Patent ID: 7323254

Claim:
A bearing element comprising an anti-friction layer constituting an overlay composed of a composite consisting essentially of an alloy of at least three components A, B, C, component A forming a first matrix, component B forming a soft phase second matrix dispersed therein, and component C forming a hard phase, the overlay having a first surface and a second surface lying opposite thereto, the weight proportions of the components A, B, C in the regions of the first and the second surface being different from one another, the first matrix being disposed at least in the region of the first surface and the soft phase second matrix being disposed at least in the region of the second surface, whilst the hard phase is dispersed through both the first matrix and the soft phase second matrix, the weight proportion of component A decreasing and the weight proportion of each of the components B and C increasing from the region of the first surface to the region of the second surface.