Reduced friction conductive assembly for bearings

A method of forming a conductive assembly for a bearing disposed about a shaft and disposed within a housing, the method comprising the steps of:

• providing a plurality of conductive fibers each having opposing ends and a first length between the ends, a length of metal wire, and an elongated rectangular strip of metallic material having a length, an upper surface and two longitudinal edges;
• positioning the plurality of conductive fibers upon the upper surface of the strip such that the ends of each fiber extend outwardly of the edges of the strip and the plurality of fibers is distributed along the length of the strip;
• placing the wire upon the distributed plurality of conductive fibers such that wire extends centrally along the length of the strip;
• bending each one of the two longitudinal edges of the metal strip toward the other longitudinal edge so as to form two spaced apart legs, the two legs defining a groove and retaining the wire and plurality of fibers within the groove, and to cause each one of the conductive fibers to bend about the wire such that the two ends of each fiber are adjacent to each other;
• forming the strip and the wire into an annular body with a centerline such the plurality of fibers extend radially toward a centerline;
• and
• cutting all of the fibers within each one of a plurality of separate portions of the fibers IQ as to provide a plurality of cut portions of the fibers, the fibers of each cut portion having a second length lesser than the first length, each cut portion of the fibers defining a separate axial passage when the annular body is disposed about a shaft.

An electrically conductive assembly for a bearing disposed about a shaft and disposed within a housing, the bearing including inner and outer rings and plurality of rolling elements disposed between the rings, the conductive assembly comprising:

• an annular retainer coupleable with the bearing outer ring or with the bearing housing and having a centerline and an open inner end defining an annular groove;
• at least two conductors each having a radially outer end disposed within the retainer groove and a radially inner end contactable with the shaft, each conductor being formed of a plurality of conductive fibers arranged to extend radially inwardly from the retainer inner end, the at least two conductors being spaced apart circumferentially about the centerline so as to define at least two axial passages between the retainer and the shaft;
• and
• a circular hoop disposed within the retainer and wherein each conductive fiber of each conductor has two opposing ends and is bent about the hoop such that the two ends of each fiber are disposed at the conductor inner radial end.