Integrated blade root bearing carrier assembly
AssigneeBell Helicopter Textron Inc.
InventorsGeorge Matthew Thompson, Jonathan Knoll, Nicholas Carlson
Life of this patent
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Abstract
One embodiment is a bearing carrier assembly including a circular shield having top and bottom surfaces; and a number of bearing separators integrated with the bottom surface of the shield, wherein each pair of bearing separators defines a receptacle for receiving and retaining a bearing therewithin and wherein the shield blocks the received bearings from debris and retains lubricant around the received bearings. Each of the bearing separators may include a spacer element for separating adjacent ones of the bearings. The bearing carrier assembly may be made up of a number of carrier sections that interconnect to form the bearing carrier assembly.
Claims17
An apparatus comprising a bearing carrier assembly including:
- a circular shield having a top surface and a bottom surface;
- and
- a number of bearing separators integrated with the bottom surface of the shield;
- wherein each pair of bearing separators defines a receptacle for receiving and retaining a bearing therewithin and wherein the shield blocks the received bearings from debris and retains lubricant around the received bearings;
- wherein the bearing carrier assembly comprises a plurality of carrier sections that interconnect to form the bearing carrier assembly;
- and
- wherein at least one of the carrier sections includes a handle for facilitating handling of the carrier section.
A blade root bearing carrier for a rotor assembly, the blade root bearing carrier comprising:
- a plurality of interconnectable carrier sections that when interconnected comprise:
- a circular shield having a top surface and a bottom surface;
- and
- a number of bearing separators integrated with the bottom surface of the shield;
- wherein each pair of bearing separators defines a receptacle for receiving and retaining a bearing therewithin and wherein the shield blocks the received bearings from debris and retains lubricant around the received bearings;
- wherein at least one of the carrier sections includes a handle for facilitating handling of the carrier section.
A method comprising:
- interconnecting a plurality of carrier sections to create a blade root bearing carrier, wherein the blade root bearing carrier comprises a circular shield having a top surface and a bottom surface, a number of bearing separators integrated with the bottom surface of the shield and wherein each pair of adjacent bearing separators defines a receptacle for receiving and retaining a bearing therewith and wherein at least one of the carrier sections includes a handle for facilitating handling of the carrier section;
- and
- inserting a bearing into one of the receptacles defined by pairs of adjacent separators;
- wherein at least one of the carrier sections includes a handle for facilitating handling of the carrier section.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.