JPH11264419A - Cage for roller bearing, and assembling method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a high-strength plastic cage by making simple the assembly thereof. SOLUTION: This cage, which is for guiding a plurality of bearing rollers by separation, comprises a first member 7 and a second member 10 which are made of a plastic material. The first member 7, which projects from one face of a ring part in its axial direction, has a plurality of web parts that comprise a pocket to accommodate the roller, while the second member 10 is a ring member to secure free ends of the web parts. In this case, the first member 7 and the second member 10 have an upright part 15 and a recess part 11, respectively, which are fitted integrably with each other by weld joints being welded that are at different levels apart from each other in the axial direction.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a cage for separating and guiding a plurality of rollers of a roller bearing and a method of assembling the same.

[0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Retainers of this type are known in various forms and can be made from metals such as steel and bronze and also from plastics. However, the present invention comprises two retainer members, a first member and a second member made of a plastic material, wherein the first member protrudes in the axial direction from the ring portion and one surface of the ring portion and extends in the circumferential direction. A plurality of web parts provided at equal intervals, and a second member, a ring member connectable to a free end of the web part so as to form a pocket for each of the plurality of rolling elements. Pertaining to the cage.

[0003] The bearing is provided with an inner ring and an outer ring having opposing raceways, and rollers which are guided by pockets of a cage and come into contact with the raceway. Has a longitudinal cross-section with a radius of curvature greater than the distance between the outer raceway and the bearing axis when measured in different directions, and the rollers allow relative misalignment and axial displacement of both raceways. As a result, bearings that can move in the axial direction on the raceway surface without being restricted in the axial direction on the raceway surface have a misalignment especially in small bearings. It is important that the cage be strong enough to withstand the forces received from the rollers, especially before the bearing is assembled into its operating position. However, the invention is not limited to this type of bearing, but can be applied to any type of rolling bearing having rollers guided in closed pockets.

The present invention relates to a roller cage of this type, in which two parts of the cage are directly joined in an assembly device as one of the steps of assembling a bearing.

The plurality of rollers are inserted between the inner ring and the outer ring and are dispersed in the circumferential direction by a tool. Thereafter, the annular first member of the retainer is inserted from one side in the axial direction, and the adjacent rolling elements are joined together. After being separated by the web portion, an annular second member is joined to the free end of the web portion that can project to the other side.

[0006]

Another object of such a retainer is to make assembly as easy as possible, which is achieved by the retainer according to the invention.

[0007] The joining of the two members of the cage can be accomplished by rivets, adhesives, welding, or other similar techniques.
Furthermore, it has been made by snap connection. Since the joining method is required not to use an additional member such as a rivet and to be free from the risk of deterioration of the bearing due to mixing of a foreign substance in the adhesive, welding is preferable.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a plastic cage having sufficiently high strength in the axial and lateral directions of the cage to withstand the high stresses that the cage will experience. A cage for separating and guiding a plurality of rollers of a bearing, the cage comprising two cage members, a first member and a second member made of a plastic material, wherein the first member has a ring portion and the ring member. A plurality of web portions axially projecting from one surface of the ring portion and provided at equal intervals in the circumferential direction, the second member forming a pocket for each of the plurality of rollers, In the ring member that can be connected to the free end of the web portion, the first member and the second member of the retainer each have a concave portion that is compatible with each other, and the other has an upright portion, And to improve bending strength Is achieved by characterized in that the standing portion and the recess being bound by a fusion bonded parts located at different levels spaced in the axial direction of the cage.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a simple method of assembling such a cage, which projects axially into the space between adjacent rollers arranged between the inner and outer rings. A first step of inserting the web portion to be laterally inserted, and one of the web portion and the second member has a recessed material and the other has an upright portion fitted into the recessed portion, and the second member has a web portion. The second step of positioning so as to engage with, the contact surface between the concave portion and the upright portion, the contact surface between the web portion and the second member,
A third step of being securely joined by welding at at least two axially separated positions of the retainer.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings, but the present invention is not limited to these embodiments.

FIG. 1 shows a type of a bearing to which the present invention can be applied. An inner ring 1 having a raceway surface on an outer peripheral surface, an outer ring 2 having a raceway surface on an inner peripheral surface, and a portion between the inner ring and the outer ring are shown. With cage 4
A plurality of rollers 3 which are arranged and guided separately by the above, and the retainer 4 has two separable annular members 5;
A series of webs 6 connect the annular members 5 to each other
Forming a pocket for The bearing shown is
It has barrel-shaped rollers (also called "spherical rollers") and the raceway surface has a cross-sectional view with a radius R substantially the same size as the rollers and substantially larger than the geometric radius of the bearing. doing. Having these characteristics, and
The fact that no flanges or the like are provided on the inner and outer rings to prevent the movement of the rollers gives the rollers the ability to receive radial and axial loads, thereby allowing the rollers to move in the axial direction, Then, the unloaded roller can skew between the two raceway surfaces. In such a bearing, although this hardly occurs particularly in normal operation, when the inner and outer rings 1 and 2 are largely misaligned and are simultaneously rotating, the end of the roller 3 is
There is a danger that the annular member 5 may be pressed vertically. However, this often occurs during handling before the bearing is installed in place.

