Abstract:
A method for assembling a taper roller bearing, wherein a radially expandable and retractable clamping tool acts to retain the rollers of the roller bearing, a final assembly is formed by putting the inner and outer rings of the roller bearing together, and the clamping tool is subsequently withdrawn.

Description:
This application is a division of co-pending application Ser. No. 10/471,237, filed on Mar. 5, 2004, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,210,852, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to a complete or full complement taper roller bearing by which is meant a taper roller bearing without a bearing cage and having a full complement of rollers. 
     DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART 
     Taper roller bearings are well known as a roller bearing element. The normal design shown in  FIGS. 1 ,  2  and  5  consists of an inner ring or cone, an outer ring or cup, rollers and a cage. The purpose of the cage is to guide the rollers and retain them in place in the absence of the cup, for example during assembly of the bearing. In an assembled arrangement the inner ring or cone, rollers and the cage form one unit whilst the outer ring is the other component by which the bearing can be mounted to shafts or into housings. 
     In the common design of taper roller bearings the axial guidance of the rollers is achieved by means of a recess on the inner ring or cone which in combination with the cage keeps the rollers in position and guides them to the center of the cone. 
     However this common design of taper roller bearing is prone to failure due to deformation of the cage, cage ring compression or cage pocket wear, examples of which are illustrated in  FIGS. 2   a ,  2   b  and  2   c  respectively. 
     A full complement taper roller bearing in a well known O arrangement for shafts is known from U.S. Pat. No. 606,635. However, in this known configuration axial location and guidance of the rollers is by means of two axially spaced apart recesses provided on each of the taper roller bearing surfaces which engage with complimentary spaced apart ribs which project radially outwardly of the bearing surface or track of the radially inner ring or cone. The configuration of ribs and recesses on the bearing surfaces disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 606,635 both reduces the load carrying capacity of the bearing by reducing the available roller surface and increases the risk of premature failure by wear and breakage of the ribs. 
     Accordingly it is an object of the present invention to provide a full complement taper roller bearing which overcomes or at least mitigates the above mentioned problems. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     According to a first aspect the present invention provides a taper roller bearing of the full complement type consisting of an inner ring or cone having an inner track on its radially outer conical surface, and an outer ring or cup having an outer track on its radially inward conical surface and one or more rows of taper rollers having a contact angle of less than 30 degrees freely disposed between the inner and outer rings and guided between the said tracks, wherein each row of rollers is axially located within a recess on the inner track defined by a shoulder abutment disposed at the edge of the inner track having the greatest diameter and wherein each of the rollers is in contact with the inner track over the entire length of the taper roller in the axial direction of the bearing. 
     By contact angle is meant the angle between a straight line normal to the outer track and a straight line parallel to the plane of rotation of the bearing and as defined in ISO standard 281:1990. 
     Preferably the contact angle is in the range of 5 to 30 degrees, more preferably it is between 10 and 20 degrees inclusively. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Further aspects on the present invention will become apparent from the description of following embodiments of the invention and in conjunction with the following drawings in which: 
         FIGS. 1   a  and  1   b  shows schematic cross sectional diagrams of a conventional, bearing comprising taper rollers confined in cage; and 
         FIGS. 2   a  to  2   c  show various aspects of damage to the bearing cage due to problems in service; and 
         FIG. 3  shows a view taken from the heel side of the inner ring or cone of a full complement taper roller bearing according to the present invention; and 
         FIG. 4  shows a view of the full complement bearing of  FIG. 3  taken from the toe side of the inner ring; and 
         FIG. 5  shows a view of an assembly of an inner ring rollers and cage of a conventional taper roller bearing; and 
         FIG. 6  shows a schematic scrap sectional view of one method of assembling the full complement bearing of the present invention using an assembly tool. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Shown in  FIG. 1   a  and  1   b  is the assembly of a conventional caged type taper roller bearing comprising the elements of an inner ring or cone  1 , an outer ring or cup  4  and freely disposed between the cone and cup a plurality of rollers  6  contained within a circumferentially extending cage  7 . 
     The radially outer conical surface  3  of the inner ring or cone is provided with inner track  2  and similarly the radially inwardly facing conical surface  5  of the outer ring or cup  4  provides an outer track. 
