Rotatable member and method for manufacturing the same
AssigneeFoxconn Technology Co., Ltd.
InventorCHUEN-SHU HOU
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A bearing (100) has a contact surface (110) for mating with a rotatable member. The contact surface has a plurality of crystalline grains (120) distributed at random; a plurality of micro-grooves (130) are formed among the crystalline grains; the micro-grooves communicate with each other thereby forming a net. The micro-grooves accommodate lubricant therein so that when the rotatable member rotates, a sufficient lubrication can be obtained between the bearing and the rotatable member. The bearing is formed by machining and then thermally etching a preform which is formed by powder metallurgy.
Claims20
A rotatable member having a rotatable contact surface mating with a stable member, the contact surface having a plurality of crystalline grains distributed at random, a plurality of micro-grooves forming among the crystalline grains, the micro-grooves communicating with each other thereby forming a net, the micro-grooves accommodating lubricant therein and each of the micro-grooves having a width similar to a width of a grain boundary between two neighboring ones of the crystalline grains for forming the each of the micro-grooves.
A method for manufacturing a rotatable member having a rotable contact surface for mating with a stable member comprising:
- providing a rotatable member preform, the contact surface of the rotatable member preform having a plurality of crystalline grains distributed at random, a plurality of grain boundaries forming among the crystalline grains;
- performing a machining to the rotatable member preform;
- and
- performing a thermal etching to the rotatable member preform, substance in the grain boundaries being activated by energy of thermal etching to break away from the contact surface of the rotatable member preform so that a plurality of micro-grooves forming among the crystalline grains, thereby forming the rotatable member, the micro-grooves being adapted for accommodating lubricant therein.
A method for forming a bearing comprising:
- forming a bearing preform by powder metallurgy;
- machining a bearing surface of the bearing preform so that the bearing surface has a precise dimension for mating with a complementary member;
- and
- etching the bearing surface so that boundaries between crystalline grains of the bearing preform on the bearing surface are excavated to form micro-grooves for receiving lubricant therein.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.