Patent ID: 8342752

Claim:
A restraining device for a spherical bearing of an isolation bearing, the restraining device comprising: a sleeve structure assembly structured to partially encase the spherical bearing, comprising i) a first sleeve portion comprising an annulus having an outer circumference and an inner circumference, and a band extending longitudinally from the inner circumference of the annulus; said band having a maximum circumference less than an equatorial circumference of the spherical bearing, and ii) a second sleeve portion comprising a annulus having an outer circumference and an inner circumference, and a band extending longitudinally from the inner circumference of the annulus; said band having a maximum circumference less than an equatorial circumference of the spherical bearing, wherein the first sleeve portion and the second sleeve portion are structured to lock together, thereby encasing at least an equatorial region of the spherical bearing, and iii) a plurality of elastic straps affixed at proximal ends to said sleeve structure assembly and structured to be affixed at their distal ends to a location on an upper or lower plate or pan of the isolation bearing, wherein the plurality of elastic straps have a length such that, when installed in an isolation bearing at rest, the sleeve structure assembly is suspended substantially in the center of a cavity formed between a downward-facing load bearing surface and an upward-facing load bearing surface, and wherein a first set of said plurality of elastic straps is affixed to the upper plate or pan of an isolation bearing, and a second set of said plurality of elastic straps is affixed to the lower plate or pan.