LARGE ROLLING BEARING

Abstract

The invention relates to a rolling bearing, in particular a center-free large rolling bearing, comprising two concentric races, of which one race has a groove open toward the other race and the other race has a lug ring, which engages in said groove, the lug ring being supported on the groove by means of at least two thrust bearings and at least one radial bearing, said axial bearings being designed as roller bearings, all the radial bearings being designed as ball bearings.

Claims

1. A center-free large rolling bearing comprising: a first race; and a second race concentric with the first race, wherein the first race has a groove open toward the second race, and wherein the second race has a lug ring which engages in the groove, wherein the lug ring is supported on the groove by at least two axial bearings and at least one radial bearing, wherein the axial bearings are configured as roller bearings, and wherein all of the radial bearings comprise ball bearings.

2. The rolling bearing of claim 1, further comprising exactly two axial bearings and exactly one radial bearing.

3. The rolling bearing of claim 1, wherein a ball diameter of the radial bearing is smaller than a roller diameter of the axial bearings.

4. The rolling bearing of claim 3, wherein the ball diameter is about 30% to 85% of the roller diameter.

5. The rolling bearing of claim 3, wherein the ball diameter is about 40% to 60% of the roller diameter.

6. The rolling bearing of claim 1, wherein the radial bearing is mounted under a radial preload of the races and balls of the ball bearing against each other.

7. The rolling bearing of claim 1, wherein the two axial bearings are arranged in two planes spaced apart from one another and extending perpendicularly to the axis of rotation of the bearing, wherein the radial bearing is centrally arranged between the two planes.

8. The rolling bearing of claim 1, wherein the axial bearings are arranged on opposite end faces of the lug ring and the radial bearing is arranged on an outer circumferential surface of the lug ring between the end faces thereof.

9. The rolling bearing of claim 1, wherein the axial bearings overlap one another viewed in the direction of its axis of rotation of the rolling bearing, the axial bearings having identical raceway diameters.

10. The rolling bearing of claim 1, wherein the radial bearing has a raceway diameter which is larger or smaller than all raceway diameters of the axial bearings.

11. The rolling bearing of claim 1, wherein the axial bearings are formed identically to one another and have rolling elements with the same diameter and the same width.

12. The rolling bearing of claim 1, wherein the axial bearings each comprise cylindrical roller bearings in a single row.

13. The rolling bearing of claim 1, wherein the radial bearing is configured in a single row.

14. The rolling bearing of claim 1, wherein one of the races has teeth for engagement with a rotary drive pinion.

15. The rolling bearing of claim 1, wherein the race having the groove has a split configuration having a split plane perpendicular to the bearing axis of rotation in the region of the groove.

16. The rolling bearing of claim 1, wherein at least one race has a pitch plane extending between the radial bearing and one of the axial bearings.

17. A wind turbine comprising: a rotor rotatably mounted on a gondola and on which a plurality of rotor blades are each mounted rotatably about their rotor blade longitudinal axis, the gondola being mounted on a tower rotatably about an upright axis; and a center-free large rolling bearing of claim 1 in each case for the rotatable mounting of the gondola and/or for the rotatable mounting of the rotor blades.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0031] The invention is explained in more detail below on the basis of a preferred exemplary embodiment and the corresponding drawings. The drawings show:

[0032] FIG. 1: shows a longitudinal half-section of an center-free large rolling bearing according to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, in which the two bearing races are supported against each other by two axial bearings in the form of cylindrical roller bearings and one radial bearing in the form of one ball bearing.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0033] As FIG. 1 shows, the rolling bearing 1 can comprise two bearing races 2 and 3, of which one bearing race 2 forms an inner ring and the other bearing race 3 forms an outer ring. Said inner ring 2 can have a smaller inner diameter than the outer ring 3 and/or the outer ring 3 can have a larger outer diameter than the inner ring 2.

