Abstract
An assembly for a rolling element bearing, the assembly including a first cage segment and a second cage segment which are releasably connectable to one another, and at least one rolling element. The assembly further comprises a cage pocket for receiving the at least one rolling element. The cage pocket is at least partly defined by a cage pocket wall of at least one of the first cage segment and the second cage segment. The assembly is such that, when the at least one rolling element is in the cage pocket, the at least one rolling element prevents the first cage segment and the second cage segment from being releasably disengaged. A rolling element bearing can incorporate such an assembly.
Claims
1. An assembly for a rolling element bearing, comprising, a first cage segment and a second cage segment being releasably connectable to one another; at least one rolling element; and a cage pocket for receiving the at least one rolling element and being at least partly defined by a cage pocket wall of at least one of the first cage segment and the second cage segment, wherein, when the at least one rolling element is in the cage pocket, the at least one rolling element prevents the first second cage segment and the second cage segment from being releasably disengaged.
2. The assembly according to claim 1, wherein the first cage segment and the second cage segment are adapted to be releasably disengaged by moving the first cage segment at least a first distance relative to the second cage segment, and when the at least one rolling element is in the cage pocket, the first cage segment is prevented from moving the first distance relative to the second cage segment.
3. The assembly according to claim 1, further comprising at least a first coupling for coupling the first cage segment to the second cage segment, the first coupling further comprising a first coupling member and a second coupling member.
4. The assembly according to claim 3, further comprising at least a second coupling for coupling the first cage segment and the second cage segment, the second coupling further comprising a third coupling member and a fourth coupling member.
5. The assembly according to claim 4, wherein a line connecting the first coupling and the second coupling extends through the cage pocket.
6. The assembly according to claim 5, wherein the first coupling and the second coupling are located on one of opposite or diagonally opposite sides of the cage pocket.
7. The assembly according to claim 3, wherein at least the first coupling is a male/female connection.
8. The assembly according to claim 3, wherein at least the first coupling member and the second coupling member form part of the respective first cage segment and the second cage segment.
9. The assembly according to claim 3, wherein at least one of the first coupling member and second coupling member is a locking element separate from the first cage segment and the second cage segment.
10. A rolling element bearing comprising the assembly according to claim 1.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0028] Exemplifying and preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described more in detail, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:
[0029] FIG. 1 presents an example embodiment of an assembly according to the present invention;
[0030] FIG. 2 presents a view of two separated cage segments as shown in FIG. 1;
[0031] FIGS. 3A and 3B show another example embodiment of an assembly according to the present invention;
[0032] FIG. 4 presents yet another example embodiment of an assembly according to the present invention;
[0033] FIG. 5 presents an example embodiment of a rolling element bearing according to the present invention.
[0034] The drawings show diagrammatic exemplifying embodiments of the present invention and are thus not necessarily drawn to scale. It shall be understood that the embodiments shown and described are exemplifying and that the invention is not limited to these embodiments. It shall also be noted that some details in the drawings may be exaggerated in order to better describe and illustrate the invention. Throughout the detailed description, like reference numerals refer to like elements, unless explicitly expressed otherwise.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0035] FIG. 1 illustrates an assembly 1 for a rolling element bearing (not shown) according to an example embodiment of the present invention. The assembly 1 comprises a first cage segment 2 and a second cage segment 3 which are releasably connectable to one another, and at least one rolling element 4 (which in this embodiment is a roller 4). In this embodiment, it can be seen that more than two cage segments are interconnected (i.e. a plurality of assemblies are shown), which may result in a complete cage for retaining the rolling elements 4 of a rolling bearing. A direction A as seen in the figure represents a rolling direction of the rollers 4. Due to that the components of each assembly 1 in this embodiment are essentially similar in shape; only one of the assemblies will be described and referred to in the following section.
[0036] The assembly 1 in FIG. 1 further comprises a cage pocket 5 for receiving the at least one roller 4, which cage pocket 5 is defined by a first cage pocket wall 51 of the first segment 2 and a second cage pocket wall 52 of the same segment 2, which walls are extending relative one another such that it results in an essentially L-shaped form. Additionally, the cage pocket 5 is further defined by a third cage pocket wall 53 and a fourth cage pocket wall 54 of the second cage segment 3, which also are extending relative one another such that it results in an essentially L-shaped form. The L-shaped walls 51, 52 and 53, 54, respectively, enclose the roller 4. The assembly 1 is arranged such that; when the at least one roller 4 is in the cage pocket 5, the at least one roller 4 prevents the first cage segment 2 and the second cage segment 3 from being releasably disengaged. Moreover, as exemplified in FIG. 2, when the at least one roller 4 is not in the cage pocket 5, the first cage segment 2 and the second cage segment 3 can be releasably disengaged. The engagement between the first segment 2 and the second segment 3 is in this example embodiment accomplished by a first and a second coupling, 6 and 7, respectively. The first coupling 6 comprises a first coupling member 61 and a second coupling member 62, respectively, and the second coupling 7 comprises a third coupling member 71 and a fourth coupling member 72, respectively. In this embodiment, the respective first, second and third, fourth coupling members are male/female connections. Additionally, in this embodiment, the first coupling 6 and the second coupling 7 are located along a line (not shown) which intersects the cage pocket 5 and the roller 4. More particularly, the first coupling 6 and the second coupling 7 are located on diagonally opposite sides of the cage pocket 5. This design is one preferred way of designing the cage segments 2 and 3 in order to achieve a reliable connection therebetween. Additionally, with the coupling configuration, the disengagement of the respective segments 2 and 3 will be performed at least in a direction which is essentially transverse to the rolling direction A. The roller 4 can prevent the segments 2 and 3 from being releasably disengaged due to that the first coupling and the second coupling are prevented from moving a distance L (see FIG. 2) which is larger than a distance Aax. The distance Aax is in this embodiment the play between the cage pocket 5 and the roller 4. The play is the largest distance which the roller 4 can move in the cage pocket 5 before contacting any of the cage pocket walls. Further, in this embodiment, the distance Aax is an axial distance extending in the length extension of the roller element 4 and the cage pocket 5.
