An inner half-ring of a spherical plain bearing has a spherical outer surface, a cylindrical inner surface, and a first flat front face and a second flat front face delimiting the half-ring in a circumferential direction. The first and second flat front faces extend between the outer surface and the inner surface, and a first central groove is formed in the first front face and extends between the outer surface and the inner surface.

A telescoping tool includes a pole assembly, a driveshaft, a plurality of bearings, and at least one connection member. The pole assembly includes an outer pole and an inner pole. The inner pole is slidably received in the outer pole. The pole assembly is movable between a retracted configuration and an extended configuration. The driveshaft extends longitudinally in the outer pole and the inner pole. Each bearing of the plurality of bearings includes a driveshaft passage defined therein. The driveshaft passage receives the driveshaft therethrough. Each bearing further includes an end connection passage defined therein. The at least one connection member joins adjacent bearings of the plurality of bearings. The at least one connection member is disposed in the end connection passage of each of the adjacent bearings.

A guiding member, having a body provided with a bore for mounting a mobile element is presented. The body consists of a metallic material. The bore has a surface layer treated against jamming over a diffusion depth of less than or equal to 0.6 mm. The surface layer has a hardness of greater than or equal to 500 Hv1 over a depth of between 5 and 50 μm.

Provided is a sliding member for a thrust bearing. The sliding member includes a back-metal layer and a sliding layer, and has a partially annular shape. The sliding layer includes a synthetic resin and has a sliding surface. In a center line region of the sliding layer, the sliding layer has a linear expansion coefficient KS in a direction parallel to a circumferential direction of the sliding member, a linear expansion coefficient KJ in a direction parallel to a radial direction of the sliding member, and a linear expansion coefficient KT in a direction perpendicular to the sliding surface, and the linear expansion coefficients KS, KJ, and KT satisfy the following relations (1) and (2): Relation (1): 1.1≤KS/KJ≤2; and Relation (2): 1.3≤KT/{(KS+KJ)/2}≤2.5.

Provided is a sliding member for a thrust bearing. The sliding member includes a back-metal layer and a sliding layer, and has a partially annular shape. The sliding layer includes a synthetic resin and has a sliding surface. In a center line region of the sliding layer, the sliding layer has a linear expansion coefficient KS in a direction parallel to a circumferential direction of the sliding member, a linear expansion coefficient KJ in a direction parallel to a radial direction of the sliding member, and a linear expansion coefficient KT in a direction perpendicular to the sliding surface, and the linear expansion coefficients KS, KJ, and KT satisfy the following relations (1) and (2): Relation (1): 1.1≤KS/KJ≤2; and Relation (2): 1.3≤KT/{(KS+KJ)/2}≤2.5.

Provided is a sliding member for a thrust bearing. The sliding member includes a back-metal layer and a sliding layer, and has a partially annular shape. The sliding layer includes a synthetic resin and has a sliding surface. In a center line region of the sliding layer, the sliding layer has a linear expansion coefficient KS in a direction parallel to a circumferential direction of the sliding member, a linear expansion coefficient KJ in a direction parallel to a radial direction of the sliding member, and a linear expansion coefficient KT in a direction perpendicular to the sliding surface, and the linear expansion coefficients KS, KJ, and KT satisfy the following relations (1) and (2): Relation (1): 1.1≤KS/KJ≤2; and Relation (2): 1.3≤KT/{(KS+KJ)/2}≤2.5.

Provided is a sliding member for a thrust bearing. The sliding member includes a back-metal layer and a sliding layer, and has a partially annular shape. The sliding layer includes a synthetic resin and has a sliding surface. In a center line region of the sliding layer, the sliding layer has a linear expansion coefficient KS in a direction parallel to a circumferential direction of the sliding member, a linear expansion coefficient KJ in a direction parallel to a radial direction of the sliding member, and a linear expansion coefficient KT in a direction perpendicular to the sliding surface, and the linear expansion coefficients KS, KJ, and KT satisfy the following relations (1) and (2): Relation (1): 1.1≤KS/KJ≤2; and Relation (2): 1.3≤KT/{(KS+KJ)/2}≤2.5.

Provided is a rack bush capable of reducing an effect on the feeling of a steering operation. A rack bush (1) comprises: a rack bush 1 housed in a cylindrical housing (4), which supports a load applied to a rack bar (5) while allowing movement of the rack bar (5) in the direction of the axis (O) and can be freely expanded and contracted in the radial direction; and elastic rings (3) mounted on the bush body (2). The bush body (2) has mounting grooves (28), which are formed in the circumferential direction on an outer peripheral surface (22) for mounting the elastic ring (3). An axis (P) of the mounting groove (28) are shifted from the axis (O) of the bush body (2). By this arrangement, there are formed an elastic ring protruding part (10), where the elastic rings (3) protrude greatly from the outer peripheral surface (22) of the bush body (2), and an elastic ring embedded part (11), where the elastic rings (3) are embedded in the outer peripheral surface (22) of the bush body (2).

Provided is a rack bush capable of reducing an effect on the feeling of a steering operation. A rack bush (1) comprises: a rack bush 1 housed in a cylindrical housing (4), which supports a load applied to a rack bar (5) while allowing movement of the rack bar (5) in the direction of the axis (O) and can be freely expanded and contracted in the radial direction; and elastic rings (3) mounted on the bush body (2). The bush body (2) has mounting grooves (28), which are formed in the circumferential direction on an outer peripheral surface (22) for mounting the elastic ring (3). An axis (P) of the mounting groove (28) are shifted from the axis (O) of the bush body (2). By this arrangement, there are formed an elastic ring protruding part (10), where the elastic rings (3) protrude greatly from the outer peripheral surface (22) of the bush body (2), and an elastic ring embedded part (11), where the elastic rings (3) are embedded in the outer peripheral surface (22) of the bush body (2).

The present disclosure provides a bearing design that accommodates misalignment of a rotatable shaft in the bearing and is well suited to usage in a particulate-laden fluid. The bearing can be shaped with a curved surface along a longitudinal axis of the bearing, such as in a curved barrel shape or a ball shape, to provide a point contact instead of a line contact as is the case with conventional plain bearings. The point contact allows the bearing to adjust with a misalignment between ends of the shaft or between the external supports and facilitates the assembly and disassembly of the rotating shaft. Because the bearing compensates for misalignment, the bearing surfaces can have closer tolerances for a smaller gap between the bearing surfaces, which can result in improved performance.