Cage for rolling element bearings

Abstract

A cage for a bearing includes an annular body formed of a composite material and having a centerline, the body being sized to be disposed between the inner and outer rings of the bearing and having a first axial end, a second axial end, an inner circumferential surface and an outer circumferential surface. A plurality of pockets are spaced circumferentially about the centerline, disposed between the first and second axial ends and extend radially between the inner and outer circumferential surfaces. Each pocket is sized to receive one of the rolling elements. The composite material includes a mixture of a polymer base, reinforcing fibers and a lubricant. Preferably, the polymer base is ultrahigh weight polyethylene or polyetherimide, the reinforcing fibers are short strand carbon fibers and are between ten and thirty percent by weight, and the lubricant is molybdenum disulfide and is one half percent to ten percent by weight.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.