Bearing cage assembly with one-piece annular retainer

A cage assembly for rolling elements of a bearing, the bearing having an outer ring, the cage assembly comprising:

• an annular cage disposable within the bearing outer ring and having a centerline, an inner radial end defining a bore, an outer radial end and a plurality of pockets extending between the inner and outer radial ends and spaced circumferentially about the centerline, each pocket being configured to contain a separate one of the rolling elements;
• and
• a flexible annular retainer disposed against the inner radial end of the cage and having a plurality of retainer holes, each one of the plurality of retainer holes being radially aligned with a separate one of the plurality of cage pockets and having a dimension with a value less than a diameter of each rolling element such that a radially inner portion of the rolling element contained within the aligned cage pocket extends through the retainer hole while a remainder of the rolling element is retained within the cage pocket;
• wherein the cage includes a first annular side portion, a second annular side portion, a plurality of transverse portions extending axially between the first and second side portions and spaced circumferentially about the centerline, each one of the plurality of pockets being defined between two adjacent transverse portions and each cage transverse portion has a first axial end connected with the cage first side portion and a second axial end connected with the cage second side portion, and a plurality of projections extending radially inwardly from each one of the first and second side portions, the projections being spaced circumferentially about the centerline such that each projection of the first side portion extends radially inwardly from the first axial end of a separate one of the transverse portions and each projection of the second side portion extends radially inwardly from the second axial end of a separate one of the transverse portions, each projection having a free inner end and the inner ends of the plurality of projections collectively provide the inner radial end of the annular cage, the annular retainer being disposed against each one of the plurality of projection inner ends.