Patent ID: 8876393

Claim:
A bearing assembly comprising: a bearing enclosure; bearings mounted for movement in a race formed by the bearing enclosure; a ball cage within the bearing enclosure and surrounding the bearings; an electro-mechanical fuse coupled to a bearing enclosure component of the bearing enclosure, wherein the electro-mechanical fuse includes an annular disc bonded to an inside surface of the bearing enclosure at a radial location approximately equal to a radial location of the ball cage and a layer of conductive material fixed to the annular disc to provide electrical continuity within the bearing sensing circuit; and a bearing sensing circuit coupled to the fuse, wherein, in a first condition under normal operation, the layer of conductive material of the electro-mechanical fuse provides electrical continuity to the bearing sensing circuit, and, in a second condition under operation after bearing wear, the layer of conductive material of the electro-mechanical fuse is disrupted by damage to the annular disc such that the bearing sensing circuit generates a signal indicating bearing wear.