ROLLING BEARING ASSEMBLY

Abstract

A rolling bearing assembly includes an inner ring supported by a shaft or formed by a surface of the shaft, an outer ring supported in a housing or formed by a surface of the housing, a plurality of rolling elements disposed between the inner ring and the outer ring, and at least one distance sensor configured to measure a distance between the shaft and the housing in order to detect wear of the rolling bearing.

Claims

1. A rolling bearing assembly comprising: an inner ring supported by a shaft or formed by a surface of the shaft, an outer ring supported in a housing or formed by a surface of the housing, a plurality of rolling elements disposed between the inner ring and the outer ring, and at least one distance sensor configured to measure a distance between the shaft and the housing in order to detect wear of the rolling bearing.

2. The rolling bearing assembly according to claim 1, wherein the distance sensor is a component of a distance sensor module integrated in the housing or the outer ring.

3. The rolling bearing assembly according to claim 2, wherein the distance sensor module is disposed on a radial surface of the housing or on a radial surface of the outer ring adjacent to an axial end of the rolling bearing.

4. The rolling bearing assembly according to claim 2, wherein the housing or the outer ring includes a radially extending opening into which the distance sensor module is insertable from the outside.

5. The rolling bearing assembly according to claim 4, wherein the at least one distance sensor comprises a plurality of sensor elements and extends from the housing or from the outer ring toward the shaft so that a surface of at least one of the plurality of sensor elements faces the shaft.

6. The rolling bearing assembly according to claim 5, wherein the distance sensor module includes a tubular, radially extending receptacle wherein the plurality of sensor elements are mounted at least partially in the tubular receptacle, wherein the tubular receptacle extends toward the shaft, and wherein the tubular receptacle is attached to the housing or to the outer ring.

7. The rolling bearing assembly according to claim 6, wherein the tubular receptacle is configured to be pushed into an opening of the housing or the outer ring.

8. The rolling bearing assembly according to claim 2, wherein the distance sensor module includes adjusting means for adjusting the distance between the distance sensor module and the shaft.

9. The rolling bearing assembly according to claim 2, including attachment means for attaching the distance sensor module to the housing or to the outer ring.

10. The rolling bearing assembly according to claim 1, wherein the distance sensor comprises a proximity switch or a path sensor.

11. The rolling bearing assembly according to claim 1, wherein the rolling bearing assembly is a pivot bearing.

12. A method of detecting wear of a rolling bearing assembly that includes an inner ring supported by a shaft or formed by a surface of the shaft, an outer ring supported in a housing or formed by a surface of the housing, and a plurality of rolling elements disposed between the inner ring and the outer ring, the method comprising: using at least one distance sensor to measure a distance between the shaft and the housing.

13. The method according to claim 12, including producing an output signal indicative of the measured distance.

14. The method according to claim 13, including producing a wear indication signal if the output signal indicates a change in the measured distance of more than a predetermined amount.

15. The method according to claim 12, wherein the at least one distance sensor comprises a first distance sensor axially spaced from a second distance sensor, the method further including detecting a tilting of the shaft based on a difference between a first distance measured by the first distance sensor and a second distance measured by the second distance sensor.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0025] FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a rolling bearing assembly including a distance sensor module according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0026] FIG. 2 is an enlarged partial sectional view of one of the distance sensor modules of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0027] In the following, identical or functionally equivalent elements are designated by the same reference numbers.

[0028] FIG. 1 shows a rolling bearing assembly 1, for example, a pivot bearing, in particular a large rolling bearing assembly. The rolling bearing assembly 1 includes a rolling bearing including an inner ring 2 and an outer ring 4, in this case a two-split outer ring 4. Rolling elements 6, which in this case are tapered rollers, are disposed between the inner ring 2 and the outer ring 4. Other types of rolling bearings, such as, for example, ball bearings, can also be used with the disclosed sensors.

[0029] Here the inner ring 2 is supported on a shaft 8. Alternatively the shaft 8 can form the inner ring 2. The outer ring 4 is supported in a housing 10. Alternatively the housing 10 can form the outer ring 4. In order to detect wear of the rolling bearing, the rolling bearing assembly 1 includes one or more distance sensor modules 12, in this case two distance sensor modules 12.

[0030] The distance sensor module 12 is configured to monitor a distance between the housing 10 and the shaft 8. Over the operating life of the rolling bearing assembly 1, the rolling bearing wears and causes the distance between the housing 10 and the shaft 8 to increase. By monitoring the distance between the housing 10 and the shaft 8, wear of the rolling bearing can thus be detected, and an exchange or a repair of the rolling bearing can be effected in a timely manner.

