Bevel gear and pinion drive with biased thrust bearing
AssigneeDeere & Company
InventorRoger L. Jacklin
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A spiral bevel pinion and its meshing bevel gear are carried in a typical housing. The problem solved is accommodation of the axial thrust imparted to the pinion shaft during functioning of the drive train, the solution being in the form of biasing means backing up the thrust bearing ahead of the pinion and enabling the use of lighter-weight, less expensive bearings. A further feature is the use of a further bearing in the form of a needle bearing having radial needles between the inner race ring of the main thrust bearing and the biasing means.
Claims3
Drive mechanism including a fore-and-aft shaft having a spiral bevel pinion fixed at its rear end, a spiral bevel gear meshing with the pinion, a combination radial-thrust bearing including an inner race ring fitting the shaft so as to receive forward thrust forces imparted thereto by the meshing pinion and gear, an outer race ring and rolling elements between the rings, and fixed support structure carrying the bearing, characterized in that the support structure has a stepped annular groove therein concentrically surrounding the shaft ahead of the bearing and including a first radial shoulder facing toward and axially abutting the outer race ring and a second radical shoulder of lesser diameter than the first shoulder and spaced ahead of and facing the inner race ring and biasing means is disposed in the groove and is interposed between the second shoulder and the inner race ring in opposition to the aforesaid thrust forces.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.