Manufacturing method for rolling bearing units for wheel support

A method of manufacturing a rolling bearing unit for supporting a wheel,

• the rolling bearing unit comprising:
• a hub main body having an outer-side inner ring track that is formed on an outer circumferential surface of an intermediate section of the hub main body in an axial direction;
• and
• an inner ring that has an inner-side inner ring track formed on an outer circumferential surface of the inner ring and that is fitted onto a portion of the hub main body close to an inner end of the hub main body in the axial direction,
• wherein the inner ring is fixed to the hub main body by pressing an inner end surface of the inner ring in the axial direction with a caulking section, the caulking section being formed by plastically deforming a cylindrical section, installed on an inner end portion of the hub main body in the axial direction, outward in a radial direction, and
• the caulking section is formed by pressing a roll against the cylindrical section while the roll is rotated about a central axis of the hub main body by an electric motor, the roll being supported in a rotatable state about a central axis of the roll which is inclined with respect to a central axis of the hub main body,
• the method of manufacturing a rolling bearing unit for supporting a wheel comprising:
• detecting a rotational torque generated by the electric motor or a physical amount having a correlation with the rotational torque during a caulking process for forming the caulking section, and
• determining a condition for terminating the caulking process on the basis of the detection result.