WO2014112927A1

WO2014112927A1 - Bearing assembly

Info

Publication number: WO2014112927A1
Application number: PCT/SE2014/000008
Authority: WO
Inventors: Mohan Sadashivrao JAGTAP
Original assignee: Aktiebolaget Skf
Priority date: 2013-01-18
Filing date: 2014-01-20
Publication date: 2014-07-24
Also published as: CN105074240A

Abstract

A bearing assembly is disclosed. In one example embodiment, a bearing assembly 100 includes a first bearing and a second bearing. The first bearing includes a first inner ring 102, a first outer ring 104 and a first set of rolling elements 106 arranged between the first inner ring 102 and the first outer ring 104. The second bearing is axially aligned with the first bearing. The second bearing includes a second inner ring 108, a second outer ring 110 and a second set of rolling elements 112 arranged between the second inner ring 108 and the second outer ring 110. The first inner ring 102 is axially integrated with the second inner ring 108. The first outer ring 104 is also axially integrated with the second outer ring 110. The axial integration of the first outer ring 104 with the second outer ring 110 has grooves for flow of oil in the bearing assembly 100 during lubrication.

Description

BEARING ASSEMBLY

CROSS-REFERENCE

[0001] This application claims priority to Indian provisional patent application no.

242/CHE/2013, filed on Jan 18, 2013, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0002] Embodiments of the invention generally relate to the field of bearings, and more particularly to a tapered roller bearing assembly for use in vehicles.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0003] Tapered roller bearings have the capacity to carry heavy radial loads and heavy axial loads. It thus finds wide-spread use in machinery, such as transmissions. In one configuration of the tapered roller bearing used in truck transmissions, there are two single row bearings. The two single row bearings are assembled with spacers in between to form a bearing assembly. At present, this assembly is done at the customer end wherein the customer uses an inner ring spacer and an outer ring spacer to adjust the two single row bearings with correct preload values in the bearing assembly. In order to enable oil flow in the bearing assembly, the outer ring spacers are provided with grooves.

[0004] One of the major hassles faced by the customer during the assembly is the considerable time wasted in performing trial and error methods to obtain the correct preload values in the bearing assembly. Also, there is requirement of inventory for the spacers at the customer end. The presence of the inner ring spacer, the outer ring spacer and other components contribute to huge number of complex interfaces in the bearing assembly. All these contribute to the assembly at the customer end being very cumbersome. Also, in the current situation, preload loss is huge which affects bearing life and reliablity.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0005] A bearing assembly is disclosed. According to one aspect of the present invention, a bearing assembly includes a first bearing and a second bearing. The first bearing includes a first inner ring, a first outer ring and a first set of rolling elements arranged between the first inner ring and the first outer ring. The second bearing is axially aligned with the first bearing. The second bearing includes a second inner ring, a second outer ring and a second set of rolling elements arranged between the second inner ring and the second outer ring. The first inner ring is axially integrated with the second inner ring. The first outer ring is also axially integrated with the second outer ring.

[0006] The axial integration of the first outer ring with the second outer ring includes grooves for flow of oil in the bearing assembly during lubrication. In one example, the first bearing is a tapered roller bearing and the second bearing is also a tapered roller bearing. The bearing assembly supports a pinion shaft of a transmission of a vehicle.

[0007] According to another aspect, a transmission of a vehicle has a bearing assembly arranged on a pinion shaft. The bearing assembly includes a first bearing and a second bearing. The first bearing includes a first inner ring, a first outer ring and a first set of rolling elements arranged between the first inner ring and the first outer ring. The second bearing is axially aligned with the first bearing and includes a second inner ring, a second outer ring and a second set of rolling elements arranged between the second inner ring and the second outer ring. The first inner ring is axially integrated with the second inner ring and the first outer ring is axially integrated with the second outer ring. The axial integration of the first outer ring with the second outer ring includes grooves for flow of oil in the bearing assembly during lubrication.

[0008] Other features of the embodiments will be apparent from the accompanying drawings and from the detailed description that follows.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0009] Example embodiments of the present invention are illustrated by accompanying drawings, wherein:

[0010] FIG. 1 illustrates a cross sectional view of a bearing assembly, according to one embodiment;

[0011] FIG. 2 illustrates an isometric view of the bearing assembly of FIG. 1 ;

[0012] FIG. 3 illustrates an isometric view of a bearing in the bearing assembly of FIG. 1 ; and

[0013] FIG. 4 illustrates a front view of the bearing shown in FIG. 3.

[0014] The drawings described herein are for illustration purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention in any way.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0015] A bearing assembly is disclosed. The following description is merely exemplary in nature and is not intended to limit the present invention, applications, or uses. It should be understood that throughout the drawings, corresponding reference numerals indicate like or corresponding parts and features. [0016] FIG. 1 illustrates a cross sectional view of a bearing assembly 100, according to one embodiment. As shown, the bearing assembly 100 includes a first bearing and a second bearing that are axially aligned with each other. The first bearing has a first inner ring 102, a first outer ring 104 and a first set of rolling elements 106. The second bearing has a second inner ring 108, a second outer ring 1 10 and a second set of rolling elements 1 12. The bearing assembly 100 is assembled with a shaft 1 14 as shown in FIG. 1. In one example, the shaft 1 14 is a pinion shaft of a transmission of a vehicle such as a truck.

