Vehicle-use bearing apparatus

A method of optimizing angular orientation of rolling contact surfaces in a bearing having an inner ring and an outer ring on which the rolling contact surfaces are respectively provided and tapered rollers received therebetween, the bearing being received to a shaft and held thereto by carrying out of a caulking operation in which an end of the shaft is deformed outwardly so as to be caulked to an outer end surface of the inner ring, the method comprising:

• obtaining a fluctuation angle of the rolling contact surface of said inner ring as a difference between an angle of the rolling contact surface of the inner ring prior to the caulking and a modified angle of the rolling contact surface of the inner ring due to the caulking operation to the angle of the rolling contact surface of the outer ring;
• determining a preliminary angle of the rolling contact surface of the outer ring at which respective extended lines of the rolling contact surfaces of the inner and outer rings prior to the caulking operation intersect at a common axial position along a rotational axis of the shaft, said respective extended lines having an included angle therebetween for appropriately accommodating the tapered rollers;
• adding a fluctuation angle of the rolling contact surface of said inner ring due to the caulking operation to the preliminary angle of the rolling contact surface of the outer ring to obtain an adjusted angle;
• and
• orienting the rolling contact surface of the outer ring at the adjusted angle relative to the rotational axis prior to performing the caulking operation whereby, when the angle of the rolling contact surface of the inner ring prior to the caulking is changed to the modified angle due to the caulking operation, the fluctuation angle is compensated for in the adjusted angle of the contact surface of said outer ring by being set prior to the caulking operation.