Patent ID: 8215845

Claim:
A tandem set of angular contact ball bearings, each of the angular contact ball bearings comprising: an inner ring; an outer ring; balls positioned for rotation between the inner ring and the outer ring, each of the balls having a diameter d (spher) ; and a slug ball separator located between and separating adjacently-positioned balls, the slug ball separator comprising a generally cylindrical member defined by an external surface having a first diameter d o , end faces located at opposing ends of the generally cylindrical member, and a generally cylindrical frusto-conical surface extending from the end faces, the frusto-conical surface defining an inner cylindrical surface having an interior diameter d i , the first diameter (d o ) is less than the diameter of the balls (d (spher) ) such that a ratio of d 0 to d (spher) is about 0.85:1.0, wherein the external surface defining the generally cylindrical member defines an angle of about 3° relative to a tangent line substantially parallel to an axis extending longitudinally through the slug ball separator.