US 7,547,077 B2Granted

Wheel and other bearing hubs safety restraint devices, locks and visual warning indicators

OwnerNels Melberg, John M. Ekmaninventors

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Abstract

Wheel and other bearing restraint jam nuts and early warning visual warning indicators for use with bearing hubs including driven and non-driven wheel bearing hubs wherein each jam nut is adapted to be received on either a threaded drive axle tube spindle or an axle spindle by use of a convention tool and such that the jam nut is of a size to obstruct wheel bearing hub separation in the event of a bearing failure and wherein a portion of the jam nut is engageable to force an indicator outwardly of the wheel bearing hub whenever the wheel bearing hub is not properly rotating about it's axis of rotation to thereby provide a visual indication of a potential problem with the bearings or other components within the wheel or other bearing hub.

Claims23

Dependent claims

An early warning system for providing an indication of possible problems within a bearing hub assembly including a bearing hub defining a bearing cavity that is closed by a bearing hub cover and in which bearing cavity bearings are retained to permit rotation of the bearing hub relative to one of a support or driven member and wherein the bearings are retained in place by a nut and lock washer mounted to either the support or driven member, the early warning system including:

a warning device adapted to be mounted through the bearing hub cover and including an indication means having an inner end adapted to extend within the bearing hub and an outer end that is movable outwardly with respect to the bearing hub cover so as to be visually observable, an early warning jam nut adapted to be threaded to either the support or driven member so as to abut the lock washer, and said early warning jam nut having an outer peripheral surface adapted to engage said inner end of said indication means should the bearing hub not rotate properly about a rotational axis defined by the support or driven member to thereby force said outer end of said indication means to extend outwardly from the bearing hub to thereby provide a warning of potential problems within the bearing hub.

An early warning system for providing an indication of possible problems within a wheel bearing hub assembly including a wheel bearing hub defining a wheel bearing cavity that is closed by a wheel bearing hub cover or axle cap and in which bearing cavity bearings are retained to permit rotation of the wheel bearing hub relative to one of a non driven axle spindle and a drive tube spindle of a driven axle and wherein the bearings are retained in place by a nut and lock washer mounted to either the axle spindle or drive tube spindle, the early warning system including:

a warning device adapted to be mounted through the wheel bearing hub cover and including an indication means having an inner end adapted to extend within the wheel bearing hub and an outer end that is movable outwardly with respect to the wheel bearing hub cover so as to be visually observable, an early warning jam nut adapted to be threaded to either the axle spindle or drive tube spindle so as to abut the lock washer, and said early warning jam nut having an outer peripheral surface adapted to engage said inner end of said indication means should the wheel bearing hub not rotate properly about a rotational axis defined by the axle spindle or drive tube spindle and thereby force said outer end of said indication means to extend outwardly from the wheel bearing hub to thereby provide a warning of potential problems within the wheel bearing hub.

In a wheel bearing hub assembly including a wheel bearing hub defining a wheel bearing cavity that is closed by a wheel bearing hub cover or axle cap and in which bearing cavity bearings are retained to permit rotation of the wheel bearing hub relative to one of a non driven axle spindle and a drive tube spindle of a driven axle and wherein the bearings are retained in place by a nut and lock washer mounted to either the axle spindle or drive tube spindle, an improvement including an early warning jam nut adapted to be threaded to either the axle spindle or drive tube spindle so as to abut the lock washer, said early warning jam nut having a least one tool receiving socket associated therewith, and a diameter of said early warning jam nut is at least substantially equal to or greater than a diameter of a bore within the bearing cavity in which the bearings are seated.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 11/687,486Filed 16 Mar 2007 · us provisional application
Priority: 20 Mar 2006
Published: US 2007/0215032 A120 Sep 2007
Granted: 16 Jun 2009
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification8 codes

G01K 13/08
For measuring temperature of moving solid bodies: in rotary movement
F16C 19/525
With devices affected by abnormal or undesired conditions: related to temperature and heat, e.g. insulation
G01K 5/62
Constrained so that expansion or contraction causes a deformation of the solid: the solid body being formed of compounded strips or plates, e.g.…
F16C 19/364
With a single row of rollers: with tapered rollers, i.e. rollers having essentially the shape of a truncated cone