Thrust bearing and method of fabricating a thrust bearing
AssigneeSenju Metal Industry Co., Ltd.
InventorsHisatosi Tabuti, Akio Hinata, Yutaka Miyata
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Abstract
An annular thrust bearing is composed of an annular backing plate made of steel and an annular bearing layer joined to one side of the backing plate during a sintering operation. The bearing layer is made of an alloy composed of copper, tin and silver. The bearing layer is roll-formed in a spiral fashion after the sintering operation.
Claims4
A thrust bearing comprising a backing plate made of metal and a bearing layer made of metal alloy and joined to a side of the backing plate by a sintering process, said bearing layer being roll-formed in a spiral fashion.
A method of fabricating a thrust bearing, comprising the steps of:
- preparing an elongated metal plate;
- cutting the metal plate into a predetermined shape so as to provide a backing plate;
- evenly distributing alloy powder on one side of the backing plate;
- heating the backing plate and the alloy powder to a temperature below a melting point of the alloy powder in a reducing atmosphere whereby the alloy powder is bonded to form a bearing layer, said bearing layer being joined to the backing plate to provide a sintered article;
- rotating the sintered article about its central axis;
- roll-forming the sintered article in a spiral fashion by pressing the bearing layer against the backing plate;
- and
- heating the roll-formed article to a temperature below the melting point of the alloy powder in a reducing atmosphere.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.