ANTI-FRICTION BEARING CAGE, METHOD FOR PRODUCING AN ANTI-FRICTION BEARING CAGE, AND USE OF A SLIDE

Abstract

An anti-friction bearing cage for an anti-friction bearing includes a cage ring with an inner radius, a first cage bar, a second cage bar, and a receiving pocket delimited by the cage ring and the cage bars. The first cage bar projects from the cage ring and includes a first side flank with a first part surface extending in a demolding direction for a common slide and a second part surface arranged adjoining the inner radius. The second cage bar projects from the cage ring and is successive to the first cage bar in the circumferential direction. The second cage bar has a second side flank, pointing towards the first side flank in a tangential direction, with a third part surface extending in the demolding direction and parallel to the first part surface in a part region, and a fourth part surface arranged at a spacing from the inner radius.

Claims

1.-9. (canceled)

10. An anti-friction bearing cage for an anti-friction bearing, comprising: a cage ring, extending in a closed manner in a circumferential direction, comprising: an inner radius; and a first cage bar, projecting in an axial direction from the cage ring, comprising: a first cross-sectional geometry; and a first side flank comprising: a first part surface extending in a demolding direction for a common slide; and a second part surface arranged adjoining the inner radius; a second cage bar, projecting in the axial direction from the cage ring and successive to the first cage bar in the circumferential direction, comprising: a second cross-sectional geometry, different that the first cross-sectional geometry; a second side flank, pointing towards the first side flank in a tangential direction, comprising: a third part surface extending in the demolding direction and parallel to the first part surface in a part region; and a fourth part surface arranged at a spacing from the inner radius; and a receiving pocket for receiving a rolling body, delimited by the cage ring, the first cage bar, and the second cage bar.

11. The anti-friction bearing cage of claim 10, wherein the first side flank and the second side flank are molded to a common predefined rolling radius for positioning a center point of the rolling body in the receiving pocket.

12. The anti-friction bearing cage of claim 10, wherein: the first side flank comprises a first contact surface, positioned on a first radius, for abutment against the rolling body; and the second side flank comprises a second contact surface, positioned on a second radius, different than the first radius, for abutment against the rolling body.

13. The anti-friction bearing cage of claim 10, wherein: the first cage bar comprises a third side flank, pointing away from the first side flank in the tangential direction, comprising a fifth part surface parallel to the first part surface and extending in the demolding direction in the part region; or the second cage bar comprises a fourth side flank, pointing away from the second side flank in the tangential direction, comprising a sixth part surface parallel to the third part surface and extending in the demolding direction in the part region.

14. The anti-friction bearing cage of claim 10, wherein a one of the first cage bar or the second cage bar comprises a radially outside attachment, projecting in the tangential direction or the circumferential direction, for partially radially covering the rolling body.

15. The anti-friction bearing cage of claim 14, wherein the one comprises an indentation, delimited by the attachment, that is: undercut in the tangential direction; freely accessible in the demolding direction; and angled in relation to a radial direction of one.

16. A method for producing the anti-friction bearing cage of claim 10 by injection molding, comprising the steps of: preparing the common slide in a mold; pouring a plastics material into the mold such that the common slide is at least partially surrounded by the plastics material to form the first cage bar or the second cage bar; and displacing the common slide radially outward relative to the mold in order to simultaneously demold at least two receiving pockets.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein two adjacent common slides produce a negative form of the first cage bar or the second cage bar.

18. A slide comprising at least two continuations for realizing and demolding at least two receiving pockets in the anti-friction bearing cage of claim 10 in a plastics material by an injection molding process.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0023] The disclosure is explained as an example below with reference to the accompanying drawings by way of exemplary embodiments, the features shown below being able to show an aspect of the disclosure both individually in each case and also in combination. The figures are as follows:

[0024] FIG. 1 shows a schematic sectional view of part of an anti-friction bearing cage during production,

[0025] FIG. 2 shows a schematic perspective view of the anti-friction bearing cage from FIG. 1 and

[0026] FIG. 3 shows a schematic view of a detail of the anti-friction bearing cage from FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0027] The anti-friction bearing cage 10 shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 includes two cage rings 12 which rotate in the circumferential direction, are spaced apart from one another in the axial direction and are arranged one behind another, between which multiple cage bars 14 are arranged one behind another in the circumferential direction. The cage rings 12 and in each case two successive cage bars 14 in the circumferential direction delimit a receiving pocket 16, in each of which a rolling body 18 can be inserted. The cage bars 14, which delimit a receiving pocket 16, include side flanks 24 (ref. FIG. 3) which point to one another. The anti-friction bearing cage 10 includes an inner radius R.

[0028] The anti-friction bearing cage 10 can be produced by plastics material injection molding. In the exemplary embodiment shown, two successive receiving pockets 16 in the circumferential direction may be formed by a common slide 20 which is displaceable in the radial direction. To this end, the slide 20 includes two successive continuations 22 in the circumferential direction of the anti-friction bearing cage 10 which realize a negative form for the respective receiving pocket 16. A negative form for the cage bar 14, which is located between the receiving pockets 16 realized by the continuations 22 of the common slide 20, is realized additionally between the continuations 22.

[0029] As shown in particular in FIG. 3, the successive cage bars 14 in the circumferential direction are each molded differently, e.g., alternatingly. The cage bars 14 include the side flanks 24. In the exemplary embodiment shown, side flanks 24 include a rounded contact surface 26 for flat abutment against the rolling body 18 and part surfaces 30 which extend along a demolding direction 28, and the part surfaces 30 are molded by the same slide 20 extending substantially parallel to one another and to the demolding direction 28 of the slide 20. In this case, the part surfaces 30 can extend, where applicable, slightly angled with respect to the demolding direction 28 by a draft angle. As a result of the comparatively strong angling of the demolding direction 28 of the respective receiving pocket 16 with respect to the radial direction, it is even possible to realize the contact surface 26 on a side flank 24 of the receiving pocket 16 as an indentation which, when viewed in the radial direction, is undercut by a nose-shaped attachment 32, the indentation for the associated continuation 22 of the slide 20 not actually being arranged in an undercut manner. In addition, the contact surfaces 26 of various cage bars 14 of a receiving pocket 16 under consideration are positioned offset to one another in the radial direction in order to be able to hold the rotational axis of the rolling body 18 on a defined radius.

[0030] The cage bar 14, which is delimited on both sides by continuations 22 of the one slide 20 when the two receiving pockets 16 are molded at the same time, includes second part surfaces 30b which are arranged on both sides at a spacing from the inner radius R of the anti-friction bearing cage 10. The two cage bars 14, which adjoin the receiving pockets 16 at the side, each comprise on their side flank 24 pointing to the respective receiving pocket 16 a first part surface 30a which adjoins directly to the inner radius R of the anti-friction bearing cage 10. As a result, a receiving space B for lubricant is realized between the rolling body 18 and the first part surface 30a (reference FIG. 1).

REFERENCE NUMERALS

[0031] 10 Anti-friction bearing cage

[0032] 12 Cage ring

[0033] 14 Cage bar

[0034] 16 Receiving pocket

[0035] 18 Rolling body

[0036] 20 Slide

[0037] 22 Continuation

[0038] 24 Side flank

[0039] 26 Contact surface

[0040] 28 Demolding direction

[0041] 30 Part surface

[0042] 30a First part surface

[0043] 30b Second part surface

[0044] 32 Attachment

[0045] R Inner radius

[0046] B Receiving space for lubricant