[0034] The one bearing race 3, preferably the outer ring, can have a groove 4 which is open toward the other bearing race 2, preferably toward the inner ring, and into which the other bearing race 2 engages with a lug ring 5 that is provided thereon so as to form a gap or with spacing on all sides. Said groove 4 can advantageously encompass the lug ring 5 from four sides, namely on two opposing sides of the lateral surface and on two opposing sides of the front side of the lug ring 5.

[0035] Here, said groove 4 has a—roughly—U-shaped bottom contour in which the groove bottom—right and left in FIG. 1—is encompassed by two bearing ring limbs. Furthermore, the groove 4 can have a transversely projecting prolongation 4a on a side opposite the bottom of the groove, which encompasses the front of lug ring 5 on a side opposite the bottom of the groove. Overall, said groove 4 can be configured such that it is undercut. To be able to inset the lug ring 5 into the groove 4, the bearing race 2 with the groove 4 can be composed of a support ring 6 and a retaining ring 7 that can be placed on the support ring, cf. FIG. 1.

[0036] As FIG. 1 shows, the lug ring 5 can be supported opposite the groove by two axial bearings 8 and 9 and by one radial bearing 7. Advantageous here is that the two axial bearings 8, 9 are disposed on opposite lug ring end faces. The radial bearing 7 may be arranged on an outer peripheral side of said lug ring 5.

[0037] Both the radial bearing 7 and the two axial bearings 8 and 9 can be arranged in the overall approximately U-shaped gap which results between the groove and the lug ring 5 sinking into it.

[0038] As FIG. 1 shows, the two axial bearings 8 and 9 are configured as roller bearings, wherein the rolling elements of the axial bearings 8 and 9 can be cylindrical rollers, for example. As specified at the beginning, however, tapered roller bearings can also be provided.

[0039] In the embodiment shown, single-row cylindrical roller bearings are provided as axial bearings 8 and 9. However, two-row or multi-row roller bearings could also be provided as axial bearings 8 or as axial bearings 9, wherein in the case of a multi-row arrangement the raceways of the axial bearings 8, 9 for the plurality of rows can be arranged offset with respect to one another or one from another.

[0040] The radial bearing 7 is configured as a ball bearing, cf. FIG. 1.

[0041] The ball diameter of the balls of the radial bearing 7 is advantageously significantly smaller than the roller diameter of the cylindrical or conical rolling elements of the two axial bearings 8 and 9.

[0042] As specified at the beginning, the radial bearing 7 is mounted under preload.

[0043] As FIG. 1 shows, the two radial bearings 7 can have substantially the same raceway diameter. If the rolling bearing 1 is viewed in the direction of its bearing axis of rotation 6—i.e. in the axial direction—the two axial bearings 8 and 9 overlap at least partially, in particular also completely.

[0044] The radial bearing 7 has a raceway diameter that is larger or smaller than the raceway diameter of the axial bearings 8 and 9, so that the radial bearing 7 is arranged offset in the radial direction with respect to the axial bearings 8 and 9.

[0045] As FIG. 1 shows, the radial bearing 7 is arranged approximately centrally between the two axial bearings 8 and 9, in particular approximately centrally between the two planes in which the two axial bearings 8 and 9 are arranged, which planes extend perpendicularly to the bearing axis of rotation 6.

[0046] As FIG. 1 shows, the two axial bearings 8 and 9 can be of identical design to each other, i.e. they can each be cylindrical roller bearings with the same cylinder diameter, for example. Alternatively, there can also be used tapered roller bearings that are identical to each other. Alternatively, axial bearings 8 and 9 of different design can also be used.

[0047] The space formed between the lug ring 5 and the groove 4 may be sealed by two rotary seals 10 to prevent ingress of dirt or leakage of lubricant.

[0048] As FIG. 1 shows, one of the two races 2, 3 can be provided with a toothing 11, for example the inner race 2, in order to be able to rotate the two races with respect to one another by means of a suitable rotary drive, for example comprising a drivable pinion.

[0049] At least one of the two races 2 and 3 may be segmented. In particular, the bearing ring having the groove 4, in particular the outer ring 3, can be configured to be split in order to be able to mount the lug ring 5 in the groove 4 in a simple manner.