For bearings of modest size, it is advantageous to use a cage made of plastic material, not from a weight point of view, but under lateral loads such a plastic cage is particularly suitable for annular members. At the connection between one of the webs 5 and the web 6, there is the danger that it will tend to break.

FIG. 2 shows a diametrical cross section of the first member 7 of the cage according to the invention.
Has a web portion 9 formed integrally with the ring portion 8 and projecting in the axial direction from the plane of the ring portion 8 and provided at equal intervals. The free end of the web portion 9 is preferably as seen in FIG. 4, which shows a larger part IV encircled in FIG. 2, which will be described in more detail below.

FIG. 3 shows a diametrical cross section of a second member 10 of the cage, which is formed substantially flat and which is connected to the free end of the web part 9 of the first member 7. And is fixed, so that a series of substantially rectangular pockets is formed with it, each receiving a roller 3 bounded by two adjacent web parts 9 and a ring part connected thereto. You. The circled portion V of the second member in FIG. 3 is shown enlarged in FIG. 5, and will be described in detail later.

FIG. 4 shows, as a perspective view, the circled part IV of the first part of the cage in FIG. 2, from which a preferred form of the cage according to the invention can be seen.
In this figure, some of the web parts 9 projecting from the ring part 8 are visible. The web itself has a somewhat tapered shape that is smaller on the radially outer side. The end face of each web portion 9 is flat but has a recess 11, and forms a flat bottom 12 and an inclined side wall 13 to form the recess 1.
1 is wider on the outside than at the bottom.

FIG. 5 shows a circled portion V of the second member 10, from which the second member has a substantially flat ring portion 14; Having an upright portion 15 protruding in the axial direction on one flat surface;
It can be seen that the first member 7 has a shape substantially conforming to the recess 11, that is, the first member 7 has the inclined wall 15 a.

FIG. 6 shows the retainer in an assembled state. This retainer is attached to the first member 7 by a first member 7 and an upright portion 15 which enters the concave portion 11 of the web portion 9. A second member 10 to be attached, whereby the flat ring portion 14 of the second member 10 as a lid closes each pocket 16 on the side of the first member 7 remote from the ring portion 8. Become.

The assembly of the cage is effected on an automatic bearing assembling machine. At this time, the inner ring 1 and the outer ring 2 are initially located at mutually eccentric assembly positions, and the rollers 3 are inserted between the two wheels 1 and 2 and are dispersed at intervals in the circumferential direction so that the two wheels 1 and 2 are at the concentric position. Brought. Thereafter, the first member of the retainer is inserted axially between the two wheels 1 and 2 so that the web portion 9 penetrates the space between the two adjacent rollers 3 and the free end of the web portion 9 It protrudes from the space between the rollers 3 to the opposite side in the axial direction. Thereafter, the second member 10 as a lid is assembled, the upright portion 15 enters the concave portion 11 of the web portion 9, the outer surface of the upright portion 15 engages with the bottom portion 12 of the concave portion, and the flat ring portion 14 is formed. Surface comes into contact with the flat surface at the free end of the web portion.

According to the invention, the first member 7 and the second member 10 of the cage are then firmly connected to each other by welding, preferably by ultrasonic welding. The welding head (not shown) is applied to an engagement portion between the web portion 9 and the second member 10, and is fused by ultrasonic waves at a contact surface portion. But,
Other welding techniques can be used and can be welded without physical contact between the welding head and the joining surface. As another such technique, there is a technique in which laser welding or induction welding is performed after appropriate treatment of a bonding surface.

FIG. 7 shows how the fixing between the web part 9 and the lid-shaped second member 10 is performed, in which a small slot 17 (stretching) is provided between the welding connection surfaces 18 and 19. (Indicated by large characters) may be provided. This welded joint surface is the direction of the force acting on the cage,
That is, they are positioned so as to have a space in the axial direction of the cage.

Surprisingly, locating the welded joints at such different levels results in a much higher strength for tensile and bending stresses than welded joints having the same or larger area in a single plane. It turned out to bring.