[0031] In the embodiment shown here, the distance sensor module 12 is integrated into the housing 10. Alternatively the distance sensor module 12 can also be integrated in the outer ring 4. The distance sensor module 12 includes a sensor 16 that serves to measure a distance 14 between the sensor 16 and the shaft 8. This distance 14 is representative of the distance between the housing 10 and the shaft 8, since with wear of the rolling bearing, the distance between the shaft 8 and the housing 10 changes, and thus the sensor 16 moves toward the shaft 8 or moves away from it. The sensor 16 can be a proximity switch or path sensor that is suitable for measuring a distance 14 to the shaft 8.

[0032] If two distance sensor modules 12 are used, as is shown in FIG. 1, in addition to measuring a distance between the housing 10 and the shaft 8, a tilting of the shaft 8 can also be detected. Since the wear of the rolling bearing can be different over the length of the rolling bearing, a tilting of the shaft 8 can result. Such a tilting of the shaft 8 can be recognized by changes in the different distances 14 that are detected by the distance sensor modules 12.

[0033] The distance sensor module 12, which is shown in FIG. 2 in an enlarged view, includes a tubular receptacle 18 into which the sensor 16 is received. The tubular receptacle 18 can be pushed into a through-opening 20 of the housing 10. The distance sensor module 12 including the tubular receptacle 18 is preferably pushed into the housing 10 from outside.

[0034] In this way a simple installation of the distance sensor module 12 from the outside is possible without the rolling bearing assembly 1 having to be dismantled for this purpose. Furthermore, the rolling bearing 1 can already be fully installed, and the distance sensor module 12 can be pushed in and attached last.

[0035] The distance sensor module 12 includes a connecting element 22, for example, a plug, that is accessible from the outside. The connecting element 22 can be connected to an external evaluation unit (not shown) in order to process information from the sensor 16. The connecting element 22 is connected via a cable 24 to the sensor 16, for example, via a connecting element 26. Alternatively such a connection can also be effected wirelessly. The cable 24 and all other sensor elements are disposed in the tubular receptacle 18, so that they can on the one hand be installed as a single module, and on the other hand are protected in the tubular receptacle 18.

[0036] The distance sensor module 12 can be connected via attachment means 28 to the housing 10. These attachment elements 28 can simultaneously serve as an adjusting device in order to carry out an adapting of the distance 14 between the distance sensor module 12, or the sensor 16, and the shaft 8.

[0037] In particular, these attachment means 28 can be disposed in an attachment housing 29 that surrounds the receptacle 18. A thread 30 is provided between the attachment housing 29 and the receptacle 18. In order to adjust the distance 14 between the sensor 16 and the shaft 8, an adjusting device 36 of the distance sensor module 12 can be rotated in the thread 30, and the receptacle 18 including the sensor 16 can be moved closer to the shaft 8 or moved away from it. After the adjusting, the receptacle 18 can be fixed by a fixing device 34 and additionally clamped by clamping elements 32.

[0038] In this way the same distance sensor module 12 can be used in different rolling bearing assemblies 1 since it can be adapted to the specific dimensions of a given rolling bearing assembly.

[0039] Due to the rolling bearing assembly disclosed here including the distance sensor module, it is possible in a simple manner to detect wear of a rolling bearing, wherein the distance between a housing and a shaft is monitored. Wear of the rolling bearing can thus be reliably detected, even when only a pivot movement of the rolling bearing is present.

[0040] Representative, non-limiting examples of the present invention were described above in detail with reference to the attached drawings. This detailed description is merely intended to teach a person of skill in the art further details for practicing preferred aspects of the present teachings and is not intended to limit the scope of the invention. Furthermore, each of the additional features and teachings disclosed above may be utilized separately or in conjunction with other features and teachings to provide improved roller bearing assemblies.

[0041] Moreover, combinations of features and steps disclosed in the above detailed description may not be necessary to practice the invention in the broadest sense, and are instead taught merely to particularly describe representative examples of the invention. Furthermore, various features of the above-described representative examples, as well as the various independent and dependent claims below, may be combined in ways that are not specifically and explicitly enumerated in order to provide additional useful embodiments of the present teachings.

[0042] All features disclosed in the description and/or the claims are intended to be disclosed separately and independently from each other for the purpose of original written disclosure, as well as for the purpose of restricting the claimed subject matter, independent of the compositions of the features in the embodiments and/or the claims. In addition, all value ranges or indications of groups of entities are intended to disclose every possible intermediate value or intermediate entity for the purpose of original written disclosure, as well as for the purpose of restricting the claimed subject matter.

REFERENCE NUMBER LIST

[0043] 1 Rolling bearing assembly [0044] 2 Inner ring [0045] 3 Outer ring [0046] 6 Rolling element [0047] 8 Shaft [0048] 10 Housing [0049] 12 Distance sensor module [0050] 14 Distance [0051] 16 Sensor [0052] 18 Tubular receptacle [0053] 20 Through-opening [0054] 22 Connecting element [0055] 24 Cable [0056] 26 Connecting element [0057] 28 Attachment means [0058] 29 Attachment housing [0059] 30 Thread [0060] 32 Clamping element [0061] 34 Fixing device [0062] 36 Adjusting device