Source: http://www.google.com/patents/US4395078?ie=ISO-8859-1
Timestamp: 2015-04-19 03:16:00
Document Index: 593553486

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 36', 'arts 36', 'art 50', 'arts 110', 'art 110', 'art 36', 'art 120', 'art 120', 'art 50', 'art 120', 'art 110', 'art 110', 'arts 110', 'arts 110', 'arts 36']

Patent US4395078 - Bearing unit with improved inner race - Google PatentsSearch Images Maps Play YouTube News Gmail Drive More »Sign inAdvanced Patent SearchPatentsA bearing assembly especially adapted for use as a trolley wheel for overhead conveyors. The assembly includes a multipart inner race in which one annular part, preferably machined from steel, bears the major loading on the assembly and the other annular part, preferably formed from sheet metal, bears...http://www.google.com/patents/US4395078?utm_source=gb-gplus-sharePatent US4395078 - Bearing unit with improved inner raceAdvanced Patent SearchPublication numberUS4395078 APublication typeGrantApplication numberUS 06/301,871Publication dateJul 26, 1983Filing dateSep 14, 1981Priority dateFeb 25, 1980Fee statusLapsedPublication number06301871, 301871, US 4395078 A, US 4395078A, US-A-4395078, US4395078 A, US4395078AInventorsHarvey E. Smith, Sr., Seigfried K. WeisOriginal AssigneeC. L. Frost & Son, Inc.Export CitationBiBTeX, EndNote, RefManPatent Citations (18), Referenced by (8), Classifications (13), Legal Events (4) External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, EspacenetBearing unit with improved inner race
US 4395078 AAbstract
1. In a bearing assembly having inner and outer race means for supporting a plurality of anti-friction ball members therebetween, and a plurality of such balls positioned between inner and outer raceways on said race means, the improvement comprising:said inner race means having first support means including a major portion of said inner raceway for supporting the primary portion of any load on said assembly and second support means engaged with said first support means and including a minor portion of said inner raceway for retaining and guiding said ball members and supporting a minor portion of any load on said assembly; said major raceway portion on said first support means extending on both sides of a radial plane of said assembly which passes through the center line of said ball members and the root diameter of said inner raceway; said first support means including a first shoulder having a diameter slightly larger than said root diameter of said inner raceway to allow insertion of said ball members between said inner and outer raceways prior to assembly of said second support means without heating or otherwise resizing or modifying any part of said inner or outer race means or ball members during assembly, said first shoulder also providing resistance to removal of said ball members after insertion; said first support means also having a generally radially extending surface adjacent said first shoulder and a recess; said second support means including a portion engaging said generally radially extending surface of said first support means and a flange bent into and engaging said recess to retain said inner race members in engagement. 2. The bearing assembly of claim 1 wherein said major and minor raceway portions on said first and second support means each have a radius of curvature slightly larger than that of said ball members.
3. The bearing assembly of claim 2 wherein the radius of curvature for each of said major and minor raceway portions is equivalent.
4. The bearing assembly of claim 1 wherein said ball members each have an equivalent diameter; said first shoulder diameter being larger than said root diameter of said inner raceway by a distance within the range of approximately 2% to 4% of said diameter of said ball members.
5. The bearing assembly of claim 1 wherein said first support means is a first, annular, inner race part also including a second shoulder with a diameter larger than said first shoulder, said second shoulder defining the opposite end of said major raceway portion, and a pair of spaced, radially extending, side surfaces; said second support means being a second annular, inner race part and including a radially extending portion abutting one side surface of said first inner race part and an extending shoulder larger than said first shoulder on said first inner race part, said extending shoulder including said minor raceway portion.
6. In a bearing assembly of the type having a plurality of anti-friction balls; outer race means having an outer raceway for supporting said plurality of balls; and inner race means spaced radially inwardly of said outer race means and having an inner raceway in opposition to said outer raceway for supporting said plurality of balls, the improvement comprising:said inner race means having a minimum or root diameter; said bearing assembly including a radial plane passing through said outer race means, the centers of said balls, and said root diameter of said inner race means; said inner race means including a first annular inner race member having a first raceway extending from a first shoulder having a first diameter on one side of said radial plane to a second shoulder on the opposite side of said radial plane, said second shoulder having a second diameter less than said first diameter and slightly larger than said root diameter, a generally radially extending surface adjacent said second shoulder, and a recess, and a second annular inner race member having a portion engaging said generally radially extending surface of said first inner race member and having a second raceway forming an extension of said first raceway and extending to a third shoulder of a diameter larger than said second diameter; said second shoulder having a diameter sufficient to allow said plurality of balls to be inserted into position intermediate said inner and outer raceways without heating or otherwise resizing or modifying of any part of said inner or outer race means or anti-friction balls during assembly, and to resist removal of said balls once in position whereby said first inner race part provides principal load bearing support for said outer race means and balls while said second inner race part provides ball retention and guidance and lesser load bearing support than said first inner race part; said second inner race part also having a flange bent into and engaging said recess to retain said inner race members in engagement. 7. The bearing assembly of claim 6 wherein said balls each have an equivalent predetermined diameter; said second diameter being larger than said root diameter by a distance within the range of approximately 2% to 4% of said predetermined ball diameter.
