Jtekt Corporation

Hiroshi Sekimoto

Akira Koyama

Masaaki Ohtsuki

Masaaki Ootsuki

A rolling bearing apparatus includes a bearing portion with an inner ring and an outer ring, and a lubrication unit provided adjacently to an annular space formed between the inner ring and the outer ring. The lubrication unit has a tank in which a lubricant to be supplied to the annular space is stored and which enables the lubricant to flow out through a lower part of the tank. The lubricant is electrically conductive. The lubrication unit further includes a first electrode provided in the lower part in the tank, a second electrode provided at a position higher than a position of the first electrode in the tank, and a wiring section electrically connected to the first electrode and the second electrode so as to allow electric continuity between the first electrode and the second electrode to be detected.

Rolling bearing apparatus and lubrication unit

An inner ring contact member is mounted on a rotation shaft to be disposed at a lower side of an inner ring in a vertical direction such that a larger-diameter end of a conical outer peripheral surface abuts against an axial end surface of the inner ring. The conical outer peripheral surface is formed such that the larger-diameter end of the conical outer peripheral surface is disposed radially inwardly of a radially outward edge of the end surface of the inner ring. A cage is disposed between the inner ring and an outer ring in such a manner that a first annular portion of the cage close to the conical outer peripheral surface is disposed so as to overlap with the end surface of the inner ring in the radial direction.

Rolling bearing apparatus

In the cage, on opposing edges of an outer circumferential opening of each of some of cage pockets, guiding faces for limiting the inward displacement in the radial direction of each of balls for a pitch circle diameter are provided; and on opposing edges of the inner circumferential opening of each of remaining cage pockets, guiding faces for limiting the outward displacement in the radial direction of each of the balls for the pitch circle diameter are provided, thereby making a ball guide.

Cage for ball bearing

A calcium zinc phosphate-type coating is formed on at least one of those surfaces of an inner ring, an outer ring and rolling elements (balls) and further a cage (if the cage is used) (which form a touchdown bearing) contacting other members, and further a molybdenum disulfide coating is formed thereon. By doing so, the adhesion of the molybdenum disulfide coating is enhanced by microscopic pits and projections due to crystal grains on the surface of the calcium zinc phosphate-type coating, and also even when the molybdenum disulfide coating is worn out, the wearing-out of a substrate can be suppressed by the lubricating ability of the calcium zinc phosphate-type coating underlying it.

Touchdown bearing

In an outer ring, a first ball filling slot which extends from a first raceway groove to a first end face of one side of an axial direction is formed, and in an inner ring, a second raceway groove and a second ball filling slot which extends from the second raceway groove to a second end face of one side of the axial direction are formed. Circumferential extension grooves which extend from one of the first ball filling slot and the second ball filling slot by a predetermined length in a circumferential direction at the opposite sides of the circumferential direction of the ball filling slot and extend from the first raceway groove to the first end face in the axial direction are formed.

Growing community of inventors

Sakurai, Japan

Hiroshi Sekimoto