ANTIFRICTION BEARING ASSEMBLY

PALIER ANTIFRICTION

English Abstract

ANTIFRICTION BEARING WITH MULTIPLE PIECE RACE
Abstract of the Disclosure:
A rear wheel bearing assembly has a double row of
balls and a two piece inner race. One race piece is posi-
tioned on the other race piece to give a desired preload or
end play and maintained in such position by a pair of semi-
circular hardened and ground keeper ring parts of selected
width. The keeper ring parts engage the one race piece and
are retained in a groove of the second race piece by a
retainer ring secured to the second race piece by a swaging
or rolling operation.

Claims

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclu-
sive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:
1. An antifriction bearing assembly comprising:
a first race having first raceway means,
circumferentially spaced antifriction element means
engaging said first raceway means,
a second race comprising a first piece and a second
piece, said first piece carrying a fixed angular contact race-
way engaging said antifriction means for providing a thrust
load acting on said first raceway means,
said second piece being carried by said first
piece and having an angular contact raceway engaging said
antifriction means for providing an opposing thrust load act-
ing on said first raceway means,
said first piece having a circumferential groove
receiving a plurality of hardened keeper ring parts which
engage an end face of the second piece, said keeper ring
parts being of a selected width to produce a desired end
play or preload, and
an annular retainer ring having a portion which
engages said keeper ring parts to retain said keeper ring
parts in said groove and another portion which is permanently
secured to said first piece.
2. An antifriction bearing assembly comprising:
a first race having first raceway means,
circumferentially spaced antifriction element
means engaging said first raceway means,
a second race comprising a first piece and a
second piece, said first piece carrying a fixed angular
contact raceway engaging said antifriction means for pro-
viding a thrust load acting on said first raceway means,
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said second piece being carried by said first piece
and having an angular contact raceway engaging said anti-
friction means for providing an opposing thrust load acting
on said first raceway means,
said first piece having a circumferential groove
receiving a plurality of hardened keeper ring parts end to
end which forms a hardened keeper ring engaging an end face
of the second piece, said keeper ring parts being of a
selected width to produce a desired end play or preload, and
an annular retainer ring having a frustoconical
surface engaging frustoconical outer surfaces of said keeper
ring parts to retain said keeper ring parts in said groove and a cylin-
drical portion which is permanently secured to said first piece.
3. A double row antifriction bearing comprising:
a one piece outer race carrying a pair of angular
contact outer raceways in fixed spatial relationship, each
of said outer raceways having a reduced diameter at their
adjacent ends whereby said outer raceways are adapted to
receive opposing thrust loads directed toward a medial plane
of the bearing between the outer raceways,
first and second complements of circumferentially
spaced antifriction elements respectively engaging said pair
of outer raceways,
an axle disposed in said outer race, said axle
carrying a fixed inner raceway engaging said first complement
of antifriction elements for providing a thrust load acting
on one of said pair of outer raceways toward said medial plane,
said axle further carrying a separable inner race
having an inner raceway engaging said second complement of
antifriction elements for providing an opposing thrust load
acting on the other of said pair of outer raceways,
said axle having a circumferential groove adjacent
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an end face of said separable inner race remote from said
medial plane,
a plurality of hardened keeper ring parts disposed
in said groove end to end forming a hardened keeper ring
engaging said end face of the separable inner race, said
keeper ring parts having outer frustoconical surfaces, and
being of a selected width to produce a desired end play or
preload, and
an annular retainer ring having a frustoconical
surface engaging the frustoconical surfaces of said keeper
ring parts to retain said keeper ring parts in said groove
and a cylindrical portion which is deformed and permanently
locked to the axle.
4. A double row antifriction bearing comprising:
a one piece outer race carrying a pair of angu-
lar contact outer raceways in fixed spatial relationship,
each of said outer raceways having a reduced diameter at
their adjacent ends whereby said outer raceways are adapted
to receive opposing thrust loads directed toward a medial
plane of the bearing between the outer raceways,
first and second complements of circumferentially
spaced antifriction elements respectively engaging said pair
of outer raceways,
an axle disposed in said outer race, said axle
carrying a fixed inner raceway engaging said first comple-
ment of antifriction elements for providing a thrust load
acting on one of said pair of outer raceways toward said
medial plane,
said axle further carrying a separable inner race
having an inner raceway engaging said second complement of
antifriction elements for providing an opposing thrust load
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acting on the other of said pair of outer raceways,
said axle having a circumferential groove adjacent
an end face of said separable inner race remote from said
medial plane,
a pair of hardened semicircular keeper ring parts
disposed in said groove and engaging said end face of the
separable inner race, said keeper ring parts having outer
frustoconical surfaces, and being of a selected width to
produce a desired end play or preload, and
an annular retainer ring having an inner frusto-
conical surface engaging the frustoconical surfaces of said
keeper ring parts to retain said keeper ring parts in said
groove and a portion deformed into a second groove in said
axle to permanently secure said annular retainer ring to
said axle.
-10-

