The Timken Company

Jerry P Rhodes

Xiaolan Ai

A roller bearing includes an inner race ring, an outer race ring, and a roller arranged between and in contact with the inner and outer rings. The bearing has a flange on the inner race ring at one axial end, and a flange on the outer race ring at an opposite axial end. At least one of the flanges, or an end of the roller, has a profile including a principal segment with a reference point C defining a contact location between the roller and the flange, the principal segment having a continuously changing radius of curvature, on both sides of reference point C, that decreases as a distance from the reference point C increases.

Non-elliptical contact profile for roller bearing

A roller bearing includes an inner race ring, an outer race ring, and a roller arranged between and in contact with the inner and outer rings. The bearing has a flange () on the inner race ring at one axial end, and a flange () on the outer race ring at an opposite axial end. One of the flanges, and/or an end of the roller, includes at least one principal segment () intermediate two additional segments (). The principle segment is tangentially blended with the two additional segments, and the principle segment has a first curvature that is different from the respective curvatures of the two additional segments. A non-elliptical contact footprint can be obtained by composite profiles at the contact location between the roller end and the mating flange face.

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Canton, OH, United States of America

Jerry P Rhodes