Radial roller bearing

The pockets (10) of a cage (5) of a radial rolling bearing comprise retention elements on the inner rolling element holding member or on the outer rolling element holding member which retain the rolling elements (6) in contact with an outer raceway or an inner raceway during the mounting operation. In this way, a sag of the cylinder rollers (6) due to the force of gravity is prevented so that a shaft (4) can be pushed into the bearing without any problem. These retention elements have such a filigree and elastically deformable configuration that they are ineffective during the operation of the bearing after a few rotations so that a normal operational clearance is established between the rolling elements (6) and the cage (5).

FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
The invention concerns a radial rolling bearing, particularly a cylinder 
roller bearing, comprising an outer and/or inner ring with associated 
rolling elements guided in pockets of a cage, and means which retain the 
rolling elements in contact with an outer raceway or an inner raceway. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
Rolling element crown rings, especially those installed in bearings often 
manifest a large rolling element sag, i.e., the rolling elements fall 
downwards within the pocket due to the force of gravity so that a gap 
arises between their rolling contact surface and the outer raceway. This 
sag has the effect that a shaft which has to be introduced into the 
bearing abuts with its end face against the end faces of individual 
cylinder rollers thus causing problems in the introduction of the shaft 
into the bearing. Due to this, an automatic assembly is not possible. 
According to the solution described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,051,534, this sag of 
the rolling elements is prevented by arranging a second ring above or 
below the actual cage, said ring comprising retaining sections which press 
the rolling elements guided in the cage against the inner or the outer 
raceway, as the case may be. 
However, this type of rolling element retention is very complicated and 
thus also expensive because, besides the actual bearing cage, a further 
retaining element has to be manufactured and installed in the bearing. In 
addition, such a solution incorporates the danger that due to the close 
guidance between the rolling elements and the cage, or between the rolling 
elements and the additional ring, the operation of the bearing is 
impaired. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
It is therefore the object of the invention to provide a simple solution 
for the retention of rolling elements in a bearing which, on the one hand 
prevents a sag of the rolling elements during mounting and, on the other 
hand, does not impair the operation of the bearing. 
The invention achieves this object where in by the fact that the means on 
the inner rolling element holding member or on the outer rolling element 
holding member, as the case may be, are arranged in the pockets of the 
cage and have a filigree and elastically deformable configuration so that, 
after a few rotations of the bearing, a normal operational clearance is 
established between the rolling elements and the cage due to the 
elasticity, deformability or wear of said means. 
This means that the initially existing means on the inner or outer rolling 
element holding member ensure that the cage retains the rolling elements 
in bearing relationship to the raceway during the mounting operation so 
that, when a shaft is inserted into the bearing, it does not strike the 
end faces of the cylinder rollers. During operation of the bearing, i.e., 
after a few rotations of the bearing, these means become ineffective due 
to elastic deformation or wear so that, as previously described, a normal 
clearance can be established between the cage and the rolling elements. 
Due to the formation of a structural unit comprised of the cage and the 
means for holding the rolling elements in a defined position, the costs of 
manufacture are also reduced because, in place of two elements, it is now 
only necessary to produce one element, and the assembly of the entire 
bearing is simplified because, again, only one component, i.e. the cage, 
has to be mounted. 
Advantageously, in a further development of the invention, the means 
comprise two retention elements which point in radial direction and are 
arranged on one side of pockets in axially spaced relationship to each 
other, opposite which retention elements in peripheral direction, two 
complementary retention elements are arranged on the other side of the 
pockets. 
During the mounting of the bearing, these four retention elements, which 
can be integrated without any problem into the cage during the 
manufacturing process thereof, assure a reliable support of the rolling 
elements on the inner or the outer ring, as the case may be, depending on 
whether the retention elements are arranged on the outer rolling element 
holding member or on the inner rolling element holding member. These 
point-type retention elements offer less resistance to deformation and 
wear and are therefore particularly suitable. 
A depression is arranged next to the retention elements at least on one 
side, into which depression the retention elements can advantageously 
deflect during rotation of the bearing, so that a normal operational 
clearance is assured. 
Finally, the rolling elements are configured as needles and the rolling 
element crown ring is used for mounting an idler pinion in a transmission. 
This enables a simpler mounting of the transmission.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
The bearing arrangement shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 comprises an outer ring 3 
having two flanges 1 and 2, and a shaft 4, cylindrical rollers 6 being 
guided in a cage 5 between the outer ring 3 and the shaft 4 for rolling 
contact therewith. The cage 5 comprises two side rings 7 and 8 which are 
connected to each other by crossbars 9 so that pockets 10 are formed for 
receiving the rolling elements 6. 
The crossbars 9, each defining a pocket 10, comprise two axially spaced 
retention elements 11 each, so that the cylinder rollers 6 are pressed 
against a raceway, not referenced, of the outer ring 3. In this way, a sag 
of the cylinder rollers 6 due to gravitational force is avoided so that 
the shaft 4 cannot come to abut with its end face against the end faces of 
the cylinder rollers 6 on being pushed into the bearing. During operation 
of the bearing, however, the four point-type retention elements are very 
rapidly ground off by the cylinder rollers 6 so that the required 
clearance between the cage 5 and the rolling elements 6 is established. 
As can further be seen in FIG. 3, a depression 12 is arranged on each side 
of the retention elements 11 on the crossbars 9. In this way, when a 
pressure is exerted by the rolling element 6 during the rotation of the 
bearing, the retention element 11 can deflect into the depression 12. 
In contrast, in the absence of the retention elements 11, gravitational 
force causes the cylinder rollers 6 to sink downwards, i.e., a gap is 
formed between the raceway of the outer ring 3 and the rolling contact 
surface of the cylinder roller 6, and the shaft 4 abuts against the end 
face of the cylinder roller 6 when pushed into the bearing. 
In the illustrated example, the retention elements 11 are arranged on the 
inner rolling element holding member 13 so that the cylinder rollers 6 are 
pressed against the outer raceway of the ring 3. In an inverse 
arrangement, it is, however, also possible to arrange the retention 
elements 11 on the outer rolling element holding member so that the 
cylinder rollers 6 are pressed radially inwards. 
FIG. 4 illustrates a radial bearing of the invention comprising an inner 
ring 15 with associated rolling elements guided in pockets of a cage and 
retaining means for retaining the rolling elements in contact with the 
inner raceway, said retaining means being arranged in the pockets of the 
cage of an outer rolling element holding member 14 and have a filigree and 
a radial rolling bearing comprising an outer ring with associated rolling 
elements guided in pockets of a cage, and retaining means for retaining 
the rolling elements in contact with an outer raceway, wherein said 
retaining means are arranged in the pockets of the cage on an inner 
rolling element holding member and have a filigree and elastically 
deformable configuration so that, after a few rotations of the bearing, a 
normal operational clearance is established between the rolling elements 
of the cage due to elasticity, deformability or wear of said retaining 
means.