Retractable antifriction bearings device for a loading bed and loading bed equipped with such a device
AssigneeRotobloc Psp (Sarl)
InventorPierre Marcelli
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A retractable antifriction bearing device (10a) that can be housed in a standardized groove of a loading bed. Each ball (30) is mounted directly in a housing (21a) of the profile (20a) by a guide and sealing ring (50) provided with a spherical cavity (53) that complements the ball (30) to hold the ball in position with respect to the housing (21a). A bearing guide (60a) is also mounted directly in the housing (21a) and is provided with a cup (61) guiding the ball (30) in rotation via a bed of small balls (62). This bearing guide (60a) is spring-loaded by spring elements (40a) so as to urge the ball (30) into the working position in which the ball bears the load (2).
Claims19
A retractable bearing device (10a-c) for a loading bed (1) to facilitate at least one of displacement and positioning of heavy loads (2) in a transfer plane (T), extending parallel to the loading bed (1), the bearing device comprising:
- a profile (20a-c) equipped with balls (30) and displacement means (40a-c) for displacing the balls (30) between a working position, in which the balls (30) project from the profile to support the load (2), and a resting position, in which the balls (30) are retracted within the profile and do not support the load (2),
- each ball (30) being attached to a housing (21a-c) in the profile (20a-c) by a guide and sealing ring (50) having a spherical cavity (53) that captively mates with an exterior surface of the ball (30) and covering an area that extends from either side of a median transverse plane of the ball (30) to captively retain and maintain the respective ball (30) in position relative to the housing (21a-c), and
- the guide and sealing ring (50) comprises a means for forming a seal between both the ball (30) and the housing (21a-c) and moving along with the ball (30) when the ball (30) moves to and fro between the working position and the resting position.
A loading bed (1) in which retractable bearing devices (10a-b) are mounted in grooves (3) to facilitate at least one of displacement and positioning of heavy loads (2) in a transfer plane (T), which is parallel to the loading bed (1), the bearing devices comprising:
- profiles (20a-b) equipped with balls (30) and displacement means (40a-b) for displacing the balls (30) between a working position, in which the balls (30) project from the profile to support the load (2), and a resting position, in which the balls (30) are retracted within the profile and do not support the load (2),
- each ball (30) being retained within a housing (21a-b) in the profile (20a-b) by a guide and sealing ring (50) having a spherical cavity (53) that captively mates with an exterior surface of the ball (30) and covering an area that extends from either side of a median transverse plane of the ball (30) to captively retain and maintain the respective ball (30) in position relative to the housing (21a-b), and
- the guide and sealing ring (50) forming a first seal, between the ball (30) and the guide and sealing ring (50), and a second seal, between the guide and sealing ring (50) and the housing (21a-b), so that when the ball (30) moves to and fro between the working position and the resting position, the guide and sealing ring (50) move in unison with the ball (30), and
- the profiles (20a-b) of the retractable bearing devices (10a-b) being fixed relative to the loading bed (1).
A loading bed (1) in combination with retractable bearing devices (10c) to facilitate at least one of displacement and positioning of heavy loads (2) in a transfer plane (T), which is parallel to the loading bed (1), the bearing devices comprising:
- profiles (20c) equipped with balls (30) and displacement means (40c) for displacing the balls (30) between a working position, in which the balls (30) project from the profile to support the load (2), and a resting position, in which the balls (30) are retracted within the profile and do not support the load (2),
- each ball (30) being retained within a housing (21c) in the profile (20c) by a guide and sealing ring (50) having a spherical cavity (53) that captive mates with an exterior surface of the ball (30) and covering an area that extends from either side of a median transverse plane of the ball (30) to captively retain and maintain the ball (30) in position relative to the housing (21c), and
- the guide and sealing ring (50) forming a first seal, between the ball (30) and the guide and sealing ring (50), and a second seal, between the guide and sealing ring (50) and the housing (21a-b), so that when the ball (30) moves to and fro between the working position and the resting position, the guide and sealing ring (50) move in unison with the ball (30), the profiles (20c) of the retractable bearing devices (10c) being fixed relative to the loading bed (1), the profiles (20c) of the retractable bearing devices (10c) being movable relative to the loading bed (1) in a perpendicular direction to a surface (S) of the bed.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.