Abstract:
A bearing sleeve assembly for a shaft system, having a bearing assembled between an inner and outer sleeve, the assembly mountable as a unitary sub-assembly or as separate components.

Description:
[0001]    The present invention relates to bearings, in particular, mounting collars or sleeves for bearings. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    Bearings, specifically rolling element bearings are known for use in shaft support applications, for example for paper rolling mills. Depending on the location of the bearing relative to the loaded zone, the bearing may be required to support thrust or axial loads, radial loads or both. Often, loading may vary throughout the life of the bearing, requiring consideration of both thrust or axial loads and occasional radial loading patterns, or vice versa. 
         [0003]    In addition, where bearings may need preventative maintenance or to be changed more frequently than the surrounding structures, namely the shaft and housing, it can be difficult and potentially damaging to the system components, to remove a bearing from a shaft and re-press a new bearing in position, causing excessive wear to the shaft and potential premature failure. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0004]    Certain terminology is used in the following description for convenience and descriptive purposes only, and is not intended to be limiting to the scope of the claims. The terminology includes the words specifically noted, derivatives thereof and words of similar import. 
         [0005]    The present invention relates to a bearing mounting collar assembly for a shaft system. The bearing sleeve assembly having a bearing assembled between an inner and outer sleeve, the assembly mountable as a unitary sub-assembly or as separate components. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
         [0006]    The above mentioned and other features and advantages of the embodiments described herein, and the manner of attaining them, will become apparent and be better understood by reference to the following description of at least one example embodiment in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. A brief description of those drawings now follows. 
           [0007]      FIG. 1  is a cross sectional view of a shaft mounted bearing assembly, including a mounting sleeve or collar, according to an example embodiment of the invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0008]    Identically labeled elements appearing in different ones of the FIGURES refer to the same elements but may not be referenced in the description for all FIGURES. The exemplification set out herein illustrates at least one embodiment, in at least one form, and such exemplification is not to be construed as limiting the scope of the claims in any manner. 
         [0009]      FIG. 1  is a cross sectional view of a shaft bearing assembly  1 , comprising shaft  10 , housing  20 , and bearing sleeve assembly  30 . The term axial refers to forces or directions along a longitudinal axis A of the assembly, and the terms radial refers to forces or directions orthogonal to longitudinal axis A. Housing  20  can be any housing known in the art, but, for illustrative purposes is shown as an externally supported, separatable collar-type housing, comprising collar segment  21 , fixing means  23 , such as bolts, and bushing shoulder ring  22 . Bearing sleeve assembly  30  comprises rolling element bearing  32 , outer sleeve  34 , inner sleeve  36 , optional snap ring  40  and optional preload spring  38 . In the example embodiment shown, shaft  10  is rotating and housing  20  is fixed, although other arrangements are contemplated by the present invention and will be understood by those skilled in the art. 
         [0010]    In the example embodiment, bearing sleeve assembly  30  can be pre-assembled separately from shaft bearing assembly  1 , as a sub-assembly, and assembled onto shaft assembly  1  in a single operation. Alternatively, inner sleeve  36  can be pressed or otherwise fixedly mounted onto an outer radial surface of shaft  10 , rolling element bearing  32  then fixedly mounted or pressed onto an outer radial surface of inner sleeve  36 , then outer sleeve  34  pressed or otherwise mounted on an outer radial surface of bearing  32  Inner sleeve  36  may be axially extended to provide more contact area between sleeve  36  and shaft  10 . In the embodiment shown, rolling element bearing  32  is an angular contact ball bearing, having a high contact angle, for example 40 degrees, though any rolling element bearing is contemplated by the present invention. Rolling element bearings are known in the art, and comprise inner and outer rings, with a plurality of rolling elements arranged between raceways on the outer radial surface of the inner ring and the inner radial surface of the outer ring, respectively. In an arrangement wherein axial loading is a greater factor than radial loading, optional preload spring  38  can be placed between outer ring  100 , inner ring  101  and outer sleeve  34 , and can be used in order to axially pre-load bearing  32 , displacing ball  50  to or near its maximum contact angle, such that it is better situated to support thrust or axial loads. In an arrangement wherein radial loading is a greater factor than axial loading, preload spring  38  can be removed from the assembly. Similarly, snap ring  40  may be used to axially fix bearing  32  within bearing sleeve assembly  30 . Snap ring  40  is placed within groove  42  of outer sleeve  34 . In the embodiment shown, sleeves  34  and  36  are L-shaped, and mirror each other, such that a disc-shaped radial extension  52  of inner sleeve  36  extends radially outwardly from longitudinal cylindrical bearing support section  53 , and is axially opposite to disc shaped radial extension  55  of outer sleeve  34  which extends radially inwardly from longitudinal cylindrical bearing support segment  56 . In this manner, bearing  32  is confined in both axial directions. Once bearing sleeve assembly  30  is mounted on shaft  10 , housing  20  is mounted on a radially outer surface of outer sleeve  34 . In the embodiment shown, housing  20  has two separable halves or collars, that can be assembled over sleeve assembly  30 , and supported in position using an external structure, such as a shaft parallel to shaft  10  (not shown). 
         [0011]    In order to remove and replace bearing  32 , housing  20  is removed from the assembly. Snap ring  40  and outer sleeve  34  are then removed. Bearing  32  is removed from sleeve  36  using any suitable press or other operation Inner sleeve  36  can remain on shaft  10 , and a new bearing  32  pressed onto inner sleeve  36 , re-assembling sleeve assembly  30 , as described above. In this manner, no direct additional operations are performed on shaft  10 . 
         [0012]    In the foregoing description, example embodiments are described. The specification and drawings are accordingly to be regarded in an illustrative rather than in a restrictive sense. It will, however, be evident that various modifications and changes may be made thereto, without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the present invention. 
         [0013]    In addition, it should be understood that the FIGURES illustrated in the attachments, which highlight the functionality and advantages of the example embodiments, are presented for example purposes only. The architecture or construction of example embodiments described herein is sufficiently flexible and configurable, such that it may be utilized (and navigated) in ways other than that shown in the accompanying FIGURES. 
         [0014]    Although example embodiments have been described herein, many additional modifications and variations would be apparent to those skilled in the art. It is therefore to be understood that this invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described. Thus, the present example embodiments should be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive.