Oil film bearing
OwnerJochen Cortsinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An oil film bearing for supporting a roll neck in a rolling mill, suitable in particular for transmitting high bearing forces when the bearing partners are slightly and slowly moved with respect to each other, has a bearing surface into which are incorporated rods made of a friction-reducing material (e.g., low friction compounds), which extend in a substantially perpendicular direction to the bearing surface. The rods are deformed during heat processing to define a bearing surface. The bearing partner, such as a roll sleeve, rests on the free face of the deformed rods.
Claims15
An oil film bearing for rotatably supporting a roll neck in a rolling mill, said oil film bearing comprising:
- a rotating sleeve section having a generally cylindrical outer surface;
- a generally cylindrical, fiber-reinforced polymer bushing comprising polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) or ultra high molecular weight polymer (UHMW) and providing a generally cylindrical bearing surface, wherein the outer surface of the rotating sleeve section is rotatably supported on a film of oil on the bearing surface;
- and
- a plurality of oil conduits extending through the polymer bushing for supplying pressurized oil between the outer surface of the rotating sleeve section and the polymer bushing to establish the oil film,
- wherein the bearing surface is defined by a plurality of deformed rods, wherein each of the plurality of rods is received within an opening in a bearing block, wherein the rods are then heat-deformed in a manufacturing process to define the generally cylindrical bearing surface, with said manufacturing process including:
- inserting polymer rods into boreholes of the bearing block,
- heating the polymer rods to a temperature resulting in a degree of plasticity,
- inserting a pair of generally semi-cylindrical die segments into the bushing, and
- outwardly forcing, with an externally powered hydraulic cylinder, the die segments toward the bearing block to deform the heated polymer rods into the generally cylindrical bearing surface.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.