Inner ring assembly with locking collar retention

An inner ring assembly for a bearing, the bearing rotatably coupling a shaft with an outer member, the shaft being rotatable about a central axis, the inner ring assembly comprising:

• an annular bearing body disposable about the shaft and having a centerline, opposing first and second axial ends, an inner circumferential surface, an outer circumferential surface, an annular groove extending radially inwardly from the outer circumferential surface and providing a bearing inner race, and a plurality of slotted openings extending axially inwardly from the first axial end and spaced circumferentially about the centerline so as to define a plurality of deflectable arcuate mounting tabs, each mounting tab having an inner end integral with a remainder of the bearing body, an opposing, free outer end, and an arcuate projection extending radially outwardly from a remainder of the mounting tab and located adjacent to the outer end, the projection having an outer chamfer surface section extending axially and radially outwardly from the outer end of each mounting tab to an outer surface section of the projection;
• and
• an annular locking collar disposable about the plurality of mounting tabs and configured to clamp the mounting tabs against the outer surface of the shaft so as to retain the inner ring radially and axially with respect to the shaft central axis, the collar having an inner axial end, an outer axial end, and a central bore extending axially between the inner and outer ends and having an inner chamfer surface section extending axially and radially inwardly from the inner axial end of the locking collar, the collar chamfer surface section being engageable with all of the mounting tab chamfer surface sections when the locking collar is pushed onto the first axial end of the bearing body such that displacement of the collar axially toward the second axial end of the bearing body deflects all of the mounting tabs radially inwardly until the inner chamfer surface section of the locking collar disengages from the outer chamfer sections of the projections of the mounting tabs.