Description

This invention relates generally to an antifriction
bearing assembly and more particularly to an antifriction
bearing assembly having a desired end play or preload
It is already known from the U.S. Patent 3,794,393
granted to Charles B. Hurd et al on February 26, 1974 for a
"Roller Bearing Assembly" to provide a double row roller
bearing assembly having a two piece outer race in which the
end play or preload is controlled by a split snap ring of -
selected width to maintain a separable outer bearing race at
a desired location in the bore of the second race piece.
While the Hurd et al Roller Bearing Assembly may be
suitable for some applications, it has some drawbacks in that
the split snap ring used to locate the race 62 ma~es automated
assembly o, the bearing assembly difficult in general and even
more so since split snap rings vary in width and thus in spring
rate from bearing assembly to bearing assembly. Another draw-
back is that the split ring retention device utilized in the
Hurd et al Bearing Assembly does not lend itself to bearing
assemblies in which the end play or preload is adjusted by an
,.. , . . , - . , ,, . . . . , . ~ . .
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10863G~
inner race of two piece construction.
Broadly it is the object of this invention to pro-
vide an antifriction bearing assembly having an improved
means for providing a desired end play or preload.
Another object of this invention is to provide an
antifriction bearing assembly utilizing means to provide a
desired end play or preload which lends itself to automated
assembly.
Another object of this invention is to provide an
antifriction bearing assembly having a preadjusted end play
or preload comprising a two piece race wherein one race piece
is accurately positioned on another race piece by a keeper -
means which engages the first race piece for a full 360.
Still another object of this invention is to pro-
viae an antifriction bearing assembly having a preadjusted
end play or preload in which the means positioning the one
race part with respect to another race part includes hardened ;~
and ground members enaaging the one race part for increased
durability and positioning accuracy.
Yet another object of this invention is to provide
an antifriction bearing assembly having means for providing a
preadjusted end play or preload which is suitable for an anti-
friction bearing assembly which utilizes an inner race of two
piece construction to achieve a desired end play or preload.
Other objects and features of the invention will
become apparent to those skilled in the art as the disclosure
is made in the following detailed description of a preferred
embodiment of the invention as illustrated in the accompany-
ing sheet of drawing in which:
Figure 1 is a longitudinal section through a wheel
bearing assembly embodying this invention,
Figure 2 is a section taken along the line 2-2 of

