A cage for a radial roller bearing includes an inner cage member made of a continuous annular steel material and having a plurality of through holes, in which a plurality of rollers is housed in a corresponding one of the through holes, and an outer cage member made from resin and having a plurality of retaining holes, in which the plurality of rollers is retained such that the rollers are rollable, provided in correspondence with the through holes. The outer cage member is fixed to an outer side of the inner cage member by an axial projection-recess fitting structure.

The invention relates to a rolling element bearing cage formed of one or more segments, each segment comprising: a supporting frame having a plurality of spaced apart openings each for accommodating a rolling element; and a reinforcing frame, inserted within the supporting frame, having a corresponding plurality of openings each for aligning with the openings of the supporting frame.

A cage segment for a rolling-element bearing cage includes first and second side elements connected by a bridge extending in a longitudinal direction. A first attaching element on the first side element extends away from the bridge in a first direction parallel to the longitudinal axis and a second attaching element on the second side element extends away from the bridge in a second direction parallel to the longitudinal axis. The first and second attaching elements are configured to receive a wire or cable for connecting the cage segments to other cage segments, and the first attaching element is offset from the longitudinal axis in a first direction by a first distance and the second attaching element is offset from the longitudinal axis in a second direction opposite the first direction by a second distance.

A cage for a radial roller bearing includes an inner cage member made of a continuous annular steel material and having a plurality of through holes, in which a plurality of rollers is housed in a corresponding one of the through holes, and an outer cage member made from resin and having a plurality of retaining holes, in which the plurality of rollers is retained such that the rollers are rollable, provided in correspondence with the through holes. The outer cage member is fixed to an outer side of the inner cage member by an axial projection-recess fitting structure.

A ball retainer includes a chain belt, a hook, and a slot portion. The hook is arranged on the first end of the chain belt. The hook includes a neck portion, a hook body, two leaning protrusions, and a limiting protrusion. The hook body is connected to the neck portion. The two leaning protrusions extend outward along the short side direction of the chain belt toward two sides of the hook body, respectively. The slot portion is arranged on the second end of the chain belt. The slot portion includes a slot, two abutting portions, a connecting portion, and a receiving portion. After the hook is correspondingly engaged with the slot portion, the hook body is accommodated in the slot, the two leaning protrusions correspondingly lean against the two abutting portions, the neck portion leans against the connecting portion, and the limiting protrusion is correspondingly accommodated in the receiving portion.

An improved bearing assembly is disclosed. Ring-shaped rolling elements in an alternating staggered formation, which allows maintenance of the bearing assembly geometry with fewer structural elements than prior bearings. The rolling elements can create a constant elastic tension, or pre-load, which maintains the bearing assembly geometry under various loads and rotational speeds, and reduces wear on the rolling elements and the raceways. The rolling elements can also comprise energy-dampening members and/or instrumentation which can monitor the functioning of the bearing assembly. An alternate embodiment in which the rolling elements are interlocked allows the use of more rolling elements in the same volume. An improved cage assembly, highly suitable for use with the improved bearing assembly, is also disclosed. The improved cage assembly comprises individual cage segments, which each retain one rolling element. The cage assembly can flex at every joint in a way not allowed by prior cage assemblies.

An assembly for a rolling element bearing, the assembly including a first cage segment and a second cage segment which are releasably connectable to one another, and at least one rolling element. The assembly further comprises a cage pocket for receiving the at least one rolling element. The cage pocket is at least partly defined by a cage pocket wall of at least one of the first cage segment and the second cage segment. The assembly is such that, when the at least one rolling element is in the cage pocket, the at least one rolling element prevents the first cage segment and the second cage segment from being releasably disengaged. A rolling element bearing can incorporate such an assembly.

The invention relates to a rolling element bearing cage formed of one or more segments, each segment comprising: a supporting frame having a plurality of spaced apart openings each for accommodating a rolling element; and a reinforcing frame, inserted within the supporting frame, having a corresponding plurality of openings each for aligning with the openings of the supporting frame.

An improved bearing assembly is disclosed. Ring-shaped rolling elements in an alternating staggered formation, which allows maintenance of the bearing assembly geometry with fewer structural elements than prior bearings. The rolling elements can create a constant elastic tension, or pre-load, which maintains the bearing assembly geometry under various loads and rotational speeds, and reduces wear on the rolling elements and the raceways. The rolling elements can also comprise energy-dampening members and/or instrumentation which can monitor the functioning of the bearing assembly. An alternate embodiment in which the rolling elements are interlocked allows the use of more rolling elements in the same volume. An improved cage assembly, highly suitable for use with the improved bearing assembly, is also disclosed. The improved cage assembly comprises individual cage segments, which each retain one rolling element. The cage assembly can flex at every joint in a way not allowed by prior cage assemblies.

A bearing cage for rolling element bearings, that is annular and centered on a central axis. The bearing cage provides a plurality of circumferentially adjacent pockets dedicated to receive each a rolling element. The bearing cage being split in the circumferential direction along a line of separation to define a first side and a second side that are circumferentially separated from each other. The first side and second side having fixing means to fix the first side and second side to each other such that the bearing cage can have different diameters.