# US 10,871,189 B2 · Plain bearing composite material having a metallic support layer and a metallic bearing metal layer > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 10,871,189 B2 - Document ID: US10871189B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 16/491,072 - Filed: 2018-01-24 - Published: 2020-01-09 - Granted: 2020-12-22 - Earliest claimed: 2017-03-16 - Assignees: KS Gleitlager GmbH - Applicants: Ks Gleitlager GmbH - Inventors: Werner Schubert - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10871189B2 ## CPC - F16C 33/128: {Porous bearings, e.g. bushes of sintered alloy} - F16C 33/145: {of sintered porous bearings} - F16C 33/24: with different areas of the sliding surface consisting of different materials - F16C 2240/48: Particle sizes - F16C: SHAFTS; FLEXIBLE SHAFTS; ELEMENTS OR CRANKSHAFT MECHANISMS; ROTARY BODIES OTHER THAN GEARING ELEMENTS; BEARINGS ## Abstract The invention relates to a plain bearing composite material (2) having a metallic support layer (4) and a metallic bearing metal layer (6), wherein the bearing metal layer (6) is a sinter layer (10) made of a copper/tin-based bronze powder (8), wherein the bronze powder (8) comprises a metallic solid lubricant (12) which is not soluble or barely soluble in copper, such as bismuth in particular, and is applied to the support layer (4) in a pulverulent state and then sintered onto the support layer (4); according to the invention, it is proposed that the bronze powder (8) is formed from powder fractions having different proportions of this solid lubricant (12), wherein the solid lubricant proportion of a first powder fraction is greater than the solid lubricant proportion of a second powder fraction at least by a factor of 2. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A plain bearing composite material (2) having a metallic support layer (4) and a metallic bearing metal layer (6), wherein the metallic bearing metal layer (6) is a sinter layer (10) made of a copper/tin-based bronze powder composition (8), wherein the copper/tin-based bronze powder composition (8) comprises a metallic solid lubricant, which metallic solid lubricant is not soluble in copper, and wherein the copper/tin-based bronze powder composition (8) has been applied to the support layer (4) in a pulverulent state and then sintered onto the support layer (4), and, wherein the copper/tin-based bronze powder composition (8) comprises a first copper/tin-based bronze powder and a second copper/tin-based bronze powder, and wherein a proportion of metallic solid lubricant in the first powder is greater than a proportion of metallic solid lubricant in the second powder by a factor of at least 2. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The plain bearing composite material of claim 1, wherein the second powder is free of lubricant. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The plain bearing composite material of claim 1 wherein the proportion of solid lubricant in the first powder is greater than the proportion of solid lubricant in the second powder by a factor of at least 4. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The plain bearing composite material of claim 1, wherein the metallic solid lubricant is bismuth. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The plain bearing composite material of claim 1, wherein the first and second powders each have a different tin content. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The plain bearing composite material of claim 5, wherein the first powder has a greater tin content than the second powder. ### Claim 7 (depends on 5) The plain bearing composite material of claim 5 wherein the first powder has a tin content of 8 to 11 wt %, and the second powder has a tin content of 3 to 8 wt %. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The plain bearing composite material of claim 1, wherein the metallic solid lubricant is bismuth and the first powder has a bismuth content of 4 to 20 wt %, and the second powder has a bismuth content of up to 2 wt %. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The plain bearing composite material of claim 1, wherein the first powder is made of a CuSn(8-12)Bi(6-10) alloy, and the second powder is made of a CuSn(4-6) alloy. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) A method for producing the plain bearing composite material (2) of claim 1, comprising: mixing the first and second powders to provide the copper/tin-based bronze powder composition (8) scattering the copper/tin-based bronze powder composition (8) onto a support strip which forms the metallic support layer (4), and sintering the copper/tin-based bronze powder composition (8) onto the metallic support layer (4). ### Claim 11 (depends on 10) The method according to claim 10, wherein the sintering comprises a pre-sintering process followed by a densification process and then a post-sintering process followed by a rolling process. ### Claim 12 (depends on 10) The method according to claim 10 wherein the sintering step produces the metallic bearing metal layer densified in a way such that essentially no open pores remain between the particles of the bronze powder that have been sintered together. ### Claim 13 (depends on 10) The method of claim 10 wherein after the sintering process, a heat treatment process is performed. ### Claim 14 (depends on 10) The method according to claim 10 wherein blank sections are separated from the support strip transversely to the longitudinal direction thereof before said blank sections are formed in a bending/rolling process. ### Claim 15 (depends on 10) The method according to claim 10 wherein the second powder is free of lubricant. ### Claim 16 (depends on 10) The method of claim 10 wherein the first powder has a greater tin content than the second powder. ### Claim 17 (depends on 10) The method according to claim 10 wherein the first powder has a tin content of 8 to 11 wt %, and the second powder has a tin content of 3 to 8 wt %. ### Claim 18 (depends on 10) The method according to claim 10, wherein the metallic solid lubricant is bismuth and the first powder has a bismuth content of 4 to 20 wt %, and the second powder has a bismuth content of up to 2 wt %. ### Claim 19 (depends on 10) The method according to claim 10, wherein the first powder is made of a CuSn(8-12)Bi(6-10) alloy, and the second powder is made of a CuSn(4-6) alloy. ### Claim 20 (depends on 1) A plain bearing element (20), for supporting crankshafts in internal combustion engines, produced from the plain bearing composite material of claim 1.