~08636~ ;
Figure 1, and
~igure 3 is an enlargement of-a portion of Figure 1.
Referring now to Figure 1 and by way of background
there is illustrated a rear wheel bearing assembly 10 used ~ ;~
for instance in an independently suspended rear wheel of a
front wheel drive automobile. To this end the rear wheel
bearing assembly 10 incorporates a dead or non-rotatable
spindle 12'comprising an axle 14 and integral circular mount- -
ing flange 16. The mounting flange 16 carries a plurality
of bolts 18 for securing the assembly 10 to suitable struc-
ture in the automobile.
The axle 14 as it progresses from the flange 16
toward the free end of the axle 14 includes a cylindrical
seal land 20, an angular contact raceway 22, a conical sec-
tion 24, and a cylindrical portion 26 of reduced diameter.
The cylindrical portion 26 has a square shaped inboard
groove 28 and a trapezoidal shaped outboard groove 30 ;
adjacent the free end of the axle 14.
The bearing assembly 10 further includes a hub 32
20 , comprising an outer race 34 and integral wheel mounting
flange 36. The wheel mounting flange 36 is rectangularly
shaped to provide access to the bolt holes in the circular
mounting flange 16. (The section of the wheel mounting
flange 36 shown in Figure 1 is along the diagonal of the
rectangle through the bolt holes located at the corners of
the rectangle.)
The outer race 34 has a pair of axially spaced
angular contact raceways 38 and 40 separated by a com~on
shoulder defining a reduced diameter bore 42 in the medial
portion of the bearing.
A first complement of bearing balls 44 circumfer-
entially spaced by a separator rides on the inner and outer
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1086364
raceways 22 and 38. ~ second complement of bearing balls 46
rides on the outer raceway 40 and the angular contact race-
way 48 of a separable inner race 50 which is fitted on the
cylindrical portion 26 of the axle 14.
The inner race 50 is positioned on the cylindrical
portion 26 to produce a desired end play or preload in the
bearing assembly by selected width keeper ring parts 54 dis- -
posed in the groove 28 end to end as shown in Figure 2. When
the bearing is preloaded the bearing balls 44 and 46 have
pressure angles such that opposing thrust loads acting toward
the medial plane 52 of the bearing are imposed on the outer
race 34 via the raceways 38 and 40. Each of the keeper ring
parts 54 are shaped so that the keeper ring parts 54 are
mountable in the groove 28 without requiring elastic deforma-
~31 tion and together engage the outboard face of the inner race
; 50 for a full 360. In the inner bearing arrangement shown
.
in the drawing, the keeper ring parts 54 are semicircular ~~
as shown in ~igure 2 which minimizes the number of keeper
ring parts. The keeper ring parts 54 are hardened to a
Rockwell Hardness between 55 and 60 on the C scale for dura-
bility, ground for extreme dimensional accuracy in width and
segregated in .0002 inch width classes for producing a
desired end play or preload. The groove 28 prefera~ly under- ;~
cuts the raceway by a small amount.
The keeper ring parts 54 are bottomed and main-
tained in the square shaped groove 28 by a sheet metal
retainer ring 56 which has a conical inner surface 58 engag- -
ing a mating frustoconical outer surface 60 of each of the
keeper ring parts 54. The retainer ring 56 has a cylindrical
end portion 62 which is swaged or rolled at 64 into the
; trapezoidal shaped groove 30 to securely fasten the retainer
ring 56 to the axle 14.

1086364
The retainer ring 56 may also include a flange 66
having an outer diameter greater than the diameter of the bore
42 to prevent disassembly of the bearing in the event of
catastrophic failure of the internal bearing components.
The assembly 10 may also include bearing seal 69
carried at the end of the hub 32 ad~acent the circular mount-
ing flange 16 which has a flexible sealing lip riding on the
cylindrical land 20 of the axle 14. ~ grease cap 71 mounted
in the bore at the other end of the hub 34 seals the other
10 end of the bearing assembly 10. ~ `~
The axial end play or preload of the bearing assem-
bly 10 is obtained by the axial positioning of the separable
inner race 50 on the axle 14. To maintain the axial end
play or preload the inner race 50 is pressed on the cylindri- -~
cal portion 26 of the axle 14 to the proper location to give ~ ,
the desired end play or preload and positively retained in
position. ~ ;
When assembling the bearing 10 the complements of
bearing balls 44 and 46 and hùb 34 are sub-assembled with the
spindle 12. The separable inner race 50 is then pressed on
the cylindrical portion 26 of the axle 14 to a convenient
location and the axial end play and distance from the inner -;
race back face 68 and the radial face 70 of the square shaped ~ -
groove 28 away from the inner race are measured. Using the
measured values and the desired ~final end play of the
assembly the required width of keeper ring parts 54 to be
inserted in the groove 28 is determined. The separable inner
race 50 may then be repositioned axially to its final desired
location and keeper ring parts 5~ of proper selected width
inserted in the groove 28, or the keeper ring parts may be
forced into the groove 28 between the separable bearing race
back face 68 and the groove end face 70 to obtain the final
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10863~;4
positioning for the desired end play or preload. Once the
keeper ring parts 54 are bottomed in the groove 28, the
- retaining ring 56 is placed on the axle spindle with its
tapered inner surface 58 in contact with the ~apered outer
surfaces 60 of the keeper ring parts 54. The cylindrical
portion 62 of the retaining ring is then swaged or rolled
into the trapezoidal shaped groove 30 to permanently lock
the retaining ring 56 in place and contain the keeper ring
parts 54 in the groove 28.
Any thrust force applied to the bearing assembly
tending to move the separable inner race 50 toward the right
as viewed in Figures 1 and 3 and thus changing the preset
end play or preload is transmitted from the inner race 30
through the end face 68 to the keeper ring parts 5~ and then
into the axle 14 through the groove end face 70. The keeper
ring parts 54 and spindle 12 are of a suitable hardness to ~:
resist permanent defor~ation thus preventing m~vement of the
separable inner race 50 and change of the preset end play or -
preload.
. We wish it to be understood that we do not aesire
to be limited to the exact details of construction shown and
described, for obvious modifications will occur to a person
skilled in the art.