Classifications

• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F16—ENGINEERING ELEMENTS AND UNITS; GENERAL MEASURES FOR PRODUCING AND MAINTAINING EFFECTIVE FUNCTIONING OF MACHINES OR INSTALLATIONS; THERMAL INSULATION IN GENERAL
  • F16C—SHAFTS; FLEXIBLE SHAFTS; ELEMENTS OR CRANKSHAFT MECHANISMS; ROTARY BODIES OTHER THAN GEARING ELEMENTS; BEARINGS
  • F16C33/00—Parts of bearings; Special methods for making bearings or parts thereof
  • F16C33/72—Sealings
  • F16C33/76—Sealings of ball or roller bearings
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F16—ENGINEERING ELEMENTS AND UNITS; GENERAL MEASURES FOR PRODUCING AND MAINTAINING EFFECTIVE FUNCTIONING OF MACHINES OR INSTALLATIONS; THERMAL INSULATION IN GENERAL
  • F16C—SHAFTS; FLEXIBLE SHAFTS; ELEMENTS OR CRANKSHAFT MECHANISMS; ROTARY BODIES OTHER THAN GEARING ELEMENTS; BEARINGS
  • F16C33/00—Parts of bearings; Special methods for making bearings or parts thereof
  • F16C33/72—Sealings
  • F16C33/76—Sealings of ball or roller bearings
  • F16C33/768—Sealings of ball or roller bearings between relatively stationary parts, i.e. static seals
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
  • B60B—VEHICLE WHEELS; CASTORS; AXLES FOR WHEELS OR CASTORS; INCREASING WHEEL ADHESION
  • B60B27/00—Hubs
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F16—ENGINEERING ELEMENTS AND UNITS; GENERAL MEASURES FOR PRODUCING AND MAINTAINING EFFECTIVE FUNCTIONING OF MACHINES OR INSTALLATIONS; THERMAL INSULATION IN GENERAL
  • F16J—PISTONS; CYLINDERS; SEALINGS
  • F16J15/00—Sealings
  • F16J15/02—Sealings between relatively-stationary surfaces
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F16—ENGINEERING ELEMENTS AND UNITS; GENERAL MEASURES FOR PRODUCING AND MAINTAINING EFFECTIVE FUNCTIONING OF MACHINES OR INSTALLATIONS; THERMAL INSULATION IN GENERAL
  • F16C—SHAFTS; FLEXIBLE SHAFTS; ELEMENTS OR CRANKSHAFT MECHANISMS; ROTARY BODIES OTHER THAN GEARING ELEMENTS; BEARINGS
  • F16C19/00—Bearings with rolling contact, for exclusively rotary movement
  • F16C19/22—Bearings with rolling contact, for exclusively rotary movement with bearing rollers essentially of the same size in one or more circular rows, e.g. needle bearings
  • F16C19/34—Bearings with rolling contact, for exclusively rotary movement with bearing rollers essentially of the same size in one or more circular rows, e.g. needle bearings for both radial and axial load
  • F16C19/36—Bearings with rolling contact, for exclusively rotary movement with bearing rollers essentially of the same size in one or more circular rows, e.g. needle bearings for both radial and axial load with a single row of rollers
  • F16C19/364—Bearings with rolling contact, for exclusively rotary movement with bearing rollers essentially of the same size in one or more circular rows, e.g. needle bearings for both radial and axial load with a single row of rollers with tapered rollers, i.e. rollers having essentially the shape of a truncated cone
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F16—ENGINEERING ELEMENTS AND UNITS; GENERAL MEASURES FOR PRODUCING AND MAINTAINING EFFECTIVE FUNCTIONING OF MACHINES OR INSTALLATIONS; THERMAL INSULATION IN GENERAL
  • F16C—SHAFTS; FLEXIBLE SHAFTS; ELEMENTS OR CRANKSHAFT MECHANISMS; ROTARY BODIES OTHER THAN GEARING ELEMENTS; BEARINGS
  • F16C2326/00—Articles relating to transporting
  • F16C2326/01—Parts of vehicles in general
  • F16C2326/02—Wheel hubs or castors

