SEAL FOR LARGE ROLLER BEARING

Abstract

The invention relates to a seal for a large roller bearing for sealing a joint between two adjacent ring segments or ring parts of the roller bearing, wherein at least two mutually spaced apart sealing limbs of a rubber elastic and/or yielding sealing material for sealing insertion into grooves that are formed at both sides of the joint in ring segments or ring parts that are adjacent to one another and a connection section connecting the sealing limbs and composed of a rubber elastic and/or yielding sealing material to span said joint.

Claims

1. A seal for a large roller bearing for sealing a joint between two adjacent ring segments or ring parts of the roller bearing, wherein the seal comprises: at least two mutually spaced apart sealing limbs comprising a rubber elastic and/or yielding sealing material for sealing insertion into grooves formed at both sides of the joint in ring segments or ring parts adjacent to one another; and a connection section connecting the sealing limbs and comprised of a rubber elastic and/or yielding sealing material that spans the joint.

2. The seal of claim 1, wherein the two mutually spaced apart sealing limbs and the connection section form an elongate section member having a U-shaped cross-section, wherein the connection section is interposed between the sealing limbs.

3. The seal of claim 1, wherein the sealing limbs and the connection section are formed integrally as a single piece with material homogeneity and/or of the same elastic sealing material, wherein the same elastic sealing material comprises a plastic material and/or rubber material.

4. The seal of claim 1, wherein the connection section is configured to permit and compensate deformations and relative movements of the two adjacent ring segments relative to one another so that the joint remains sealed on widening and/or relative movements with respect to one another.

5. The seal of claim 1, further comprising a desired stretching section in a region of the connection section, and wherein the desired stretching section has a greater elasticity and/or a smaller stretching stiffness than adjacent sealing sections and/or the sealing limbs.

6. The seal of claim 5, wherein the desired stretching section has a stretching fold contoured in channel shape or in bead shape, and wherein the stretching fold is configured to be drawn flat by drawing the two sealing limbs apart.

7. The seal of claim 6, wherein the desired stretching section has a reduced wall thickness that is reduced in comparison with the wall thickness of adjacent seal sections and/or in comparison with the wall thickness of the sealing limbs.

8. The seal of claim 6, wherein the desired stretching section has a reduced wall thickness that is reduced in comparison with the wall thickness of adjacent seal sections and/or in comparison with the wall thickness of the sealing limbs.

9. The seal of claim 1, wherein the sealing limbs have laterally projecting sealing lips that lie at the sealing limbs and at the groove walls adjacent thereto on an insertion of the sealing limbs into the sealing grooves.

10. The seal of claim 1, wherein the sealing limbs have a height less than 75% of the width B of the connection section.

11. The seal of claim 1, wherein the sealing limbs have a height less than 50% of the width B of the connection section.

12. A roller bearing in the form of an open centered large roller bearing, comprising: two ball races rotatable with respect to one another, wherein at least one of the ball races comprises ring segments or ring parts adjacent to one another at a joint, the seal of claim 1 for sealing the joint, a respective one sealing groove at both sides of the joint, wherein the respective one sealing groove is open toward the outer side; and wherein the at least two sealing limbs of the seal are sealingly seated in the sealing grooves and with the connection section of the seal spanning the joint.

13. The roller bearing of claim 12, wherein the joint extends in a plane containing the axis of rotation of the roller bearing, and wherein the seal is seated on a peripheral surface of one of the ball races.

14. The roller bearing of claim 12, wherein the joint extends in a plane perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the roller bearing, and wherein the seal is seated on a peripheral surface of one of the ball races.

15. The roller bearing of claim 14, wherein the sealing limbs have elastically deformable press fit sections and/or clamping sections configured to be inserted into the sealing grooves while elastically deformed and be clampingly held in the sealing grooves.

16. The roller bearing of claim 12, wherein the sealing limbs have elastically deformable press fit sections and/or clamping sections configured to be inserted into the sealing grooves while elastically deformed and be clampingly held in the sealing grooves.

17. The roller bearing of claim 13, wherein the sealing limbs have elastically deformable press fit sections and/or clamping sections configured to be inserted into the sealing grooves while elastically deformed and be clampingly held in the sealing grooves.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0026] The invention will be explained in more detail in the following with reference to a preferred embodiment and to associated drawings. There are shown in the drawings:

[0027] FIG. 1: a half-section view of an open centered large roller bearing whose bearing rings are composed of a plurality of ring segments in a segment construction, with the joints of the ring segments each being sealed by a seal and with two seals being visible at the outer periphery of radial joints in FIG. 1;

[0028] FIG. 2: a plan view of the outer ring of the bearing of FIG. 1 along the direction of view A that is entered there and that shows a vertical joint extending in the axial direction between two ring segments and a seal associated with this vertical joint; and

[0029] FIG. 3: a sectional view of one of the seals of FIGS. 1 and 2 that shows the two sealing limbs seated in grooves and the interposed connection sections of the seal.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0030] As FIG. 1 shows, the large rolling bearing 1 can comprise two ball races 2 and 3 of which the one ball race 2 forms an inner ring and the other ball 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 said inner ring 2.

