Patent ID: 8851227

Claim:
A bearing assembly for a mechanism including a housing and a rotatable shaft disposed within the housing, the bearing assembly comprising: a sleeve disposeable within the housing and having an inner circumferential surface defining a bore and a radial surface extending radially inwardly with respect to the inner surface; a bearing disposed within the sleeve bore and including inner and outer races and a plurality of rolling elements disposed between the inner and outer races, the inner race being coupleable with the shaft such that the shaft and the inner race rotate as a single unit; a biasing member configured to bias the bearing outer race generally against one of the sleeve radial surface and a radial surface of the housing so as to substantially prevent axial displacement of the bearing outer race during rotation of the shaft; and a retainer configured to couple the biasing member with the outer race such that the bearing and the biasing member are retained within the sleeve bore when the bearing assembly is separate from the housing, wherein the retainer includes a generally annular body with an axial portion engaged with the sleeve and a radial portion having a first radial surface disposed against the biasing member and an opposing, second radial surface disposeable against a radial surface of the housing, the biasing member being sandwiched between the retainer radial portion and the bearing outer race.