Other

Federal-mogul Corporation

Industrial Molding Corporation

Melvin L Earsley

James L Earsley

Gerald L Bingle

Stephen L Earsley

Seal rings are molded from an injection moldable elastomeric material, with the rings being designed to have an axially thick body, a rib at the outer periphery for mounting engagement within the outer race ring groove, and a flexible sealing lip at the inner periphery for engagement with the inner race ring. To provide a rigid support body for the ring, particles are dispersed within the moldable material to be injected into the molds, the filler particles having a minimum dimension substantially larger than the maximum dimension of the sealing lip so that, during molding, the filler particles are excluded from the lip but are embedded in the body portion to make that portion more rigid.

Molding of seal rings

A primarily radial load ball bearing includes an assembly of outer and inner races having confronting raceways for a plurality of balls, and a unitary ball separator fabricated of a moldable material such as nylon. The separator is a ring-shaped member having an annular base, and having annularly spaced fingers projecting axially from the base to provide annularly spaced ball pockets. The separator is configured to be received between the races to separate and space the bearing balls in the bearing. The wall surfaces of the ball pockets are made up of a plurality of adjacent surface segments, which segments may be planar, cylindrical or spherical and which are configured to provide ball contact areas and to provide recesses between and adjacent to those ball contact areas for retaining lubricating grease. The surface segments may be arranged sequentially around the circumference of the pocket, may be circumferentially extending segments arranged side-by-side, or may present a checker work of segments defining the pocket surface. For each configuration, the effective diameter of the pocket is slightly larger than that of the ball retained therein to provide minimal clearance with the ball.

Ball separator for ball bearing

A primarily radial load ball bearing includes an assembly of outer and inner race rings having confronting raceways for a plurality of balls, and a unitary ball separator fabricated of a moldable material such as nylon. The separator is a ring-shaped member having an annular base and annularly spaced fingers projecting axially from the base to provide annularly spaced ball pockets. The separator is configured to be received between the races to separate and space the bearing balls in the bearing. The wall surfaces of the ball pockets may be spherical or may be cylindrical generated about radial axes of the separator. The effective diameter of the pocket wall surfaces is larger than that of the balls to provide a clearance space; and the wall surfaces are provided with projections of several configurations which define ball engaging surfaces having an effective diameter still slightly larger than that of the balls to provide minimal clearance with the balls.

A weldable assembly and a method of fabricating a plastic bearing cage employing ultrasonic welding techniques.

Welded plastic bearing cage and method of making same

A primarily radial load ball bearing includes an assembly of outer and inner race rings having confronting raceways for a plurality of balls and a unitary ball separator fabricated of a moldable resilient material, having an annular base and annularly spaced fingers defining an interrupted cylindrical rib which projects between the outer and inner race rings and provides pockets for confining each of the balls of the bearing. Each finger defines a pedestal supporting at least two ears which are integral extensions of the pedestal and which are radially separated from each other. One ear extends into one adjacent pocket, and the other ear extends into the opposite adjacent pocket. The distance between the confronting distal lips of the ears for one pocket is less than the diameter of the ball, so that the ears define a snap-in entry to the pocket. The ears, then, are designed to be resiliently yieldable relative to the supporting pedestals. In alternative design each finger pedestal may support three radially spaced ears, so that the ears associated with a respective pocket are symmetrical relative to a plane including the spherical center of the pocket. The design enables the maximum complement or capacity of balls with each pocket providing a snap-in entry.

Growing community of inventors

Lubbock, TX, United States of America

Melvin L Earsley