A roller bearing assembly including an tapered inner cup (110) defining an inner raceway (118), an tapered outer cup (130) defining an outer raceway (138), the outer raceway having a convex profile, the convex profile being defined by an intersection of the outer raceway and a central plane in which a longitudinal center axis of the roller bearing assembly lies, and a plurality of cylindrical rollers (150) disposed between the tapered inner cup and the tapered outer cup so that each roller is in rolling contact with the inner raceway and the outer raceway, each roller having a first end face (152), a second end face (154) and a cylindrical body extending therebetween.

A method for preloading a bearing includes releasably, threadably, and directly attaching an attaching member to a circumferential outside surface of an exposed end of a threaded shaft of an axle or spindle. A frame is axially separated from, and coupled to, the attaching member. A plurality of extensions extends from the frame axially past the attaching member toward the wheel hub assembly. An adjustment mechanism moves the frame and the plurality of extensions axially towards the wheel hub assembly to contact the wheel hub assembly and/or the bearing to apply a preload to the bearing within the wheel hub assembly.

A method for preloading a bearing includes releasably, threadably, and directly attaching an attaching member to a circumferential outside surface of an exposed end of a threaded shaft of an axle or spindle. A frame is axially separated from, and coupled to, the attaching member. A plurality of extensions extends from the frame axially past the attaching member toward the wheel hub assembly. An adjustment mechanism moves the frame and the plurality of extensions axially towards the wheel hub assembly to contact the wheel hub assembly and/or the bearing to apply a preload to the bearing within the wheel hub assembly.

A bearing assembly includes a roller bearing unit, an inner race and an outer race. The roller bearing unit is formed of polycrystalline super-hard material having a mean mass density of at most 4.5 g/cm.sup.3 and a volume-weighted arithmetic mean thermal conductivity of at least 100 W/m.Math.K.

Bearing steel comprising cubic boron nitride (c-BN) and/or nickel coated cBN spark plasma sintered at a temperature in the range of 850-1050° C. is disclosed. The tribological and corrosion resistance of the bearing steel improved with increasing the amount of c-BN. Further improvement in the properties was achieved with the incorporation of nickel coated c-BN, which caused a phase transition of the bearing steel from magnetic to non-magnetic phase accompanied by interdiffusion enhancement between the matrix and c-BN reinforcement.

Bearing steel comprising cubic boron nitride (c-BN) and/or nickel coated cBN spark plasma sintered at a temperature in the range of 850-1050° C. is disclosed. The tribological and corrosion resistance of the bearing steel improved with increasing the amount of c-BN. Further improvement in the properties was achieved with the incorporation of nickel coated c-BN, which caused a phase transition of the bearing steel from magnetic to non-magnetic phase accompanied by interdiffusion enhancement between the matrix and c-BN reinforcement.

To provide: a silicon nitride sintered body having excellent mechanical property, in particular fracture toughness, and having long lifetime of a product into which the silicon nitride sintered body is processed; a rolling element using the silicon nitride sintered body; and a bearing. The silicon nitride sintered body contains a rare earth element and an aluminum element. The silicon nitride sintered body contains 6-13 wt % of the rare earth element in terms of oxide, and 6-13 wt % of the aluminum element in terms of oxide, relative to the total weight of the silicon nitride sintered body. The silicon nitride sintered body contains an inclusion (I) in a surface layer portion that is a region within 2 mm from a surface of the silicon nitride sintered body. A ratio of a total sectional area of the inclusion (I) to a total sectional area of the surface layer portion is 0.05% or more.

To provide: a silicon nitride sintered body having excellent mechanical property, in particular fracture toughness, and having long lifetime of a product into which the silicon nitride sintered body is processed; a rolling element using the silicon nitride sintered body; and a bearing. The silicon nitride sintered body contains a rare earth element and an aluminum element. The silicon nitride sintered body contains 6-13 wt % of the rare earth element in terms of oxide, and 6-13 wt % of the aluminum element in terms of oxide, relative to the total weight of the silicon nitride sintered body. The silicon nitride sintered body contains an inclusion (I) in a surface layer portion that is a region within 2 mm from a surface of the silicon nitride sintered body. A ratio of a total sectional area of the inclusion (I) to a total sectional area of the surface layer portion is 0.05% or more.

A rolling bearing mechanism comprising a rod (110), an outer ring (130) surrounding the rod coaxially, and rollers (120) interposed between the rod (110) and the outer ring (130), with the rod, the outer ring, and the rollers each having a respective right-handed thread and a respective left-handed thread, the left-handed threads (122a) of the rollers meshing with the right-handed thread (112a) of the rod and with the left-handed thread of the outer ring, and the right-handed threads (122b) of the rollers (120) meshing with the left-handed thread (112b) of the rod (110) and with the right-handed thread of the outer ring (130).

A bearing including: a sidewall including a substrate and a low friction layer overlying the substrate, where the sidewall further includes: an unformed section; at least one slot in the unformed section; and at least one protrusion extending from the unformed section forming a generally concave or convex cross-sectional shape in the sidewall.