     The taper rollers are located and guided in the inner track  2  by virtue of shoulder abutments  8 ,  9  provided at the axial edges of the inner ring, which shoulder abutment  8  acts on the plane end of the taper rollers when the bearing is loaded. The axial edge of the inner track having the greater diameter is commonly referred to as the heel whilst the edge having the lesser diameter is commonly referred to as the toe. Accordingly the shoulder abutments  8 ,  9  will be referred to respectively as the heel shoulder abutment and the toe shoulder abutment. 
     Shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4  is a full complement taper roller bearing according to the present invention. 
       FIG. 3  shows a view of the bearing from the heel side of the inner ring or cone and clearly shows a full complement of rollers without a roller cage.  FIG. 3  also shows that the bearing is provided with a heel shoulder abutment on the inner ring whereas on the toe side of the inner ring no such shoulder abutment is provided as is evident from  FIG. 4 . 
     Whilst the bearing of the present invention shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4  has by necessity a roller locating and guiding heel shoulder abutment it may also have a toe shoulder abutment on the inner ring. 
     The contact angle α which the angle between a straight line extending perpendicularly from the outer track and a line parallel to the plane of rotation or bearing as shown in  FIG. 6  is in accordance with the present invention not less than 5 degrees and not greater than 30 degrees. Contact angle α thus corresponds with the inclination of the outer track to longitudinal axis A of the shaft to which the inner ring or cone is fitted. Preferably the contact angle of the bearing is in the range of 10 to 20 degrees such that the bearing is particularly suitable for use in radially directed high load conditions. 
     The present invention is particularly directed to bearings of a heavy duty type for use with shafts in the range of 25 mm to 150 mm in diameter. Typically the maximum speed conditions encountered in such uses would be approximately 5,500 rpm for a 25 mm diameter shaft and 1,500 rpm for a 150 mm diameter shaft. 
     Whilst the above described full complement taper roller bearing has only one shoulder abutment on the heel side of inner ring or cone it may in addition have a shoulder abutment on the toe side. 
     In addition to providing a full complement taper roller bearing the invention also provides various methods of assembling the components of the bearing. 
     A first method of assembly of the bearing is shown in  FIG. 6  which shows a half sectional view of the components of a bearing together with an assembly tool  62 . It is to be understood that  FIG. 6  only shows one half of the arrangement and the other half is disposed symmetrically below the axis A of the shaft. Accordingly the assembly tool  62  is substantially cylindrical in shape and is diametrically split into top and bottom halves, the top half being shown in  FIG. 6 . The radially outer cylindrical surface of the assembly tool  62  is provided with an axially extending projection  63  which by movement apart of the two halves of the assembly tool  62  in the direction indicated by arrow Y can be positioned axially inward of the axial and radial outer edge of the rollers. 
     Thereafter by movement of the two halves of the assembly tool  62  back towards each other in the direction indicated by arrow X the projection  63  can engage the axial and radial outer edge of the rollers. The axial end of the projection  63  may be shaped on its radially inward side to conform to the axially and radially outward portion of the roller as shown to facilitate engagement with the roller. 
     According to the first method of assembly illustrated in  FIG. 6  the taper rollers  60  are assembled into their final position of the inner track of the cone  61  and held there by means of the assembly tool  62  having an axially extending projection  63  which contact and hold the axially and radially outer portion of each roller to clamp the roller in the track as shown. The assembly tool  62  is generally of cylindrical shape having a diameter across the axial projection  63  which is less than the outer diameter of the outer ring or cup such that the cup may be assembled into its final housing whilst still enabling the assembly of the taper rollers with the inner cone and the cup to be moved towards each other into the position of close proximity shown in  FIG. 6 . The assembly tool  62  has another axial extending projection  65  radially inward of the projection  63  which abuts as shown the heel side of the inner ring  61  to facilitate movement of the assembly. Further the thickness dimension of the projection  63  in the radial direction and the outer diameter of the cup are such as to permit sufficient movement apart of the halves of the assembly tool  62  to enable withdrawal of the tool. 
     Once the assembly is in the position shown in  FIG. 6  the two halves of the assembly tool  62  are moved radially apart in the direction indicated by arrow Y until the projection  63  are clear of the rollers at which point the parts of the assembly tool are withdrawn in the direction Z. The close proximity of the assembly of the rollers and the cone to the cup ensures that the rollers can not be dislodged and in the final operation the cup and roller cone assembly are again moved towards each other to reach their final position and complete the assembly. 
     Full complement taper roller bearings according to the invention provide high load carrying capabilities by virtue of a greater number of rollers and utilisation of the entire width of the roller surface with reduced risk of premature failure by elimination of a roll cage.