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US 11,209,048 B1Granted
Light weight, high frequency welded, 2-piece ball bearing cage assembly
AssigneeSchaeffler Technologies AG & Co. KG
InventorsDennis Roffe, Michael Heaton, Guihui Zhong
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A two-piece plastic ball bearing cage is designed to handle high-speed applications. Posts on one bearing half fit into holes in the other bearing half After the two halves are brought together, ultrasonic vibration is applied to the ends of the posts. The ultrasonic vibration deforms the post end to fit into a widened portion of the holes and welds material, thereby firmly securing the two cage halves to one another.
Claims12
A bearing comprising:
- a first cage half having a plurality of posts;
- a second cage half defining a plurality of holes, wherein the posts extend through the holes and ends of the posts are ultrasonically welded to the second cage half;
- and
- a plurality of balls retained between the first and second cage halves, wherein a center of each ball is a first distance from a central axis
- wherein the posts are arranged in an inner row and an outer row, posts of the outer row being farther than the first distance from the central axis and posts of the inner row being closer than the first distance to the central axis.
2 more elements
A method of assembling a bearing comprising:
- providing a first cage half having a plurality of posts;
- providing a second cage half defining a plurality of holes extending from a first surface to a second surface;
- bringing the first cage half and the second cage half together such that first surface is in contact with the first cage half and the posts extend through the holes beyond the second surface;
- and
- subjecting ends of the posts to ultrasonic vibration.
2 more elements
A bearing comprising:
- a first cage half having a plurality of posts;
- and
- a second cage half defining a plurality of holes;
- wherein
- each of the holes has a narrow portion adjacent to the first cage half and a wider portion adjacent to a surface opposite the first cage half;
- and
- the posts extend through the holes and ends of the posts are ultrasonically welded to the second cage half and have been plastically deformed to fill the wider portion.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.