[0017] Also, as shown in FIG. 1 , the first set of rolling elements 106 is supported by a cage 1 16 in the first bearing and the second set of rolling elements 1 12 is supported by a cage 1 18 in the second bearing. In one example, the cage 1 16 and the cage 1 18 are steel cages.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the first inner ring 102 is axially integrated with the second inner ring 108. Also, the first outer ring 104 is axially integrated with the second outer ring 1 10. There is also a groove 120 on the axial integration of the first outer ring 104 with the second outer ring 1 10 as shown in FIG. 1 . The groove 120 enables flow of oil in the bearing assembly 100 during lubrication.

[0018] In one example, the first bearing and the second bearing in the bearing assembly are tapered roller bearings. Also, the first bearing and the second bearing are symmetrical for example. In another example, the first bearing and the second bearing may be of different sizes. Further, the bearing assembly 100 may be provided with a bearing housing. In such cases, the outer ring of the first bearing and the second bearing may be also integrated with the bearing housing to form a single unit. [0019] FIG. 2 illustrates an isometric view of the bearing assembly 100 of FIG. 1 . As shown, FIG 2 illustrates a first outer ring 202, a second outer ring 204, a second inner ring 206 and a set of rolling elements 208 that are arranged in a cage 210. The first outer ring 202 is axially integrated with the second outer ring 204. Also, shown are a number of grooves 212. In one embodiment, the grooves 212 are present on the axial integration of the first outer ring 202 with the second outer ring 204. The grooves 212 enables smooth flow of oil during lubrication of the bearing assembly 100.

[0020] FIG. 3 illustrates an isometric view of a bearing 300 in the bearing assembly 100 of FIG. 1 . In one example, the bearing 300 may be the first bearing or the second bearing of the bearing assembly 100. As shown, the bearing 300 has an outer ring 302, an inner ring 304 and a set of rolling elements 306 that are arranged in a cage 308. Also, shown are grooves 3 10. In one example, the grooves 310 are placed equidistant on the outer ring 302.

[0021] FIG. 4 illustrates a front view of the bearing 300 shown in FIG. 3. The front view shows an outer ring 402, an inner ring 404 and a set of rolling elements 406 that are arranged in a cage 408. A number of grooves 410 are present on the bearing 300 as shown in FIG. 4.

|0022| In various embodiments, the bearing assembly described in FIGS. 1 through 4 is easy to assemble on the pinion shaft of the transmission in vehicles. This avoids hassles faced by customers who currently have to procure bearings and assemble the bearings on the pinion shaft using spacers. With the bearing assembly as described herein, the number of components to be assembled gets reduced which eases operations at the customer end. The time spent by the customer for mounting the bearing on the pinion shaft also gets reduced (almost reduced to half) by using the bearing assembly as described herein. |0023] Also, the customers need to perform very less adjusting for the mounting of the bearing assembly on the pinion shaft. There is also accurate preload setting in the bearing assembly. Thus, preload losses are minimized which increase reliability and life of the bearings in the bearing assembly. The variation in friction torque is also reduced by using the bearing assembly. The bearing assembly as described above may be also used in other applications requiring heavy machinery. It should be noted that other types of bearings such as spherical ball bearings, cylindrical ball bearings, deep groove ball bearings, angular contact ball bearings and other roller bearings may be also used to form the bearing assembly as described above.

|0024| It will be recognized that the above described subject matter may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics of the disclosure. Thus, it is understood that, the subject matter is not to be limited by the foregoing illustrative details, but it is rather to be defined by the appended claims.

Reference numerals

1 00 - Bearing assembly

102 - First inner ring

104 - First outer ring

106 - First set of rolling elements

108 - Second inner ring

1 10 - Second outer ring

1 12 - Second set of rolling elements

1 14 - Shaft

1 16 - Cage

1 18 - Cage

120 - Groove

202 - First outer ring

204 - Second outer ring

206- Second inner ring

208 - Set of rolling elements 210 - Cage 212 - Grooves

300 -Bearing

302 - Outer ring

304 - Inner ring

306 - Set of rolling elements

308 - Cage

310- Grooves

402- Outer ring

404- Inner ring

406- Set of rolling elements

408- Cage

Claims

Claims What is claimed is:

1. A bearing assembly, comprising:

a first bearing comprising a first inner ring, a first outer ring and a first set of rolling elements arranged between the first inner ring and the first outer ring; and a second bearing axially aligned with the first bearing and comprising a second inner ring, a second outer ring and a second set of rolling elements arranged between the second inner ring and the second outer ring, wherein the first inner ring is axially integrated with the second inner ring, and wherein the first outer ring is axially integrated with the second outer ring.

2. The bearing assembly of claim 1 , wherein the axial integration of the first outer ring with the second outer ring comprises grooves for flow of oil in the bearing assembly during lubrication.

3. The bearing assembly of claim 1 , wherein the first bearing is a tapered roller bearing.

4. The bearing assembly of claim 1 , wherein the second bearing is a tapered roller

bearing.

5. The bearing assembly of claim 1 , wherein the first bearing and the second bearing supports a pinion shaft of a transmission of a vehicle.

6. A transmission of a vehicle employing a bearing assembly arranged on a pinion shaft wherein the bearing assembly comprises a first bearing and a second bearing, wherein the first bearing comprises a first inner ring, a first outer ring and a first set of rolling elements arranged between the first inner ring and the first outer ring, wherein the second bearing is axially aligned with the first bearing and comprises a second inner ring, a second outer ring and a second set of rolling elements arranged between the second inner ring and the second outer ring, wherein the first inner ring is axially integrated with the second inner ring, and wherein the first outer ring is axially integrated extension with the second outer ring.

7. The transmission of claim 6, wherein the axial integration of the first outer ring with the second outer ring comprises grooves for flow of oil in the bearing assembly during lubrication.

Dated this the 10^th January, 2013