[0031] The one ball race 3, for example the inner ring, can have an open groove 4 to the other ball race 2, for example to the inner ring, in which groove 4 the other ball race 2 engages with a scraper ring 5 provided thereat while forming a gap or with a spacing at all sides.

[0032] As FIG. 1 shows, a plurality of rolling element rows can be provided between the two ball races 3 and 3 and can comprise one or more axial bearing rows 5, 6, and 7 and one or more radial bearing rows 8. Said rolling element bearing rows can in particular be arranged in the region between the scraper ring 5 and the groove 4 to support the two ball races 2 and 3 at one another, but can optionally also be positioned differently than shown in the drawing.

[0033] To be able to insert the scraper ring 5 into said groove 4, the ball race 3 having the groove 4 can be composed of a plurality of ring parts or can comprise a plurality of rings. As FIG. 1 shows, said ball race 3 can, for example, have two separating planes in the region of the groove 4 that can extend perpendicular to the direction of rotation of the bearing. An upper ring 30 and a lower ring 3U can, for example, be seated at oppositely disposed sides of an intermediate ring 3Z and can, for example, be connected to one another by bolts. Joints 9 at which said rings are adjacent to one another are disposed between said upper, intermediate, and lower rings.

[0034] Alternatively or additionally to said joints that extend in planes perpendicular to the axis of rotation, said bearing ring 3 can also comprise further joints that can be disposed in planes containing the axis of rotation of the bearing, cf. FIG. 2. Such vertical joints 12 can result when one or more of said upper, intermediate, and lower rings are each set up of a plurality of ring segments 10, 11 that are set behind one another in the peripheral direction, cf. FIG. 2.

[0035] The other bearing ring 2 can also be composed of a plurality of ring parts or ring segments, for example a retaining ring 2U and a carrying ring 20, with corresponding seals at the joints also being able to be provided at said other ball race 2, even though this is not shown in FIG. 1.

[0036] As FIG. 3 shows, the seals 11 for sealing said joints 9 can form elongate sectional bodies in the manner of an extruded section that can have a substantially unchanging cross-section along their longitudinal extent. Said seal 11 can in particular have an approximately U-shaped cross-section that is formed by two seal limbs 12 and 13 spaced apart from one another and one connection section 14 connecting the sealing limbs 12, 13.

[0037] Said sealing limbs 12 and 13 can be shaped integrally in one piece with material homogeneity at the connection section 14, with said sealing limbs 12 and 13 being able to substantially project perpendicular from the connection section 14 in the manner of webs.

[0038] Laterally projecting, web-shaped sealing lips 15 can be attached, in particular integrally formed in one piece with material homogeneity, at said sealing limbs 12 and 13, cf. FIG. 3.

[0039] Said sealing limbs 12 and 13 are intended to be seated, in particular pressed, in sealing grooves 16 that are worked into the different ring parts or ring segments at both sides of a respective joint 9. Said sealing grooves 16 extend here along a respective joint 9 and are open toward the respective outer side of the ball race so that the seal 11 can be placed onto the respective outer side and the connection section 14 of the seal 11 extends beyond the joint 9. Said outer side of the respective ball race here does not necessarily mean its outer peripheral side since the respective joint 9 can also be sealed on an inner peripheral side of the respective ball race and/or on an axial front end depending on its extend and its configuration. The arrangement of the seal on the outer side to this extent means that the seal 11 is not arranged in the gap, that is in the region of the mutually adjacent segments in the region of the joint, which could, however, nevertheless also be the case.

[0040] As FIG. 3 shows, the seal 11 advantageously has a desired stretching section 17 in the region of the connection section 14, said desired stretching section 17 being able to have an increased elasticity and/or greater yield and/or greater stretchability and/or a smaller stretching resistance in comparison with adjacent sealing sections and/or in comparison with the sealing limbs 12 and 13.

[0041] As FIG. 3 shows, said desired stretching point or said desired stretching section 17 can have a reduced wall thickness that is reduced in comparison with the adjacent sealing sections.

[0042] Alternatively or additionally, said desired stretching section 17 can comprise a stretching fold 18 that is contoured in the form of a channel and/or is arched in a corrugated cardboard-like manner and that extends or is drawn flat on the drawing apart of the sealing limbs 12 and 13 and that compensates said drawing apart of the sealing limbs. A plurality of stretching folds 18 can also be arranged next to one another in this respect.