[0037] The roller 4 is in this example a curve-shaped roller comprising a convex-shaped outer raceway surface, and may be suitable for e.g. a spherical roller bearing or a toroidal roller bearing. The roller 4 could also of course be any other kind of roller, such as a tapered or cylindrical roller for a tapered or cylindrical bearing.
[0038] Now turning to FIG. 2, the first cage segment 2 and the second cage segment 3 as presented in FIG. 1 can be seen, with the difference that the segments 2 and 3 here are disengaged. The segments 2 and 3 are otherwise the same as the ones already described in relation to FIG. 1. The first coupling member 61 of the first cage segment 2 is arranged such that it needs to move a distance L relative to the second coupling member 62 in order to be disengaged from the second coupling member 62 of the second cage segment 3. As can be seen, the coupling members are in this embodiment configured as male/female connections. Additionally, the first cage segment 2 comprises an additional fifth coupling member 8 for connecting to another cage segment (see FIG. 1) on the opposite side of the second cage segment 3. The additional fifth coupling member 8 is located on an additional pocket wall 55 which extends in the opposite direction to the first pocket wall 51; thereby the cage segment 2 resembles a Z-shape. Similarly, the second cage segment 3 comprises an additional sixth coupling member 9 for connecting to another cage segment (see FIG. 1) on the opposite side of the first cage segment 2. The additional sixth coupling member 9 is located on an additional pocket wall 56 which extends in the opposite direction to the fourth pocket wall 54; thereby the cage segment 3 also resembles a Z-shape. Due to the above mentioned design, it is possible to build a complete cage for a rolling element which comprises a plurality of Z-shaped cage segments.
[0039] In FIGS. 3A, 3B and 4, two other examples of embodiments according to the present invention can be seen. For both embodiments, the cage pockets 5 are defined by one or several walls of only one of the respective cage segments, 2 and 3. The assembly as shown in FIG. 3A is arranged such that; when the at least one roller 4 is in the cage pocket 5, the at least one roller 4 prevents the first cage segment 2 and the second cage segment 3 from being releasably disengaged; and, when the at least one roller 4 is not in the cage pocket 5, the first cage segment 2 and the second cage segment 3 can be releasably disengaged. Here, a first coupling member 61 of a coupling 6 is prevented by the roller 4 from moving a distance such that the first cage segment 2 and the second cage segment 3 can be released from one another. The disengagement is in these two embodiments performed by at least moving the segments 2 and 3 relative one another in a direction which is substantially parallel to the rolling direction A.
[0040] FIG. 3B shows a side view of parts of the assembly 1 as shown in FIG. 3A (except for the roller 4). The side view is represented by a plane in the rolling direction A, which is perpendicular to the view as seen in FIG. 3A. Here, the coupling 6 comprises a male/female connection 6 which needs to move a specific distance to be releasably disengaged, wherein the roller 4 prevents the coupling from moving the specific distance when the roller is located in the cage pocket of the first cage segment 2.
[0041] FIG. 4 shows an embodiment which is similar to the one shown in FIG. 3, with the exception that the rolling element is instead a ball 4. Therefore, the cage pockets 5 are also somewhat different; especially the pocket 5 is essentially circle-formed instead of being more square-formed as in the embodiment shown in FIG. 3. The coupling 6 may be similar to the one shown in FIG. 3B.
[0042] FIG. 5 shows a rolling element bearing 10 in which an assembly 1 according to the present invention can be used for separating the rolling elements 4 therein. The assembly 1 is in this embodiment part of a complete cage 100 of the rolling element bearing, which cage 100 is built by a plurality of assemblies 1 according to anyone of the embodiments disclosed herein. The rolling bearing comprises an outer ring 11 and an inner ring 12 and a plurality of rolling elements 4 interposed in-between the respective rings 11 and 12. The rolling element bearing 10 may be any kind of rolling bearing as already explained hereinabove
[0043] The invention is not limited to the embodiments described herein. It would be evident for the skilled person that other embodiments and modifications to the embodiments specified hereinabove are also possible within the scope of the claims. For example, and as also explained hereinabove, a coupling member does not necessarily need to be part of anyone of the two cage segments, but could also for instance be a separate locking member (such as a pin or the like) which is prevented from falling out from its locking position by a rolling element.
