Shaft assembly
AssigneeFord Global Technologies, LLC
InventorsXavier Demeulenaere, Mark Michel
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A shaft assembly may include two or more Poka-Yoke bearing caps, each Poka-Yoke bearing cap having a pair of reference bores offset from a central axis of the bearing cap by differing offset distances, and each bearing cap defining a semi-circular recess that is positioned so as to align in use a central axis of the semi-cylindrical recess in the bearing cap with an axis of rotation of a shaft rotatably supported by the bearing cap. The differing offsets of the reference bores prevent the bearing cap from being assembled in a reversed orientation. To ensure that each bearing cap can only be fitted in one position, a centre spacing between the first and second reference bores of each bearing cap is different to the centre spacing used for other bearing caps used to support a single shaft.
Claims15
A shaft assembly comprising a shaft rotatably supported for rotation about an axis of rotation by at least two bearing support assemblies, each bearing support assembly comprising a bearing support structure defining first and second reference bores and a first semi-cylindrical recess having a central axis, each bearing support assembly further comprising a bearing cap having first and second feet joined by a bridge portion that defines a second semi-cylindrical recess for supporting the shaft, the first foot of the bearing cap having a first reference bore formed therein for accommodating in use a first location dowel and the second foot of the bearing cap having a second reference bore formed therein for accommodating in use a second location dowel, the first reference bore of the bearing cap being offset from a central axis of the second semi-cylindrical recess by a first distance and the second reference bore of the bearing cap being offset from the central axis of the second semi-cylindrical recess by a second distance that is different to the first distance, each bearing cap being fastened to the bearing support structure by a pair of bolts and by the first and second location dowels engaged with the first and second reference bores in the bearing support structure and the first and second reference bores in the bearing cap so as to align the two reference bores in the bearing support structure with the two reference bores in the bearing cap so that, in use, the central axes of the first and second semi-cylindrical recesses in the bearing support structure and the attached bearing cap are both coaxially aligned with the axis of rotation of the shaft, wherein each bearing support assembly has a center spacing between the aligned reference bores that is different to the center spacing of any other bearing support assembly used to support the shaft.
An engine, comprising:
- a cylinder block;
- a ladderframe bolted to a lower end of the cylinder block;
- a shaft assembly comprising a shaft rotatably supported for rotation about an axis of rotation by at least two bearing support assemblies, each bearing support assembly comprising a bearing support structure defined by the ladderframe, each bearing support structure defining first and second reference bores and a first semi-cylindrical recess having a central axis, each bearing support assembly further comprising a bearing cap having first and second feet joined by a bridge portion that defines a second semi-cylindrical recess for supporting the shaft, the first foot of the bearing cap having a first reference bore formed therein for accommodating in use a first location dowel and the second foot of the bearing cap having a second reference bore formed therein for accommodating in use a second location dowel, the first reference bore of the bearing cap being offset from a central axis of the second semi-cylindrical recess by a first distance and the second reference bore of the bearing cap being offset from the central axis of the second semi-cylindrical recess by a second distance that is different to the first distance, each bearing cap being fastened to the bearing support structure by a pair of bolts and by the first and second location dowels engaged with the reference bores in the bearing support structure and the bearing cap so as to align the first and second reference bores in the bearing support structure with the first and second reference bores in the bearing cap so that, in use, the central axes of the first and second semi-cylindrical recesses in the bearing support structure and the attached bearing cap are both coaxially aligned with the axis of rotation of the shaft, wherein each bearing support assembly has a center spacing between the aligned reference bores that is different to the center spacing of any other bearing support assembly used to support the shaft.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.