Method and apparatus for manufacturing rolling-element bearing

A method for manufacturing a rolling-element bearing, wherein a cylindrical rolling element is accommodated in each of a plurality of retaining openings formed in a circumferential wall of a cylindrical retainer, and each of the retaining openings is defined by a pair of inner side faces, extending along the axis of the cylindrical retainer and which face each other, and a pair of perpendicular inner end faces, extending in a direction perpendicular to the axis of the cylindrical retainer and which face each other, the method comprising:

• bringing a support die into contact with one of the inner side faces of one of the retaining openings;
• with the support die in contact, pressing an outer circumferential surface and an inner circumferential surface of the retainer, thereby forming at least one first retaining piece on the outer circumferential surface and at least one second retaining piece on the inner circumferential surface of the retainer;
• accommodating the roiling element in the retaining opening;
• and
• after accommodating the rolling element, bending the at least one first retaining piece and the at least one second retaining piece such that the first retaining piece and the second retaining piece retain the rolling element in the retaining opening.