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a seal for providing a seal between a bearing and a shaft on which it is fitted, such as a wheel axle shaft.
• a wheel is mounted on the axle shaft via a roller bearing assembly which is fitted over the axle shaft.
• the bearing assembly consists of inner and outer bearing races, known as bearing cones because of their inner conical faces on which the rollers run.
• the inner bearing cone is fitted over a reduced diameter end portion of the axle shaft and its backface engages against an annular step on the axle shaft.
• a seal is provided between the backface and the bearing cone to prevent leakage of axle lubricating oil, present in the small radial clearance between the axle shaft and the inner bearing cone, inboard of the bearing assembly, where it could contaminant other vehicle system components, such as brake system components.
• a further purpose of the seal is to prevent the ingress of contaminants, particularly water, in the opposite direction. Such water would cause corrosion at the interface between the axle shaft and the bearing cone, causing interference to the removal of the hub assembly for routine servicing procedures, as. well as contaminating the axle lubricating oil.
• the sealing device provided at the bearing cone backface in such applications consists of a standard O-ring sealing element, located either in a groove machined in the radius profile at the junction of the bore and backface of the bearing cone or in an annular groove machined in either the bearing cone backface or the face of the abutment shoulder of the axle shaft.
• a standard O-ring sealing element located either in a groove machined in the radius profile at the junction of the bore and backface of the bearing cone or in an annular groove machined in either the bearing cone backface or the face of the abutment shoulder of the axle shaft.
• a combination of a seal and a bearing comprising a body having an annular recess therein and a retention portion at the periphery of said annular recess, and the seal comprising an annular sealing member arranged to be received within said annular recess, the annular sealing member having a resilient projection arranged to co-operate with said retention portion to retain the seal within the annular recess and having an annular body portion having an outer peripheral surface from which said resilient projection extends, the annular body portion also having first and second shoulder portions, with at least one shoulder portion arranged to provide a seal with a surface in contact with said seal.
• the resilient projection provides a snap-fit of said seal within said annular recess.
• the shoulder portion is preferably such that when the seal is compressed it provides a good seal between the bearing and the shaft.
• the seal comprises an internal stiffening member.
• the internal stiffening member may be a metal ring.
• the seal is symmetrical about a radial plane passing through said resilient projection.
• the seal is manufactured from moulded rubber.
• a seal for use with a bearing comprising an annular sealing member having a resilient projection arranged, in use, to co-operate with a portion of a bearing to retain the seal within said bearing, the annular sealing member having an annular body portion having an outer peripheral surface from which said resilient projection extends, the annular body portion also having first and second shoulder portions, with at least one shoulder portion arranged to provide a seal with a surface in contact with said seal.
• the seal comprises any one or more of the preferred features of the seal of the combination according to the first aspect of the present invention.
• Figure 1 illustrates a perspective view of a seal according to the present invention
• Figure 2 schematically illustrates the seal of Figure 1 in use with a bearing cone according to the present invention.
• Figure 3 illustrates an alternative embodiment of a seal according to the present invention.
• the seal 1 shown in Figure 1 comprises an annular body portion 3 having an inner and outer peripheral surface. Extending from the outer peripheral surface of the seal 1 is a resilient lip 5.
• the seal is preferably formed rom moulded rubber moulded around an internal insert that is preferably metal, although any rigid structure suitable for being moulded around with rubber may also be used.
• the cross section of the seal 1 can be seen in Figure 2.
• the cross section of the annular body portion 3 is substantially trapezoidal. Because of the trapezoidal shape, the annular body portion 3 is broader across its inner diameter i.e. closest to the shaft, and this has two broad shoulders, one of which 6 provides a seal between the bearing and the shaft. The other shoulder may also form a further seal against the bearing.
• the narrower outer diameter of the body portion 3 is arranged such that when the seal is in use the narrower section of the body portion 3 is firmly located within the annular recess 13 due to the compressive forces acting on the seal. Also shown in Figure 2 is the location of the metal insert 7 within the annular body portion 3.
• Figure 2 shows the seal 1 in use with a bearing cone 9 according to embodiments of the present invention and a axle shaft 11.
• the bearing cone 9 has an annular recess 13 defined by the main body of the bearing cone 9 and a retention lip 15 of the bearing cone.
• the seal 1 Prior to assembling the bearing cone 9 onto the axle shaft 11, the seal 1 is inserted into the annular recess 13 of the bearing cone.
• the resilient lip 5 In order to locate the seal 1 within the annular recess 13, the resilient lip 5 is elastically deformed by the retention lip 15 of the bearing cone as the seal 1 is inserted within the annular recess 13. Once located within the annular recess 13, the resilient lip 5 tries to return to its original configuration but is prevented from doing so by the smaller internal diameter of the recess 13 in the bearing cone.
• the deformation induced in the resilient lip 15 may also form a yet -further seal with the bearing.
• the seal 1 is thus retained within the bearing cone 9, facilitating the easy assembly of the shaft and bearing arrangement.
• the snap-fit nature of the seal 1 within the annular recess 13 of the bearing cone 9 further facilitates the assembly of the bearing cone and shaft assembly.
• the resilient lip 5 On attempted removal of the seal 1 from the recess 13 the resilient lip 5 abuts against the retention lip 15 of the bearing cone 9, thus requiring a higher force to extract it than was necessary to insert it.
• the seal 1 is preferably symmetrical about a radial plane. This ensures that the seal 1 can be fitted within the annular recess 13 in either possible orientation without any loss in seal performance.
• Figure 3 shows an alternative arrangement for the seal 1.
• the seal 1 has a body portion 3 a and a resilient lip 5a extending from the outer periphery of the body portion.
• the seal 1 is symmetrical about a radial plane.
• a circular internal insert 7a is located within the body portion 3a.
• the cross-section of the body portion 3 a is approximately bell like, with convex side surfaces 8a' and 8a" extending from the resilient lip 5a and a slightly convex bottom surface 10a extending between the two side surfaces.
• the intersection of the side surfaces 8a' and the bottom surface 10a forms a shoulder 6a in an analogous fashion to that of the trapezoidal seal 1 shown in Figure 2, the shoulder 6a serving the same sealing function. Again, the other shoulder may form a further seal against the bearing.
• other designs of seal will also be suitable.

Priority Applications (3)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=9936455

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (7)

Cited By (1)

Families Citing this family (3)

Citations (9)

Family Cites Families (7)

• 2002
  • 2002-05-10 GB GB0210773A patent/GB2388409B/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
• 2003
  • 2003-05-12 WO PCT/GB2003/002035 patent/WO2003095856A1/en active Application Filing
  • 2003-05-12 EP EP03720758A patent/EP1514035A1/en not_active Withdrawn
  • 2003-05-12 CN CNB2003801005337A patent/CN100380008C/zh not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2003-05-12 AU AU2003224333A patent/AU2003224333A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2003-05-12 KR KR1020047018080A patent/KR20050071370A/ko not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 2003-05-12 JP JP2004503817A patent/JP2005525518A/ja active Pending

Patent Citations (9)

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