Ball bearing retention construction
AssigneeIndustrial Tectonics, Inc.
InventorGrant M. Loberg
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Construction for a ball bearing retainer. There is provided a ball bearing retainer comprising an annulus having a plurality of circumferentially spaced ball receiving openings and one or more ball retaining fins extending radially from said retainer, arranged circumferentially therearound and positioned either tangent to, or for minor intersection with, the ball receiving openings. With balls in place in said openings, the outer ends of said fins are then displaced axially of said annulus toward said balls for retaining them in place. Such displacing of said fins may be accomplished by a single circumferentially applied rolling operation or a single press operation. By appropriate modification of the design, one, two, three or four such fins in varying sizes and arrangements may be used.
Claims16
A retainer for ball bearings, comprising:
- an annulus having radially inner and outer faces;
- means defining a plurality of circumferentially spaced openings in said annulus, said openings extending substantially radially through said inner and outer faces;
- at least one bearing retaining fin or one of said faces, said fin being directed radially and away from said one face of said annulus, said fin extending circumferentially of said annulus in one of tangential and intercepted relation with said openings, one radially extending surface of said fin being flush with and continuing from the perpheral wall of said opening, said fin being bendable axially inward of said annulus to a radial-axial angled position in which its said one surface overlaps part of said opening for retaining of a ball therein.
A retainer for ball bearings, comprising:
- an annulus having radially inner and outer faces;
- means defining a plurality of circumferentially spaced openings in said annulus, said openings extending substantially radially through said inner and outer faces;
- at least one bearing retaining fin on one of said faces and extending circumferentially around said annulus at a common tangent of said openings, said fin being tilted in a direction axially of said annulus from a radially extending position and extending at an angle to both the axis of said annulus and to a radial plane of said annulus opening to at least assist in holding a ball in said opening, said tilted fin having axially inner and outer sides, the axially inner said side being located tangentially of a ball centered in said opening.
A retainer for ball bearings, comprising:
- an annulus having radially inner and outer faces;
- means defining a plurality of circumferentially spaced openings in said annulus;
- at least one bearing retaining fin on one of said faces extending circumferentially around said annulus between the common circumferential tangents of said openings and circumferentially interrupted by said openings to form a circumferential series of fin segments, said fin lying close inboard of one of said common tangents and being offset remotely outboard of the common centerline of said openings, the ends of said fin segments being a flush continuation of the wall of the intervening said openings, adjacent fin segments being separated by and having their length direction substantially aligned with a chord of said intervening opening, adjacent segments of said fin in their initial position being radially directed with their circumferentially opposed ends spaced circumferentially by substantially less than the diameter of said intervening opening, said fin segments having a ball retaining position axially inwardly tilted from said initial position, the free end of said fin segment thus overlapping a part of the adjacent opening axially inboard from said chord, by reason of said axially inward tilted condition of said fin segment, so as to at least partly block removal of a bearing ball from said opening.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.