Patent ID: 8894294

Claim:
A bearing cage for use with a plurality of rolling elements in a bearing assembly, the bearing cage comprising: a plurality of bridge elements arranged to separate the rolling elements from each other and to retain the rolling elements in alignment in the bearing assembly, each of the bridge elements being formed of sheet material bent to define a partially hollow component; and at least one rim element connecting the plurality of bridge elements; wherein each of the plurality of bridge elements includes: a bridge back defined by first and second opposite ends and two opposite side edges; and first and second wings, each wing extending from a corresponding side edge of the bridge back, the wings being bent toward each other so that together the bridge back and the wings define at least a portion of the bridge element that is hollow; and a first blade extending from a side edge of the first wing and being bent relative to the first wing; wherein each bridge element is configured to contact a first rolling element of a pair of adjacent rolling elements with an outer surface of the first wing and a surface of the first blade, and is configured to contact a second rolling element of the pair of adjacent rolling elements with an outer surface of the second wing, to align and constrain the motion of the rolling elements such that the first blade and the first wing together provide only two angularly separated contact points as alignment-constraining regions for guidance of the first rolling element.