Roller bearing cage retention apparatus
AssigneeUnited Technologies Corporation
InventorsAlexander Nelson, Kevin Duffy
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A bearing assembly includes a bearing cage and a supplementary ring. The bearing cage includes an annular body and a plurality of bearing elements disposed about the annular body. The supplementary ring includes an annular collar and a plurality of retention elements. The annular collar is disposed concentrically about the bearing cage. The plurality of retention elements is connected to and extends axially from the first annular collar. Each retention element is aligned between adjacent bearing elements. The plurality of retention elements is disposed to retain the plurality of bearing elements in the annular body of the bearing cage.
Claims16
A bearing assembly comprising:
- a bearing cage comprising:
- an annular body;
- and
- a plurality of bearing elements disposed about the annular body;
- and
- a first supplementary ring comprising:
- a first annular collar disposed concentrically about the bearing cage;
- and
- a first plurality of retention elements connected to and extending axially from the first annular collar, wherein each retention element of the first plurality of retention elements is aligned between adjacent bearing elements of the plurality of bearing elements, wherein the first plurality of retention elements is disposed to retain the plurality of bearing elements in the annular body of the bearing cage.
A method of assembling a bearing assembly, the method comprising:
- positioning a bearing cage to receive a plurality of bearing elements, wherein the bearing cage comprises:
- an annular body with a plurality of slots formed therein;
- and
- a plurality of bearing elements disposed about the annular body and in the plurality of slots;
- inserting the plurality of bearing elements into slots of the bearing cage;
- sliding a first supplementary ring onto the bearing cage, wherein the first supplementary ring comprises:
- a first annular collar disposed concentrically about the bearing cage;
- and
- a first plurality of retention elements connected to and extending axially from the first annular collar;
- and
- retaining, with the first plurality of retention elements, the plurality of bearing elements in the slots of the bearing cage.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.