Patent ID: 7040453

Claim:
A lubricant retention assembly employed in a shaft opening of a device containing a bearing and a shaft of the device, the assembly comprising: a thrust collar having an exterior surface and an opposite, cylindrical interior surface surrounding a center bore of the thrust collar, the interior surface having an interior diameter dimension for mounting of the thrust collar on the shaft for rotation of the thrust collar with the shaft, the center bore having a center axis that defines mutually perpendicular axial and radial directions relative to the thrust collar, and the thrust collar having an annular flange that projects outwardly from the thrust collar exterior surface to a peripheral edge of the annular flange, the annular flange having opposite interior and exterior surfaces and the interior surface extending both axially and radially over the thrust collar exterior surface, and, the annular flange having a peripheral surface at the flange peripheral edge, the peripheral surface extending axially between the flange interior surface and the flange exterior surface and the flange peripheral surface being parallel to the thrust collar center axis, the flange peripheral surface being oriented at substantially an acute angle relative to the flange interior surface and the flange peripheral surface being oriented at substantially an obtuse angel relative to the flange exterior surface.