Patent ID: 7540665

Claim:
A tapered roller bearing comprising: an inner ring formed with a radially outwardly facing raceway and including a small-diameter flange and a large-diameter flange provided at two ends of said radially outwardly facing raceway, respectively; an outer ring formed with a radially inwardly facing raceway; a plurality of tapered rollers disposed between said radially inwardly facing raceway and said radially outwardly facing raceway and each having a small-diameter end surface and a large-diameter end surface; and a retainer comprising a small-diameter annular portion, a large-diameter annular portion and a plurality of crossbars through which said small-diameter annular portion and said large-diameter annular portion are coupled together, said crossbars defining trapezoidal pockets therebetween each having a narrow end facing said small-diameter annular portion and a wide end facing said large-diameter annular portion; wherein each of said tapered rollers is received in one of said pockets with said small-diameter end surface thereof facing said small-diameter annular portion and said large-diameter end surface thereof facing said large-diameter annular portion; wherein each of said pockets includes first cutouts each formed in one of the adjacent crossbars near said narrow end thereof, and second cutouts each formed in one of the adjacent crossbars near said wide end thereof; and wherein, for each of said pockets, a total area of said first cutouts is greater than a total area of said second cutouts.