8. The bearing assembly of claim 6 wherein said first inner race part is machined from metal; said second inner race part being stamped from sheet metal.
9. The bearing assembly of claim 8 wherein at least one of said first and second inner race parts is hardened.
10. The bearing assembly of claim 6 wherein said inner raceway formed by said first and second inner race members has a radius of curvature slightly larger than that of said balls.
This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 06/124,556, filed Feb. 25, 1980, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,323,288.
Another full-ball complement bearing unit is shown in French Pat. No. 502,354 and includes a two part inner race assembly where both parts appear to be fully machined and one includes a wider portion of the ball track than the other. In this unit the outer race must be heated and expanded to allow insertion of the ball members between the races.
Accordingly, the present invention is a bearing assembly especially useful as a trolley wheel is overhead conveyors including a multipart inner race which enables use of a full complement of balls and provides the load bearing capabilities of currently known full-ball complement bearing assemblies. In addition, the assembly provides other functional advantages while requiring significantly less manufacturing time, processing and expense, thus making the wheel competitive from a price standpoint with retainer-type bearings and wheels.
FIG. 1 is a sectional elevation of the bearing assembly or trolley wheel of the present invention supported on an I-beam-type, overhead conveyor track and mounted on a conventional trolley bracket;
As will be understood from FIGS. 1, 3 and 5, assembly of either bearing or trolley wheel units 10 or 10' is as follows. Primary inner race part 36 or 36' is centered within outer race 12 in a suitable support and a full complement of balls 30 are inserted into position between outer raceway 28 and primary raceway 40 or 40' over the low shoulder 42 or cylindrical surface 42'. In the preferred embodiment of a 4-inch trolley wheel, 131/2-inch diameter balls are so located. The dimension of low shoulder 42 described above is sufficient to assist in retaining the balls in place during assembly and to help do so during operation but is small enough to allow the above insertion to occur. No size modification of the outer race, inner race parts 36, 36' or 50, or ball members 30 is necessary to allow such assembly. Assembly occurs at ambient, room temperature conditions with no heating or other expansion processes, or contraction or any other special assembly processing being necessary. During operation, low shoulder 42 helps retain the balls in the primary raceway 40 with the help of shoulder 56 and raceway extension 60 on secondary inner race part 50 as described above.
Referring now to FIGS. 6 and 7, a second embodiment 100 of the bearing unit or trolley wheel assembly of the present invention is illustrated wherein like numbers indicate like parts to those in embodiment 10. Embodiment 100 differs principally from embodiment 10 by the inclusion of slightly modified primary and secondary inner race parts 110 and 120. Primary inner race part 110 is the same as part 36 except that recess 112 for receiving the flange 122 of inner race part 120 is not sloped and extends parallel to the axis of the wheel assembly. Secondary inner race part 120, which is otherwise exactly the same as inner race part 50, includes flange 122 which also extends parallel to the axis and is either slip-fitted or press-fitted into recess 112. Part 120 is retained in engagement with primary inner race part 110 by means fo a flanged central hub 130 having a threaded central bore receiving a fastening bolt or stud 132 through the apertured head of a trolley bracket 134 as shown in FIG. 6.
For shipment and operation purposes, the outermost seal 118 in the sealing assembly included in embodiment 100 includes an inwardly extending flange 116 designed to be received in and bent into cooperating recesses 114 radially opposed with one another on the outer circumference of hub 130 and the inside diameter of primary inner race part 110. Flange 116 therefore retains the hub 130 within the inner race parts 110, 120 as is described and claimed in copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 57,588, filed July 16, 1979, and assigned to the same assignee as the present invention, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference. As is explained in application Ser. No. 57,588, the head of trolley bracket 134 includes an eccentrically located projection 136 which is cylindrical but offset from the axis of bolt 132 and hub 130 for receipt in the correspondingly offset circular recess 138 in the outer end of hub 130 thereby preventing rotation between hub 130 and bracket 134. In turn, flange 116 prevents rotation between inner race parts 110 and 120 with respect to hub 130 and bracket 134 in the manner described in application Ser. No. 57,588. Operation and load bearing capabilities of embodiment 100 are equivalent to those of embodiment 10.
In the preferred embodiments, this line of force directed through the primary inner race parts 36, 36', or 110 is determined by several factors including the draft angle of surfaces 21 or 21a on I-beam 19 which, in the preferred embodiment, for a 4-inch I-beam, ASTM-A36, is slightly less than 91/2�. The line of force loading also depends on the curvature of the outer circumference of outer race 12 which in the preferred embodiment, has a radius of curvature of 3 inches for a 4-inch trolley wheel. Finally, the line of force direction also depends on the angle of camber at which the trolley wheel is supported on the trolley bracket, i.e., in the preferred embodiment 11/2� from the horizontal as shown in FIG. 1. With the above dimensions, the preferred embodiment of a 4-inch trolley wheel in accordance with the present invention has been found to have the line of force pass 0.007 inches from the center of the lower ball and to its right as shown in FIG. 1. Optimally, this line of force would pass through the center of the ball but dimensional tolerances in manufacturing may cause the line of force to be slightly off center. The line of force has been found to be acceptable if it is within a range of plus or minus 0.020 inches from the center of the lower ball, i.e., plus or minus 4% of the ball diameter which is 1/2-inch in the preferred 4-inch trolley embodiment.
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