FIGS. 8 and 9 show a modified example of the cooperative coupling surface between the web parts 9a, 9b and the second members 10a, 10b. The recess 11a and the lid member 10a in the form of FIG.
Oa is adapted to be snap-fitted into the recess, with the welding connection surfaces 18a, 19b located at two different levels.

The embodiment according to FIG. 9 has a semicircular recess in the web portion 9b and a similarly shaped protrusion in the lid member 10b. In this embodiment, the continuous welding interface 18
a is easily obtained, which is directly connected to the welding connection surface 19. Even in this case, for the coupling in a single plane,
Excellent welding bond strength.

The lid members 10, 10 as shown
The configurations of a and 10b are conventional cages in which an annular retainer member is fitted to the free end of the web of another retainer member, the fingers forming a standing portion at the end of the ring or web. There is a further advantage in assembling as compared with the case where the projection is provided. Secondly, the lid-shaped retainer member according to the present invention has a The second part can be supplied from the random magazine to a predetermined position of the assembling machine without the need for careful positioning to find the correct position for the second member.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiments shown in the drawings and the description related thereto, but can be varied within the scope of the appended claims.

[0026]

As described above, according to the present invention, the first member and the second member made of plastic material are welded at two different levels in the axial direction. Will be offered.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partial sectional view of a bearing with a cage of a type in which the cage of the present invention is preferably applied.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a first member of the cage according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a second member corresponding to the first member of FIG.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view of a portion IV surrounded by a circle in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of a portion V surrounded by a circle in FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing a state where the first member of FIG. 2 and the second member of FIG. 3 are assembled.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view showing still another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view showing still another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Inner ring 2 Outer ring 3 Roller 4 Cage 7 First member 8 Ring part 9, 9a, 9b Web part 10, 10a, 10b Web part 11, 11a Concave part 15, 15a Standing part 18, 18a, 18b Welding joint part 19, 19a , 19b welding joint

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A cage for separating and guiding a plurality of rollers (3) of a roller bearing, comprising two cage members, a first member and a second member made of a plastic material. A first member (7) having a ring portion (8) and a plurality of web portions (9) axially protruding from one surface of the ring portion and provided at equal intervals in a circumferential direction; Is a ring member connectable to the free end of said web portion (9) so as to form a pocket (16) for each of said plurality of rollers (3). One member (7) and the second member (10, 10a, 10b)
Either one has a concave part (11, 11a) which is compatible with the other, and the other has an upright part (15, 15a). Welding joints (18, 18a, 18b; 1)
9, 19a, 19b), wherein the concave portion and the upright portion are connected to each other. 2. A welding joint (18, 19; 18a, 19)
a) is a slot-shaped substantially axial space (1) provided at different levels in the axial direction and connecting different welding joints.
The cage for a roller bearing according to claim 1, wherein the cage has (7). 3. The web portion (9, 9a, 3) of the first member (7).
Each free end of 9b) has a recess (11, 11a) and the second member (10) has one continuous projection forming an upright (15, 15a) which is received in said recess. 3. A cage for a roller bearing according to claim 1 or claim 2. The retainer (4) has an inner race (1) and an outer race (2) having opposing raceways and a roller (3) guided by pockets of the cage (4) and brought into contact with the raceway. The roller (3) and the raceway surface have a radius of curvature greater than the distance between the outer raceway surface and the bearing axis when measured in a direction perpendicular to the raceway surface. It has a cross-sectional shape, so that the rollers can move axially on the raceway without being restricted axially on the raceway, to allow relative misalignment and axial displacement of both raceways. Claim 1 to Claim 3
A cage for a roller bearing according to one of the preceding claims. 5. The method for assembling a retainer according to claim 1, wherein the retainer has a plurality of web portions (9) projecting in the axial direction. 7) and a second member (10) connected to the free end of the web part (9)
A web part (9) which projects axially into the space between adjacent rollers (3) arranged between the inner ring (1) and the outer ring (2). A first step of inserting the web part (9) and the second member (10), wherein one of the web part (9) and the second member (10) has a concave part (11) and the other has an upright part (15) fitted into the concave part; Two members (10)
A second step of positioning the first member to engage with the web portion (9), and a contact surface between the concave portion (11) and the upright portion (15), and a contact surface between the web portion and the second member (10) are held. Welding joints (18, 19) at at least two positions separated in the axial direction of the vessel
And a third step of firmly joining by welding. 6. A method as claimed in claim 5, wherein an upright portion is provided on the second member, the upstanding portion forming a continuous raised protrusion. 7. The method for assembling a retainer according to claim 5, wherein the welding joints (18, 19) are welded by ultrasonic welding.