be improved.

  Further, when the lubricating oil supply path 16 is shared with the supply paths of other peripheral parts (not shown) and the lubricating oil is also supplied to the peripheral parts, the shield plate 14 causes the inside of the ball bearing 10 to Since the supply amount of the lubricating oil flowing into is limited, a sufficient amount of the lubricating oil can be supplied to the peripheral parts, and the lubricating performance can be maintained well.

In addition, this invention is not limited to embodiment mentioned above, A deformation | transformation, improvement, etc. are possible suitably.
In this embodiment, the crown-shaped cage is a ball guide system, but it may be an outer ring or an inner ring guide. The shape and size of the shield plate may be appropriately designed according to the supply amount of the lubricating oil.

It is a half sectional view of a ball bearing which is an embodiment of the present invention. It is a perspective view of the synthetic resin crown-shaped cage in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Ball bearing 11 Outer ring 12 Inner ring 13 Ball 14 Shield plate 20 Synthetic resin crown-shaped cage 21 Ring portion 23 Pocket

Claims (4)

An inner ring, an outer ring, a plurality of balls rotatably arranged between the inner and outer rings, and a resin crown-shaped cage that rotatably accommodates the balls in a pocket, A ball bearing for a transmission of an automobile that is supplied with lubricating oil and forcedly lubricated,
A shield plate provided on the side of the ball and between the inner and outer rings is arranged on the upstream side in the supply direction of the lubricant with respect to the ball,
The inner peripheral portion of the shield plate is bent inward in the axial direction, and is disposed close to the outer peripheral surface of the inner ring with a labyrinth gap ,
A groove is provided at an axial end of the outer peripheral surface of the inner ring,
The inner peripheral portion of the shield plate is disposed adjacent to the groove and the labyrinth gap,
The labyrinth gap is located radially inward from the shoulder of the inner ring,
The annular portion of the crown-shaped cage is disposed on the downstream side in the lubricating oil supply direction with respect to the ball,
The ball bearing according to claim 1, wherein a side of the ball and a downstream side in the supply direction of the lubricant with respect to the ball are substantially open .   2. The ball bearing according to claim 1, wherein the inner ring and the outer ring do not have shoulder portions on a side of the ball and on a downstream side in the supply direction of the lubricant with respect to the ball. An inner ring fitted on the rotation shaft, an outer ring fitted in the housing, a plurality of balls rotatably arranged between the inner and outer rings, and a resin that rotatably accommodates the balls in a pocket A support structure for supporting the rotating shaft, comprising a ball bearing for an automobile transmission that is supplied with lubricating oil from the axial direction and is forcedly lubricated.
A shield plate provided on the side of the ball and between the inner and outer rings is arranged on the upstream side in the supply direction of the lubricant with respect to the ball,
The inner peripheral portion of the shield plate is bent inward in the axial direction, and is disposed close to the outer peripheral surface of the inner ring with a labyrinth gap ,
A groove is provided at an axial end of the outer peripheral surface of the inner ring,
The inner peripheral portion of the shield plate is disposed adjacent to the groove and the labyrinth gap,
The labyrinth gap is located radially inward from the shoulder of the inner ring,
The annular portion of the crown-shaped cage is disposed on the downstream side in the lubricating oil supply direction with respect to the ball,
A support structure characterized in that a side of the ball and a downstream side in the supply direction of the lubricating oil with respect to the ball are substantially open .   4. The support structure according to claim 3, wherein the inner ring and the outer ring do not have a shoulder portion on a side of the ball and on a downstream side of the ball in a direction in which the lubricant is supplied.

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