Method of making a one-piece ball bearing retainer

A method of producing a ball bearing assembly, the method comprising the steps of:

• forming material into a ring;
• pressing the ring, thereby forming ball receiving pockets in the ring and leaving bridge material between adjacent pockets, the resulting structure being a partially formed bearing retainer;
• positioning a plurality of bearing balls within an annular space between an outer bearing race and an inner bearing race;
• inserting the partially formed bearing retainer within the annular space between the outer bearing race and the inner bearing race such that a bearing ball is received in each ball receiving pocket;
• flattening the bridge material between adjacent ball receiving pockets such that the bridge material spreads to meet the adjacent bearing balls, thereby locking the partially formed bearing retainer to the bearing balls, the bearing balls being retained within reconfigured ball pockets, the reconfigured ball pockets having a depth greater than one-half the diameter of the bearing balls, the bridge material forming a substantially flat bridge between adjacent reconfigured ball pockets;
• and
• crimping the substantially flat bridge between adjacent reconfigured ball pockets such that ends of said bridge are moved slightly toward each other and pressure of the reconfigured ball pockets against the bearing balls is reduced.