BEARING FOR FASTENING ROTATING SHAFTS ON SUPPORT POSTS

Abstract

A bearing for fastening rotating shafts on support posts is provided, having a support (1) by which a clamp (3) is fastened on the support post (2), incorporating in the clamp (3) a ball joint (4.1) through which the rotating shaft (5) to be fastened passes, wherein the support (1) is made up of two complementary portions, which are axially attached facing one another, retaining the support post (2) between them, whereas on the assembly of the mentioned support (1) there is fixed a clamp (3) which houses internally a spherical ball joint (4.1) which determines a central opening through which the rotating shaft (5) to be fastened passes.

Claims

1. A bearing for fastening rotating shafts on support posts, comprising a support (1) by means of which a clamp (3) is fastened on a support post (2), incorporating in the clamp (3) a spherical ball joint (4.1) through which a rotating shaft (5) to be fastened passes, wherein the support (1) is made up of two complementary portions, which are axially attached facing one another, retaining the support post (2) between them, whereas on the assembly of the mentioned support (1) there is fixed the clamp (3) which houses internally the spherical ball joint (4.1) which determines a central opening through which the rotating shaft (5) to be fastened passes.

2. The bearing for fastening rotating shafts on support posts according to claim 1, wherein the clamp (3) is made up of two parts that can be assembled axially and can be fixed to the corresponding portion of the support (1).

3. The bearing for fastening rotating shafts on support posts according to claim 1, wherein the annular configuration of the clamp (3) is made up of two complementary sectors (3.2) and (3.3), which are attached forming an annular configuration defining the housing in which the ball joint (4.1) is incorporated.

4. The bearing for fastening rotating shafts on support posts according to claim 1, wherein the ball joint (4.1) is made up of two complementary portions determining therebetween a central opening having a configuration corresponding with the section of the rotating shaft (5) to be fastened.

5. A bearing system for fastening rotating shafts on support posts, wherein the support post (2) comprises at least one attachment part (6) on which two bearings according to claim 1 are incorporated.

Description

DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[0015] Drawings that are merely explanatory but non-limiting are included to support the description of the invention.

[0016] FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a practical embodiment of a bearing according to the object of the invention.

[0017] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the bearing of FIG. 1 assembled.

[0018] FIG. 3 shows another practical embodiment with another design of a component part of the clamp of the bearing object of the invention.

[0019] FIG. 4 is an exploded view of a practical embodiment of the clamp of the bearing formed with the annular configuration made up of two complementary sectors.

[0020] FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the bearing assembled with the clamp formed according to the embodiment of FIG. 4.

[0021] FIG. 6 shows a perspective view of a practical embodiment of a bearing system of the invention with double bearing.

[0022] FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a part for fastening the bearings in the double assembly of the preceding figure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0023] The proposed invention relates to a bearing for fastening rotating shafts on support posts, for example, during assembly of a solar tracker installation, with an embodiment which improves the functionality of the conventional installations of said application.

[0024] As can be seen in FIG. 1, said bearing object of the invention comprises a support (1) made up of two complementary portions which are arranged axially facing one another, with the direction of the rotating shaft (5) being considered the axial direction, and with the portions being fixed by means of screws or similar means through perforations (1.1). Fastening on a support post (2) is established by means of the attachment of said complementary portions, with the post being retained and held between the portions. Meanwhile, on the assembly of the support (1) there is fixed a clamp (3), which is made up of two axially facing parts that are fixed to one another by means of screws or similar means through perforations (3.1). The clamp (3) with an annular configuration houses therein a ball joint (4.1) which has a spherical surface externally in correspondence with the inner seating of the annular configuration of the clamp (3), whereas in the central area, said ball joint (4) determines an opening having a configuration corresponding with the section of the rotating shaft (5) to be fastened in the application of the bearing. The ball joint (4) is preferably made up of two complementary portions, which are attached to one another determining between them the central opening for the passage of the rotating shaft (5) through the ball joint (4).

[0025] In this way, the assembly of the bearing in the installation of application, such as for fastening the rotating shaft (5) of a solar tracker, can be performed by first fixing the support post (2) on the ground of the installation site, to then incorporating the support (1) by means of attaching its complementary portions, retaining the post (2) between them, and once in this state, fixing the clamp (3) on the support (1) with the ball joint (4) included between the component parts of said clamp (3) once the ball joint (4) is arranged on the rotating shaft (5) to be fastened.

[0026] FIG. 3 shows a practical embodiment in which the clamp (3) has a side reinforcement rib so that the clamp (3) has a higher stress resistance, without any increase in weight.

[0027] To facilitate assembly, an embodiment of the clamp (3) with its annular configuration formed by two complementary sectors, as shown in FIG. 5, is furthermore envisaged, thereby forming an annular configuration which can be opened by separating the two sectors (3.2) and (3.3), whereby the assembly on the rotating shaft (5) to be fastened can be performed without having to pass the entire length of said rotating shaft (5) through the bearing, since both the clamp (3) and the ball joint (4.1) can be opened by separating their respective component parts. The rotating shaft (5) is placed on the lower portion of the ball joint (4.1) in turn arranged on the lower portion (3.2) of the clamp (3), and once the rotating shaft (5) is placed, the upper portions of the ball joint (4.1) and the upper portion (3.3) of the clamp (3) are incorporated. The assembly is then closed by means of attaching the sectors (3.2 and 3.3) of the clamp (3) with screws or similar fastening means through perforations (3.1).

[0028] To increase the fastening strength of the rotating shaft (5) to be fastened, thereby allowing the fastening of rotating shafts (5) and application in structures of greater weight and dimensions, a bearing system with double bearing as seen in FIG. 6 is envisaged, using U-shaped attachment parts (6) which are fixed on the post (2) through perforations (6.1). There are incorporated on the mentioned attachment parts (6) respective structured bearings in accordance with the object of the invention according to any one of the embodiments described above, so as to arrange the rotating shaft (5) to be fastened such that it goes through the two bearings thus arranged on the support post (2).

[0029] In any case, the design of the attachment parts (6) which are used for fastening the bearings in said double bearing embodiment of FIGS. 6 and 7 is non-limiting, where other types of designs, such as a single part with a square section or the like, can be used, thereby optimizing the number of elements used in said double bearing embodiment.

[0030] Moreover, the central opening of the ball joint (4.1) can be designed with any configuration in order to adapt to the different sections of the rotating shafts (5) to be fastened, without this altering the object of the invention.